Andrew
North Rocks, Sydney
With his infectious laugh and cheeky grin, Andrew Davis is the one person who’s guaranteed to turn a good time into a great one, especially when a dance floor is involved. And if there isn’t, he’ll happily improvise.
Located in North Rocks, Andrew has called Ivy home for over 30 years.
Andrew is one of the inspirations for Forsight being created. He went to the North Rocks School for Deaf and Blind Children. After the school moved, various local families joined forces to raise money to create Forsight, and as they say, the rest is history—40 years of it.
Since the roll out of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), more Active Support Workers (ASW) were employed to provide one-to-one care for the clients of Ivy. This has opened Andrew’s life up considerably, allowing him more independence and greater choice of what he would like to do.
“I catch the train to Circular Quay, and recently I went to the circus,” Andrew said. Not to mention his love for musicals, as Kim, Andrew’s ASW, recalls, “Andrew loves musicals, and when he went to see Beauty and the Beast he sang throughout the production.”
Monday through Friday Andrew keeps busy at the SEE Foundation in Penrith, where he participates in the day program—something he’s been doing for over twenty years. His day includes a range of inclusive workshops focusing on arts and crafts, and sometimes the staff will organise a day trip with him to visit his father in Newcastle.
“Andrew loves musicals, and when he went to see ‘Beauty and the Beast’ he sung throughout the production.”
The NDIS has enabled more support staff for Ivy House, and more one-to-one support for everyone that resides there. This has opened Andrew’s life up considerably, allowing him more independence and a greater choice of what he would like to do.
When Andrew returns from his day program activities, he doesn’t sit down to relax. Instead, he and his ASW are out the front door, going for a walk down the road to sit at the bus stop. But he’s not waiting for any bus—Andrew’s there to count the number of cars that zoom on by.
Once he’s content with the total number of cars he’s counted for the afternoon, Andrew will eventually make his way home, always wearing a smile from ear to ear.
Back at Ivy, Andrew will either help set the dinner table or make a beeline straight to the collection of DVDs he has at his disposal. More often than not you can count on his selection involving his favourite musical group ‘The Wiggles’.
Firing up the DVD also means firing up the dance floor in the lounge, and in the middle strutting his stuff, none other than Andrew Davis.
