Conference Theme was “Learning from the Past, Shaping the Future”
The 57th ASID conference was held from 12 – 14 November at the Aerial Function Centre, Sydney.
This conference marked the 60th anniversary of ASID and will be a partnership with Inclusion Australia, which celebrated 70 years of advocacy in 2024.
The 2025 ASID conference brings together a wide range of people interested in furthering the rights and improving the quality of life of people with intellectual disabilities. They include, researchers, advocates, policymakers, service providers, families and self-advocates with intellectual disabilities.
The conference included an exciting line up of keynote speakers, and sessions on:
- Accounts of lived experiences or projects led by people with intellectual disabilities.
- Reflections of service models relevant to people with intellectual disabilities.
- Original research/valuations relevant to people with intellectual disabilities.
- Commentary about policies, issues or advocacy relevant to people with intellectual disabilities.
Program
You can download/access the conference program by clicking the button below.
Conference presentations
You can access the conference presentation by clicking the buttons below:
Day One – Morning Plenary
- Keynote: After normalisation – service developments in Scandinavian countries
Jan Tøssebro - What do you Know About Disability Institutions? Don’t Forget and Learn from the Past!
Linda Steele, Jack Kelly & Phillippa Carnemolla
SESSION 1: Parenting with intellectual disability
1.1 Hiding in plain sight – Susan Collings
1.2 Grief for Good – Margaret Spencer & Susan Collings
1.3 Small but mighty – Renee Mills, Crystal Richardson, Maggie Williams & Rhiannon Derzsi
SESSION 2: Language and accessibility
2.1 Access to written information – Cathy Basterfield
2.2 Plot Play – Casey Gray & Ben Brown
2.3 What does it mean for information to be accessible? – Ariella Meltzer
SESSION 3: Housing
3.1 From vacancy management to person-led living – Rainbow Yuen & Renata Kincis
3.2 My Housing Options – Michelle Moss
3.3 Richard’s Story – John Willis & Alex Cotterell
SESSION 4: Observing Practice Quality
4.1 Observing Practice Quality tool – Lincoln Humphreys
SESSION 5: Health services
5.1 Educating for Inclusion – Natasha Jojo
5.2 Multidisciplinary service models – Stephanie Searle
5.3 Supporting siblings’ mental health – Kate Dorozenko & Emma Glasson
5.4 Complex health care needs – Stella Koritsas & Caroline Hart
SESSION 6: Relationships
6.1 Supporting LGBTQ+ people – Gene Lim & Nathan Despott
6.2 Accessible PrIDe – Thorne Harbour Health team
6.3 Relationships, Intimacy & Sexuality – Jacqui Astolfi & Daniel Johnston
6.4 Psychosexual safety co-design – Natasha Jojo
SESSION 7: Quality services reflection
7.1 Strategies for excellence – Melinda Kubisa & Rabecka Stokes
7.2 Long-term effects of institutionalisation – Roger Stancliffe
7.3 What makes a Good Life? – Janice O’Connor
7.4 Real Voices Real Homes – Michelle Haddon & Mary Mallet
SESSION 8: Experiences of self advocacy
8.1 My journey from school to work – Juliana Benvenuto & Alexander Elliott
8.2 Alishia’s journey – Liz Evans & Alishia Lindsay
8.3 Employment Ambassador – Elizabeth Christodoulou & Lachlan Gapes
8.4 Navigating Care – Anita Nicholls
SESSION 9: Rights
9.1 Voices seldom heard – Bernadette Curryer, Kim Roots & Shu Hua Chan, Michelle King, Daelle Bunker, Jenny Cush & Leigh Creighton
SESSION 10: Health practices
10.1 Preparing for healthcare using VR – Stefan Michalski
10.2 A new way to use sedation – Michelle Templeton
10.3 Hospital-based anaesthesia service – Stephanie Searle
SESSION 11: Quality services research
11.1 Federal Court cases & safe support – Alan Hough
11.2 Decreasing quality of support – Christine Bigby
11.3 Elements of good Active Support – Lincoln Humphreys
SESSION 12: Talking about death
12.1 Talking about end of life – Michele Weise & Roger Stancliffe
Day Two – Morning Plenary
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Keynote: Mental health in children and young people: From longitudinal studies to treatment and supports – Prof. Kylie Gray
- Making friends: supporting connection and inclusion with people with intellectual disability– Leigh Creighton & Jen Cush
SESSION 13: Supported decision making
13.1 Do goals get in the way? – Charity Sims-Jenkins
13.2 Shake it Off – Jenna Macnab
13.3 Integrating SDM into guardianship – Craig Dent
SESSION 14: Post school options
14.1 Doing it Together – Vivienne Riches et al.
14.2 Making work work for us – Inclusion Australia PRG
14.3 Scoping review of postschool programs – Sarah Carlon & Jessica Zanuttini
SESSION 15: Behaviour support
15.1 Reducing Chemical Restraints – Shay Cornell & Clare Scott
15.2 Removing Restrictions – Rebecca Beights & Matthew Spicer
15.3 Beyond Removing to Adding – Becca Beights & Matthew Spicer
SESSION 16: Experience of self advocacy
16.1 Promoting human rights through lived experience research – Debbie Lobb et al.
16.2 Becoming a Gems Ambassador – Kym Lawson & Katelyn Mitchell
16.3 Being self-determined – CID presenters
SESSION 17: Adult issues
17.1 High Quality Care via Skills Assessments – Achieve Australia
17.2 Involving lived experience in monitoring – Patricia O’Brien et al.
17.3 Fragile X care – Wendy Bruce
17.4 My Lived ID – Michelle Templeton & Megan Stewart
SESSION 18: Families and schools
18.1 Therapeutic relationships with immigrant families – Sarah Fenn
18.2 Value creation by mothers – Jane Adams
18.3 Forgotten nurses in special schools – Brent Hayward
18.4 Gestalt Language Processing views – Bronwyn Hemsley
SESSION 19: Behaviour support practices
19.1 BSP Quality – Becca Beights & Matthew Spicer
19.2 PBSP-QA tool – Maria Vassos
19.3 Giving In and Giving More – Nicole McKillop
19.4 Measuring challenging behaviours tool – Matthew Spicer
SESSION 20: Health, co-design & self advocacy
20.1 National Roadmap progress – Jim Simpson & Judy Huett
20.2 Working together for better healthcare – SACID team
20.3 Health stories that matter – CID panel
20.4 Mental health toolkit – Inclusive Research Network
SESSION 21: Safety, harm & stress
21.1 Everyday Café – Northcott & Flinders University
21.2 Safety for All – Fiona Still
21.3 DSW stress & wellbeing – Maria Vassos
SESSION 22: Children’s health
22.1 CPD-QI programs – Natalie Ong Bee Hwa
22.2 Systems change to improve identification – Gail Tomsic
22.3 Blended simulation program – Karl Pobre
SESSION 23: Reducing restrictive practices
23.1 Finding a better way – Keith McVilly
23.2 Increasing Agency – Ingham, Browning, Jenkinson
23.3 Co-designing a restrictive practices framework – Steele/McLean/Nelson/Laurens
SESSION 24: Disability data & sensory support
24.1 NZ IDI data – Shara Turner
24.2 Disability-led data and research – Mary Sayers & Catherine McAlpine
24.3 Sensory inputs interactive guide – Geoffrey Ellery & Marie Lucas
Day Three – Morning Plenary
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Panel discussion: Key policy issues for people with intellectual disabilities – Chris Bigby, Dr Alan Hough, Jim Simpson , Justen Thomas , Catherine McAlpine, Heath Dickens , Dr Henrietta Trip , Belinda Epstein- Frisch & Leanne Johnson
SESSION 25: Individualised funding
25.1 School Life with ASD – Zarina Kumar & Jacob Lawrence
25.2 Lessons from England – Alice Dunning & Liz Croot
25.3 Elimination of restrictive practices – Dariane McLean
SESSION 26: Complex health needs
26.1 Listen to Me digital survey – Beth Catlett
26.2 Accessible Delphi study – Bronwyn Newman
26.3 Funding patterns in ID health research – Rebecca Christidis & Lucy Reynhout
SESSION 27: Behaviour support practice reflections
27.1 ANS model – Debbie Lobb
27.2 Co-designed therapeutic approach – Francisco de Paula
27.3 Building disability-affirming services – Michelle Skelton
SESSION 28: Self advocacy
28.1 Making self-acr groups stronger – Mary Mallett et al.
SESSION 29: Advocacy
29.1 Advocacy & de-differentiation – Mary Walsh & Mary-Lou Carter
29.2 Meetings with decision makers – Nicole Ascaino & Laura Naing
29.3 Learn and Lead – Alison Richardson et al.
29.4 Supporting agency in formal care systems – Morag Kelly
SESSION 30: Inclusive Research
30.1 Blending approaches to research – Dunning & Croot
30.2 A course for people with ID to learn research – Scope
30.3 Valued Contribution Project – Samuel Arnold & Sarah Butler
30.4 Building generative research relationships – Benjamin Garcia-Lee & Justen Thomas
SESSION 31: Ageing issues
31.1 Advance care planning enablers/barriers – Caroline Ellison
31.2 Health outcomes comparison IE vs AU – Stuart Wark
31.3 Government responses to ageing – Kangwei Xun
31.4 Improving dementia diagnosis – Madeleine Healy
SESSION 32: Rights, reform & innovation
32.1 SDM & guardianship reform – Carolyn Smith et al.
32.2 Talking about restrictive practices – Shailaja Menon & Debra Corfield
32.3 AI Skilled Companions – Caroline Ellison
32.4 VR for de-escalation training – Caroline Ellison
Conference Photo Gallery
See photos from the conference below. You can find more photos by clicking through the pages OR via the link to the photo dropbox.
