Editorial: Plan to close centre good

Closure of Avalon workshop for disabled: Tania Wilson, Helen Brownlie and Karel Driessen

Avalon's plan to close its vocation training centre may have met with some resistance from parents but any bid to better meet the individual needs of clients is a good move.

Rather than offering a set of services based in Te Puna, the new focus will be on customising community-based programmes to match each client.

Individual planning sessions will see the disabled choose for themselves what fits their potential and capabilities.

Board chairman Karel Dreissan makes the point that disabled people want to live ordinary lives and want to be part of the community.

It is hard to argue against that point. They deserve to be part of the community and to feel connected with the area they live in. It is almost impossible to achieve that if the clients spend the majority of their time at the vocation centre.

Staff note that the old group culture, in which a large number of clients from Avalon descended on facilities like the Mount Hot Pools, had reinforced community prejudices, whereas when it is one-on-one, attitudes started to change.

Avalon's change manager Helen Brownlie says finding ways to include the disabled into the community lifts their self-esteem and that should be the goal of any service of this type.

The board should be congratulated on making sure the service Avalon offers is in line with its original constitution and for putting the needs of their clients ahead of any other concern.

I can understand why parents and carers might be concerned that they will be left struggling with the daily responsibility of their children. It's a tough job and they need all the support they can get.

However, Avalon has gone to great pains to say it is putting the welfare of its clients first.