Photo: Supplied
WORKING WELL: Living Link graduate, Sam Zozo and Forever Resort employee.
An NPO in Parkhurst is leveling the playing field for young people with intellectual disabilities.
The Living Link has been open since 1999, having been established by a mother and daughter who sought to give a loved one the same opportunities to live independently, find work and become a contributing member of society.
“Ingrid Menzel and Julia Wilkinson [mother and younger daughter, respectively] started it for Ingrid’s older daughter, Nadine Wilkinson. Nadine has an intellectual disability. Ingrid realised that she had potential and that she could potentially live independently,” said Stanley Bawden, managing director of The Living Link since 2010.
Photo: Supplied TEAM: Matome Maning, Chelen Moraladi, Charl Stander and Sithembiso Rena are a part of a programme at The Living Link.
“Julia decided to put pen to paper to create a training course for Nadine to go out and live independently – which she did after about 18 months – and so The Living Link was born because they took the beginnings of the programme and offered it to other special needs people.”
Now there are two branches of the organisation, one in Parkhurst, Johannesburg and the other in Cape Town, where they offer two courses for intellectually disabled people from the age of 18 who have completed their secondary school learning and are now looking to be integrated into society and the workforce.
Each branch takes in more than 40 students per year, who may have been referred to the institution through their school or through recommendations from government. These young people are inducted into the programme after a screening which determines their level of disability. Unfortunately, there are some people beyond their help and they are then referred to a home or institution that assists with their personal needs.
The programmes are used to train the students in basic skills, after which they take on job sampling where they can get experience in various positions at one of the companies that the organisation works with.
“We’re not just about training. We’re about creating opportunities post training and trying to find the young adult employment out in the open labour market as well.”
Photo: Supplied CUT OUT FOR THE JOB: Clinton Shabangu makes his way into the working environment.
Bawden offered tips to help recognise people with intellectual disabilities because oftentimes the symptoms of this kind of disability were not obvious.
“They have brain damage and we cannot fix that with medication. You would pick it up quite young. You would see that the milestones aren’t being reached, that they battle with reading, writing and numeracy – sometimes even before they get to mainstream school, you could pick that up.”
The organisation is always looking for sponsors for the students’ fees in the programme, as well as companies who will take the students into train during the job sampling phase of the programme and to employ them.
Details: www.thelivinglink.co.za
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