Dear Reader,

Greetings from a wild and windy Melbourne!

But we're not complaining! To paraphrase the poet Shelley, when winter and its icy winds are knocking us about as they have been recently, surely spring can't be far behind... :)

So may this month's issue of Starlink blow some useful tidbits your way.

Cheers
Sue & Chris
BJ Seminars International

Inclusion Works is a Townsville based community organisation that helps build better communities through the inclusion of people with a disability.

We first learned of its existence from Ric Thomson, Inclusion Works' Coordinator and member of its Committee of Management, when Sue attended The Unconference in Kurri Kurri. NSW, in June. A highly successful service, it certainly can serve as a model of a respectful, empowering and collaborative approach that helps people with disabilities live life more fully and engage more effectively with their communities.

Inclusion Works attributes its success to three core principles:
1. We believe that people with disabilities have a place in community and the capacity to contribute to the development of community.
2. We believe that some community members have the capacity and willingness to both welcome and support people with disabilities and their families.
3. We as a service need to let go.

The website is well worth visiting to learn more about the way in which Inclusion Works operates - its vision, mission and its Inclusion Model.

And we love the fact that 'letting go' is right up there as a key component of their approach! :)

We link individuals with a disability into their defined "communities of interest", help build strong interdependent relationships within these communities, then when appropriate "fade out" to enable strong community based relationships to further evolve.

Research and resources about resilience have a long history. Since Emmy Werner's research way back in the 1950s, much more has been written about resilience since her early study. In more recent times, here in Australia, Andrew Fuller has become well known and highly respected in the field, not only as a researcher but also as the author of 18 books in which he shares not only the outcomes of his research but highly practical and down-to-earth strategies for fostering the resilience of young people so they can become the best they can be.

Resilient Youth Australia is a relatively new venture - a non profit organisation of which Andrew Fuller is Director. Resilient Youth Australia focuses on a positive youth development, measureing and enhancing adolescent resilience and undertaking cutting-edge research and practice.

As Andrew Fuller says: In order to call upon and develop the strengths of young people we first need to pinpoint those strengths. In a national survey we conducted of 3,616 young people, 80% of girls and 70% of boys were found to have positive levels of resilience. They are hopeful, caring, connected and thoughtful. These young people are a wonderful resource. To effectively prevent depression in young Australians we need to call more powerfully upon the considerable strengths of young people. We need to involve them proactively in the creation, delivery and implementation of processes that give a sense of positive belonging to all. The time to act is now!"

The Early Childhood Family Services Resource Centre (ECFSRC) is a comprehensive online kit of tools and resources for "both Early Childhood and Family Services Practitioners to assist in responding to the needs of vulnerable families with young children.

Focusing especially on resources related to work with vulnerable families, it includes a number of 'plain language' tip sheets and practical guides as well as links to other useful websites.

A useful resource for anyone who works in the Early Childhood sector, particularly if working with families in need of a greater degree of support.

Creativity - Where Good Ideas Come From

Wellbeing: Physican Heal Thyself

AI: Enter the Gate

Bill Cunningham: A Passionate Life

Music and Memory