Crown Promenade Hotel, Melbourne
Valuing different perspectives
Welcome
I am delighted to welcome you to the Australasian Society for Intellectual Disability (ASID) 2023 conference, the first in-person conference since 2019. ASID is Australasia’s peak body in intellectual disability. People with intellectual disability continue to experience some of the poorest health and social outcomes and are disadvantaged in disability support systems. It is these issues which drive ASID’s goals of achieving rights and opportunities for people with intellectual disability.
This year’s conference theme is valuing different perspectives. It represents ASID’s mission and strategic goals to forge interaction between intellectual disability research, policy, and practice and the involvement of people with intellectual disability. The conference provides the only opportunity for researchers, policymakers, service providers, practitioners, families and carers, and people with intellectual disability to come together and learn from each other specifically about supporting people with intellectual disability well.
It has been nine years since the ASID conference was hosted in Melbourne. That conference was a success and the 2023 conference is shaping up to be the same. On behalf of the ASID Board and the Victorian division, I am excited to welcome you to the conference in November.
Dr Brent Hayward
2023 Conference Convenor
Keynote Speakers
There are three sets of keynotes.
The first set are about encounters between people with and without intellectual disabilities. The speakers are Gustaaf Bos from the Netherlands and Ilan Wiesel from Melbourne. Gustaff’s talk will focus on encounters with people with severe intellectual disabilities and Ilan’s on community places and spaces that support encounters.
The second set are about practices for supporting people with complex needs who may have challenging behaviours and minimising the use of restrictive practices. Petra Bjorne from Sweden will review evidence about best practice of supporting people with complex support needs, and Mandy Donely, the Victorian Senior Practitioner will speak about polices and practice to reduce use of restrictive practices.
The third set are about supported decision making. The first two speakers are academics who will talk about law, policy and practice for supported decision making. The third and fourth speakers are a mother, who is also an academic, and her daughter who is a young women with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities.
Dr Gustaaf Bos
University of Humanistic Studies, the Netherlands
Assoc Prof Ilan Wiesel
The University of Melbourne
Dr Petra Bjorne
Universities of Lund and City of Malmo, Sweden
Mandy Donley
Victorian senior practitioner
Prof Shih-Ning Then
Queensland University of Technology (QUT)
Prof Christine Bigby
La Trobe University
Dr Michelle King
Sociologist and lawyer
Daelle Bunker
Artist and advocateConference news & updates
Three workshops will be held on 21 November in Melbourne. This is the day before the ASID conference. They are open to everyone whether you are coming to the conference or not. You need to register for these separately from the conference.
Five conference dinners are being held on Thursday, 23 November. These are optional to attend. You can book a dinner when you buy your conference ticket. A keynote speaker will attend each dinner.
Register before Tuesday, 10 October 2023 to save on your ticket. Each day will contain insightful keynotes and sessions delivered by researchers, service providers, policy and advocacy practitioners, self-advocates or family members.
Australasian Society for Intellectual Disability
Mission
ASID is a peak body in intellectual disability research in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand. Research gives us good evidence. Good evidence helps to make good policy and practice. Good policy and practice help people with intellectual disabilities to have good lives.
Strategic objectives 2022-2025
- Involve people with intellectual disabilities, their families or friends in ASID activities
- Publish research that makes life better for people with intellectual disabilities
- Share information based on research
- Share new things that make a difference for people with intellectual disabilities
- Share information in different ways
- Bring people together across ASID
- Connect with organisations that make life better for people with intellectual disabilities
- Manage the business of ASID well
About the artwork
The painting is about people from diverse backgrounds coming together to share ideas and enjoy their time together. When these people come together, there are many new and exciting ideas. These ideas make the lives of people with intellectual disabilities better.
Clare Hooper, the artist
Clare works with bold colours, lines, and form. Her sense of colour is dynamic and exciting, taking us to a new vibrant world. The art is a response to her surroundings, the things she sees and research on animals all coming together expressively and imaginatively. Spontaneity is the key to her work, where the images flow with lyrical fun.
You can find out more about her artwork here:
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