NEWS AND EVENTS

5 April 2008

YDAS Shorts - Short Films By and About Young People with Disabilities
A National Youth Week Event

Première screening of "It`s a Blind Chick Thing", a new short documentary that follows the story of a 19 year old blind, Italian, Egyptian, Muslim stand-up comic who travels to New York forthe gig of a lifetime. Plus, live readings of short film screenplays that promote issues andexperiences of young people with a disability. An open forum willfollow to facilitate discussion about the representations of youth and
disability in film.

Light refreshments provided from 5:30pm / Screening & readings
commence at 6pm SHARP.

Saturday 5th April 2008, 5:30 to 7:30pm
Gasworks Arts Park (Gasworks Theatre)
21 Graham Street
Albert Park
Melways Ref: 2J H7

Please RSVP to George Taleporos, YDAS coordinator, george@ydas.org or
call 92673755 or SMS 0412814851

The venue is wheelchair accessible and the event will have AUSLAN
interpreters. If you have any other support needs please let us know
when registering.

16 January 2008

Advocacy Training for Young People with Disabilities is back for 2008!

When: Saturday and Sunday March 15 and 16, 2008Where: Youth Affairs Council of Victoria, Level 2, 172 Flinders St Melbourne (venue is fully wheelchair accessible and has a hoist facility in the bathroom)

This weekend workshop hosted by the Youth Disability Advocacy Service is designed to assist young people to be awesome self advocates! Here are some things that you will get out of the course:

Improved understanding of advocacy
Increased awareness of advocacy strategies
Increased understanding of disability rights, service standards and the law
Improved problem-solving, communication and assertiveness skills
Ability to apply knowledge of advocacy to a specific advocacy issue that is important to you
Free lunch and the support that you need to participate
The opportunity to meet other young people

Young people with a disability living in Victoria who are aged between 12 and 25 can take this course for FREE and have all of their related expenses covered!

Young people from rural and regional Victoria will be supported to attend with overnight accommodation in Melbourne

Places are limited, so apply early to avoid disappointment. For more information or an application form, contact George Taleporos through george@ydas.org or 03 9267 3755, SMS 0412 814 851 or Toll-Free (from outside of Melbourne) 1300 727 176

19 November 2007

The Youth Disability Advocacy Service Strategic Plan 2007- 2009 is now available by e-mailing george@ydas.org

7 July 2007

YDAS is running advocacy training in Ballarat. For more information download this Word document .

7 May 2007

YDAS is currently working on the strategic plan that will prioritise the work that we undertake over the next two years. If you would like to be involved and share your ideas please contact us before June 19, 2007.

Look at me: YDAS Photographic Exhibition

25 April 2007

To Celebrate National Youth Week YDAS hosted a photographic exhibition of young people with disabilities between 10 to 22 April 2007 at Angela Robarts Gallery, Gasworks Arts Park.

The exhibition was designed to provide an opportunity for young people with disabilities to have a stronger voice in how they are represented. YDAS spokesperson Stella Young, who is photographed knitting with a giant ball of wool said "public representations of people with disabilities are usually so predictable and boring. This exhibition is about young people with disabilities putting out images that challenge stereotypes and that show us the way we choose to be seen."

The Exhibition Is Now Available to Tour. For more information contact YDAS.

YDAS advocacy training

When: 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday February 10 and Sunday February 11

Where: Youth Affairs Council of Victoria, 172 Flinders Street Melbourne (young people with disabilities from rural and regional Victoria will be provided with free accommodation and travel to support them to participate)

This course is designed to increase the capacity of young people with disabilities to advocate for themselves on issues that are important to them. Here are some things that you will get out of the course:

a better understanding of advocacy
increased awareness of advocacy strategies
tips on using the media to achieve advocacy outcomes
increased understanding of disability rights, service standards and the law
improved problem-solving, communication and assertiveness skills
ability to apply knowledge of advocacy to a specific advocacy issue that is important to you
free yummy lunch
the opportunity to meet other young people with disabilities

Young people with a disability who are aged between 12 and 25 can take this course for FREE and have all of their related expenses covered!Places are limited so apply early to avoid disappointment.

For more information and for an application form, contact George Taleporos on 03 9267 3755, e-mail george@ydas.org TTY via the National Relay Service 133 677 or call Toll-Free from outside of Melbourne on 1300 727 176

Media Release

Monday 8 January 2007

For immediate release

YOUTH WITH DISABILITIES OUTRAGED BY MEDICAL ‘STUNTING’

Young people with disabilities from Victoria’s Youth Disability Advocacy Service (YDAS) are shocked at the news of a Seattle couple’s decision to stunt the growth of their nine-year-old daughter. The treatment, now being referred to as ‘The Ashley Treatment’, involved hormone injections and removal of her uterus, appendix and breast buds to effectively stunt the development of the girl.

YDAS member, Stella Young, a 24 year old with a disability says that she is horrified by this story. “It makes me really emotional to think that there was no-one there to protect this girl from the horrible medical intervention she’s undergone.”

Unfortunately, Ms Young says this is not an uncommon story and there’s been a long tradition of sterilising women with disabilities against their will. “Ashley’s parents say in their blog that she had no need for her uterus. When I was four, a doctor said the same thing to my parents. I’m very fortunate that my parents advocated for my right to my own body. It’s just horrifying that I’m one of the lucky ones.”

While the parents deny that the treatment was carried out for the convenience of Ashley’s caregivers, making her easier to lift and move, people with disabilities around the world have expressed serious doubt about the motives.

Dr George Taleporos is the coordinator of YDAS, an organisation that advocates for the rights of young people with disabilities. “It’s about supporting young people to live full lives in the community, not about making them smaller so they’re easier to manage,”

“This case reflects how easily the basic human rights of young people with a disability can be violated. We need to understand that the problem of disability lies in the failure of society to accommodate the needs of people with different abilities and not within the individual themselves. While we understand the difficulties that Ashley’s parents face, we believe that parents of young people with disabilities need more responsive and flexible support services. Young people with disabilities have the right to grow up like everyone else.” Dr Taleporos said.

Ms Young says that she’s distressed and frightened by the fact that a medical ethics committee approved ‘The Ashley Treatment’. “It’s very scary to live in a world where this kind of thing can happen because you have a disability,” Young said. “Personally, it makes me feel really unsafe and threatened by an establishment that’s supposed to be there to protect my health and wellbeing. It makes it clear that not everyone has the same rights in medicine.”

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