Our Canine Capacity Building Program is designed to support NDIS participants in building skills such as confidence, ability, social skills and communication and to participate actively in their community with the support of a dog and achieve their long-term goals.
Through side-by-side practice, the program involves highly skilled Community Engagement Practitioners who assist participants in expanding their community participation and employment opportunities.
Our Community Engagement Practitioners focus on resilience, well-being, and personal growth to successfully connect to the community; however, each service is tailored to best suit each participant, and their goals, to allow them to get the most out of our service.
As appropriate, participants who access this program can expect support working on the following:
- The importance of community engagement, social contribution, and relationships in maintaining personal wellbeing
- Self-awareness and self-care
- Gaining awareness of personal interests, skillsets and passions and linking these to employment pathways
- Emotional awareness and self-regulation
- Adaptive social competency, including increased awareness of social norms and expectations.
- Their relationship with their disability, independence, confidence, and self-worth
- Navigating systems and programs to successfully participate in their community and employment pathway.
- Preparation and support to access training and employment opportunities
- Capacity building for seeking assistance in the community context without ongoing formalised support and
- Building communication skills
The added benefit of this program is building connections with our four-legged friends can be a fantastic way to help people cope with and recover from some mental health conditions, along with also providing you with the skills to look after and train your own mental health or autism assistance dog in the future.
Our canine capacity-building programs focus on skills and capacity building along with the human-animal bond, which describes people’s desire to interact with and relate to animals.
It is scientifically proven that interaction with a calm and gentle dog has significant physical, social and mental health benefits: