By Kayla Bruch

Program aims to support young people with cognitive disabilities

Dec 15, 2014 | 6:20 AM

Having a mentor could mean a world of a difference to young who are faced with a cognitive disability.

With this in mind, the provincial government developed the Cognitive Disabilities Strategy to help those with behavioural and developmental challenges of all ages. Programs exist in many centres around the province, including Prince Albert. Prince Albert’s version of the strategy focuses on those aged seven to 25 and looks at new ways to help these individuals through mentorship programs.

“That approach was, you know, very strength based, person centered, to focus on individuals and realizing that just because an individual may have a similar disability to other individuals in the community, their needs might be very different,” said Mark Zulkoskey, the mentorship co-ordinator for the Cognitive Disability Community Integration Program in Prince Albert.

Zulkoskey is hoping to mirror Regina’s strategy, which he said has been to “focus on the person as opposed to the disability.”

“The mentorship program establishes contact with individuals with cognitive disabilities with sources in the community,” he said. “It also provides them with a mentor that they can work one-on-one and individually with to work on some of the issues that might be going on in their lives.”

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To make the program the most beneficial for the youth involved, the mentor and the family don’t have to go to a certain location to receive support. Instead, the program is delivered over the phone, text or email, whichever method the family and mentor are most comfortable with.

Programs for cognitive disabilities exist in many places across the province, but what’s unique about Prince Albert’s is that Zulkoskey has been contacting and hiring mentors before they are even needed, creating a shorter turnover time for families looking for a match.

“Traditionally with the program we had no databank of mentors so… families that were requesting additional services or support were left to their own devices,” he said. “If their child was, you know, struggling in a specific area then they were also then left to find a mentor in the community and so there was a clear service gap.”

Zulkoskey said he is looking for a wide range of community members to become a mentor.

“We’re not just zeroing in on their disability but we’re focusing on the fact that they are a community member [and] trying to add additional support to create sort of a sense of interdependency so that they can succeed just as well as any other able-bodied person.”

So far, there are two approved mentors. Zulkoskey’s goal is to hire 20-50 mentors by March.

Anyone interested in becoming a mentor can email Zulkoskey at pamentorship@gmail.com or call 306-922-3746.

kbruch@panow.com

On Twitter: @KaylaBruch1