Personal Advocacy Service (PAS) commenced in 1989 on the initiative of parents of people with intellectual disability who wanted their children to receive the sacraments and gain greater spiritual depth in understanding God’s love for them.
The SPRED programme (Special Religious Development), then operating in the Chicago Archdiocese, was chosen as this incorporated spiritual and social development for people with intellectual disability.
In this programme, friends with disability are linked one-on-one with parish volunteers who take them each fortnight to a small group meeting. Here they engage in a short craft session modelled on the Montessori method, followed by a spiritual session consisting of reflection on a focus object, a very short reading and a hymn chosen to complement the reflection and reading.
This is followed by the popular short meal – always a highlight for our friends!
I joined the programme in 2016 and was linked to my friend Chris. The first thing I noticed about Chris is that he is a tall man, well over six feet in height.
Then I was introduced, and my first impression was that he was a quiet, gentle person with a great sense of humour. In a conversation Chris will frequently identify the nub of the discussion and may either make a humorous comment or give an insightful view on the topic.
Music and painting are passions in Chris’ life. He likes many styles of music but is most drawn to classical. The house supervisor has commented that when it comes to active cleaning chores in the home, modern lively tunes are preferred to his gentle classical music.
Chris and I have attended a couple of public concerts, one of swing era music and the other of classical.
Chris is vision-impaired and at the swing outdoor concert he took the opportunity to get quite close to the band to get a good look at the instrumental performers.
Similarly, at the classical performance we had seats near the front, so we had a good view of the instrumentalists.
Chris very often can’t help himself but keep the beat of the music with his hands or foot tapping.
Chris had been selling the Big Issue magazine at the South Fremantle shopping centre and was always aware of when an exciting sports car came in.
He loved seeing a Ferrari, a Lamborghini or a Lotus and would always tell us about it during agape at group. One of his most exciting events was when our group leader, Theresa, had a personal contact at Barbagallo Motors and took Chris to the Raceway for a ride in the latest model Ferrari. He came away with a great memory and a Ferrari cap.
A trip to Albany on the sail training ship Leeuwin and another voyage on a cruise liner around the southern WA coast with his mother have been other highlights in the last few years. What he would like to experience in the future is fishing and a camping expedition.
We tend to arrive at group meetings a little earlier than the other friends and Chris hurries to select his favoured chores – usually setting the agape tables and clearing off the tables after the meal. He occasionally puts his name down for washing up without prompting. Chris makes sure that he carries his load of chores without murmur or reluctance.
A highlight for Chris and the group was when he asked for baptism and confirmation in our Catholic faith two years ago.
What I have learnt from Chris over these five years is to have patience with other people and not rise to provocation, to take delight in the small things in life, to grasp opportunities as they come by, to dream of new experiences, to accept things I cannot change and to have the wisdom to know the difference
For the full story, visit www.therecord.com.au
From page 17 of Issue 27: Adult Faith Formation in the context of Healing’ of The Record Magazine