How Peer Support Can Benefit Your Family
One of the most important things to realise early on in your journey? No journey needs to be travelled alone. There’s so much to gain from the experiences of other families who have walked a similar path before you.
We call this Peer Support. Peer Support is all about connection, respect, understanding, and empowerment between real families walking similar paths. At Kindred, peer support looks like peer groups and workshops, resources and stories, and a thriving online community.
Peer Support programs – like the ones we have here at Kindred – allow families to give and receive knowledge, support, shoulders to cry on, and communities to celebrate with. No expectations. No judgements. Sounding good? Read on!
Find a Whole Community of ‘Peers’ Who Get It
The beginning of any family journey can feel totally overwhelming. Many families report feeling lost and isolated – from their friends, from their family, from their life before their child’s diagnosis.
We get it. Because we’ve been there. And with that unique experience and knowledge, we can help. Even if all you need to do is sit and rest for a while in a safe space (and sometimes that will be exactly what you need), know we’ve got your back.
Find a Sense of Belonging and Acceptance
Trust us, feeling supported, accepted and heard by people who speak your lingo is a total gamechanger. Our amazing community of peers can provide that all important sense of belonging and shared experience.
When you’re ready, they can help you navigate your own journey and build capacity to parent from a place of acceptance, strength and resilience. They’re in your corner the whole way along.
Benefit from Collective Knowledge
Collective knowledge is exceptionally powerful. It means we don’t have to reinvent the wheel for every decision we make on our journey.
Take Kindred’s Facebook and Instagram pages and Resources which are BRIMMING with practical tips and advice from other families dealing with similar day-to-day realities you are.
Shift Your Mindset
Finding your tribe – people who share your values – on a Peer Support platform can be super inspiring and motivating. It can give you the confidence to try new things, or reframe experiences with more hope and optimism.
It can also help us create new knowledge and question dominant models of thought.
Share, Laugh and Learn
Importantly, Kindred’s online community (hosted on Facebook) can be a space for you to unwind and talk about your experiences. It’s a world away from appointments and therapy. It’s support for you.
Our My Time Peer Group, is a place for parents and caregivers to come together to share, laugh and learn from each other. We offer regular virtual sessions in both the day and evening.
My Time is run by knowledgeable parent facilitators who understand what it’s like to have a child with disability. We regularly have topic-based discussions with guest speakers, including parents, professionals, as well as services who share information about the support available to families.
Learn Something New
Through our experience of parenting a child with disability, we develop our knowledge. We’ve turned that knowledge into a set of rich resources for other families to learn from.
Kindred’s Workshops, Webinars and Programs and Resources offer practical tips, strategies and personal perspectives to assist in navigating the day-to-day realities of your child’s disability, so you can make informed choices.
We also share stories from other families and people with disability exploring their insights and experiences of living a good life. Helping you to feel more positive and hopeful about the future.