By Alesha Capone
Marina Ivelja understands the struggle that families in the western suburbs can face when looking for respite care for their loved ones.
Mrs Ivelja is 16 years older than her older brother, who has autism, an intellectual disability, complex partial seizures and severe self-harming behaviours.
While growing up, she witnessed his diagnosis, integration with special schools and all the different services her family dealt with.
“We have found that it was very difficult from the beginning to find services and facilities that could cater to his behavioural and disability support needs,” she said.
Mrs Ivelja went on to pursue a career in disability services, including respite care, and has worked in the field for more than 15 years.
She is also the advocate of her brother, who is now aged 31.
Mrs Ivelja said that initially her parents did not want to use respite care for their son.
“It was very hard to get Mum to even consider respite,” Mrs Ivelja said.
She eventually sat her parents down and talked to them about how respite care for her brother was similar to herself and her siblings going to a school camp for a night or two, before coming home again.
“I can understand the hesitance of families utilising respite, as I have experienced it first hand with my family, who were fearful of: ‘What might happen and what are people going to think?’” Mrs Ivelja said.
Mrs Ivelja said that people searching for respite care in the west often faced difficulty in finding a facility that suited the particular needs of their loved one.
“There are lots of families at the moment who are struggling with care,” she said.
Mrs Ivelja said that this motivated her to establish her respite service, Beyond Disability Services, which opened in Bacchus Marsh during November 2021.
“Because of my lifetime of experience and dealing with facilities and families, I’ve decided I’d go out on my own and offer a service where participants can feel at home and families feel at ease,” she said.
Mrs Ivelja said she has hand-picked experienced staff for Beyond Disability Services, and for the safety of all participants and staff there are security cameras installed both internally and externally.
The service is open to participants of any age for both children and adults on self-managed and plan managed NDIS plans.
Details: www.beyonddisabilityservices.com.au
