Alishia is a valued member of our Therapy Services team, working part-time as a Therapy Assistant. Alishia is also a person with Down Syndrome.
But Alishia is so much more than that. She has a bubbly personality, creative hobbies, volunteering pursuits, a cheeky sense of humour, and she is a great ambassador for people with disability.
This World Down Syndrome Day, we want to raise awareness about Down Syndrome by sharing a bit of Alishia’s story.
Alishia is constantly breaking the stereotype. Ali is a busy and independent young woman – balancing 2 part time jobs and volunteering commitments alongside her daily chores and social life. Alishia explains ‘my coworkers help build my independence skills, and so do my studies.’ Alishia holds a Certificate in Retail, and she puts her retail skills to use while volunteering at Frilly’s Nightcliff Uniting Church Café/Op Shop on weekends.
In her role at Carpentaria, Alishia is responsible for creating and maintaining therapy resources for a large team of clinicians. She creates communication cards, sanitises resources, and makes an endless amount of playdough. These resources support people with disability during their therapy sessions. Speaking about Carpentaria, Ali says ‘there’s no words to say how important this place is.’ Ali has been part of the therapy team ‘for a long time – over four years now, almost five.’
You might catch Ali welcoming you to an appointment at our therapy services reception desk or popping down to the Café at Harry’s Place to grab lunch (where she usually arrives bearing flowers for the Café team!).
Alishia is also a Health Ambassador for Down Syndrome Australia, where she shares her experiences and ‘talks with participants, to support their health, and other things relating to their health.’ Alishia explains her ambassador role is ‘very important, whether she’s talking to people with Down Syndrome or not’. Her work supports Doctors and coworkers of people with Down Syndrome to create more inclusive environments. Ali shares that this role helped her learn about the importance of getting ready and being on time.
Speaking about her independence skills, Ali says ‘I’m getting my own taxi, I’m getting my own lunch, I know how to change my sheets’. She’s doing the same things as anyone else, continuing to break the stereotype.
Ali’s cheeky personality and sense of humour always shine through. After a quick chat about World Down Syndrome Day, Alishia serves us her favourite Adam Hill impression ‘Good night, Australia’, and tells us she’d better get back to work.
