Disability / Special Needs

An emergency 111 TXT service for people with hearing or speech difficulties.Do you have difficulty hearing or talking on the phone? Register now for the 111 TXT service so you can contact Fire, Ambulance or Police in an emergency. For more information and registration, visit www.police.govt.nz/111-txt

ASL supports persons with intellectual disability in the community in West Auckland. The service provides residential support in a range of flexible home life options and opportunities related to day support in an arts gallery; fostering community connections through volunteering and employment.To find out more contact Carissa on extension 11.

Abilities is a not-for-profit dedicated to enriching the lives of people with disabilities through meaningful work (such as recycling, hard drive & data destruction, e waste services, assembly and packaging etc).Abilities achieve this through the employment of people with disabilities at their facility, undertaking work suited to the ability of each individual in a safe and supportive environment.Services provided by Abilities staff will incur a cost.

Achilles is a worldwide organisation whose mission is to enable people with all types of disabilities to participate in mainstream athletics.Breaking down barriers that people with disabilities may face when wanting to get active.

They provide independent advocacy and life coaching and skill development for people with disabilities, primarily intellectual. For families and life supporters they can help with applications to the courts for Care and Welfare Guardianship, Property and Personal Orders at a low cost. They also can provide facilitation, help with supported decision making and individual skill development. The Trust seeks to empower those with a disability, whilst also supporting their family/whānau and life supporters to keep the persons rights upheld.

The purpose of Agape is to transform the lives of people with intellectual/learning disabilities.Agape is a Christian Ministry, governed by a 'Caring with Love' philosophy, providing the highest standards in all relationships, encouraging innovation and diligence in all they do. It is a place where each person is loved for themselves in an environment where they can freely grow spiritually, emotionally, socially and intellectually. Agape Care has been providing services to people with intellectual disabilities since 1996.

Altogether Autism provides a free, nationwide autism information and advisory service.

Arohanui School is a Ministry of Education day school for students with disabilities, catering for students from 5 to 21 years. The school integrates a range of therapy interventions in to classroom programmes. The school has a number of satellite classrooms in West Auckland schools, and also offers an itinerant teaching service to ORS funded students in mainstream schools.

Auckland Disability Law provides information, advice and referral services throughout the Auckland region to those with disability related legal issues. ADL also provides education sessions to community groups and individuals on disability related legal topics.

Auckland Down Syndrome Association Inc (ADSA) provides information and support for people with Down syndrome and their families across Auckland. They support new parents, connect families through coffee groups, playdates, and social clubs. They also have a great resource library, and run education courses for schools.

Autism New Zealand provides: • Information Coordination• Outreach Service• Adult Youth Liaison• Support Groups• Training• LibraryAll services are free, excluding the Education Programmes which do incur a cost.

Blind Low Vision NZ is the main provider of practical and emotional support for people who are blind, deafblind, or have low vision.BLVNZ equips people with the skills needed to participate fully in society, which includes support in living independently and getting around, help with technology and ways to continue reading and communicating, and advice on employment.

Care on Call provide in home care services to those in need . This includes supporting people with personal care, companionship and a range of household tasks. Care on Call also offer specialised services such as Dementia care, end of life support and rehabilitation services. Care On Call provides Ministry of Health and ACC funded services as well as privately paid support.

CCS Disability Action provide support, advice and information relating to disability.They offer a range of services for disabled people and their family and whānau. All of their support services (with the exception of Mobility Parking) are free.To access their services please get in touch with them directly to discuss your needs and what they can offer you.

The Cerebral Palsy Society is a member-based organisation that strives to enhance the lives of children, young adults and adults, with Cerebral Palsy, and their families and whanau. They run a variety of programmes and services for their members – from e-cards to subsidised taxi travel and physical activities, to grants, member events and support networks.

Deaf Aotearoa provides nationwide services to the NZ Deaf community:• First Signs: NZSL access & language development for families of deaf children aged 0-5• Youth: Developing Deaf identities, leadership skills, youth internship programme• Employment: Transition programme, job seeking support, job retention & upskill support.• Hauora: Needs assessment, assistive equipment, information & advice• iSign: NZSL interpreting services. Interpreters may incur a cost in some circumstances• Adult Community Education: courses for the Deaf community & NZSL deaf awareness courses for organisations

Disability Connect provides direct information/advice by phone, email and face to face meetings as well as seminars and print publications.

Emerge Aotearoa provides a wide range of community-based mental health, addiction, disability support and social housing services nationwide. They believe that everyone is capable of living full and rich lives in their communities of choice. In every aspect of their work they are committed to helping their service users be the best they can be.

Empowerment Trust is a charitable organisation which aims to teach people of all ages and abilities the skills to keep themselves physically and emotionally safe with people they know and don't know.

Flying Kites supports people with disabilities to work towards significant shifts in their life like moving out of home, getting disability supports in place or using your individualised funding budget to meet your needs. Each person they work with is different, so they design and adapt their support to get you the best outcome.Flying Kites also support people with individualised funding to find their own support people through targeted recruitment - matching staff based on skill, personality and connection.