Strong Voices

Researchers working for IHC are now finalising a report that for the first time in years presents a much clearer picture of what it means to have an intellectual disability in New Zealand.

It might have been Lorde’s Solar Power tour, but the sun was shining on Emma at the Western Springs concert in Auckland in March.

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Philip Poulton was 10 years old when he went to live in Kimberley Hospital in Levin in 1967. He was the second eldest of five children from a family farming at Rangiwiu Station at Kumeroa, near Dannevirke, and he had Down syndrome.

Sometimes when life is hard, it can be good to spend time with people who make things look easy.

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Gwen Kirkwood always gave credit to the people of Matamata – a town with a huge heart for people with intellectual disabilities. But the truth was that no one had a bigger heart than Gwen herself.

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As entries close for the 2023 IHC Art Awards – the 20th year of the national competition – the attention shifts to this year’s judges who will make their call on the winners.

A man in a supported living service, who wanted to challenge a welfare guardianship application, had his access to funds to pay for it blocked by his welfare guardian.

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IHC is urging the Law Commission to protect the rights of vulnerable adults to make their own decisions.

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The new Chair of the IHC Member Council, Lynne Renouf, comes with 45 years’ experience as an activist.

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Warren Erickson is a beef and sheep farmer from Gore who hasn’t done a lot of bike riding since he left school. That’s about to change.

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