Cérge

Last week, one of our support workers and participants used the Cérge app for the first time! Entering in access needs and support information needed to support Carol was quick and easy. Upon arriving they were greeted and a water wheelchair was waiting at the accessible change rooms.Carol is vision impaired and has a physical disability. Carol looks forward to her weekly outing at TRAC but at times her needs are not met with limited access to the bathroom and often Carol needs to wait for the shower commode chair.Through using the Cérge app, Carol was treated as an individual that relies on support to access the community and on arrival everything was ready to go! Thank you Cérge and TRAC for helping our community to achieve its health goals!Support Your Way recommends checking out the Cérge app & TRAC! Join the Cérge Community and find out more!

We are teaming up with a new initiative, Cèrge. Cèrge is a communication platform created to help people with disability connect with local businesses in their community. It allows organisations to provide personalised services to customers with disability with the aim of reducing the fear, anxiety and discrimination individuals with disability go through as customers. Through the Cèrge app, the customer can notify participating businesses that they will be arriving, giving staff awareness of what the customer may need while in the store.Today our customer visited the Swan Hill Leisure Centre to have a shot of basketball with his support worker. He was able to communicate through the app notifying the leisure centre of when he would be arriving and what he was planning on doing while there. Upon arrival he was met by staff who greeted him by name creating a welcoming experience for our customer. This helped our customer feel very comfortable and he went on to enjoy a shot of basketball while there! Swan Hill Leisure Centre Cérge Cérge Community

Hey Cèrge,I would like to say a big thank you for inviting me to be apart of this app and community. Today was my first time visiting the Tewantin RSL for lunch, the staff are amazing so helpful and friendly they made me feel welcome and the food was so good I will give them a 10/10#rsl #hospitality #inclusion #customerservice Tewantin Noosa RSL Noosa Shire Council #brisbane2032 #accessibletourism

On Saturday, my partner and I had a delightful date playing mini-golf at Point Walter Golf Course! For me, managing social situations can be tricky fas I experience additional barriers to communication, social anxiety and agoraphobia.When I am faced with unfamiliar faces or new settings, my comfort zone shrinks and being able to vocally communicate becomes impossible. That's where my AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication) device steps in, helping me connect with others when I cannot rely on my vocal speech.The biggest hurdle for me in accessing the community often lies in people's perceptions. Using an AAC device sometimes leads to misconceptions, such as the assumption that I can't hear when other’s talk or that I don’t have the capacity to understand what they’re saying.It can sometimes be amusing to witness the charades people do trying to act out what they want to communicate before I type the familiar phrase, “Please speak as you usually would—I can hear and understand you”. Sometimes amusing, often frustrating.So….. here's where the magic happened! The Cérge app put me in the driver's seat, allowing me to decide which of my access needs I shared and the level of detail I felt comfortable sharing. See ya later assumptions! Instead of explaining the intricacies behind the way my Autism presents, I could focus on what I needed on that particular day at that particular venue to enjoy it stress-free.Checking the Sensory Guide before leaving the house was a game-changer. It reminded me to grab my noise-cancelling headphones, hat, sunscreen and therefore preparing me for both the environment at the golf course and the noise levels I might experience at the cafe.Richard in reception was open and receptive to communicating with me and made me feel seen and welcome. He took the time to explain the details of the course in a way that gave me all the information I needed without any uncertainty.The result? An absolutely fantastic time at Point Walter Golf Course!Even though my partner beat my score by 10 (lucky them!), I had a wonderful time!Thanks to the Cérge app, putting me in control and making the outing stress-free and enjoyable!

"My son Henry is autistic and has very poor proprioception and muscle tone so he doesn’t go to a lot of places often because it’s usually far too much sensory input for him. His “wet noodling” around the place can crash into things etc. This causes extreme frustration and embarrassment for him and sometimes staff can be rude at times like this or not know how to help. It’s frustrating and my heart breaks for my son.I have to say I was pretty nervous going to White Ridge Farm with my son. I wasn’t sure how he would cope, how the staff would be and to be honest, if it would just be a disaster. We knew @cerge was at the farm so we were keen to give it a go as we have heard great things.The night before I read through the Visual Story on the app with the children and they felt as though they knew what to expect and were very excited. This was an amazing resource and certainly helped my own nerves because I new everyone had seen photos of the venue along with sights, smells and other possible sensory interactions.I notified White Ridge Farm on the app 60 mins before our arrival about our must knows which were areas and activities that are less noisy/busy with fewer people and plenty of space for Henry’s unique walking style and that we are bringing along the pram for him to sit in when he needs to.I received notification that they had read and acknowledged our requirements within 10 minutes of sending it. Talk about service!I booked our tickets online prior to ensure that we wouldn’t have to spend too much time at the entrance buying them where Henry would get anxious before our day even started. That process was great the staff member at the counter acknowledged that we were with Cérge and took extra time to go into further detail about the farm, directed at the children, about some of the sounds/smells/textures they may come across on our journey and gave them a map to help them orientate. This was great and made us feel like we were appreciated and not a bother.Once inside, the area was vast and there was PLENTY of the space that we needed on the paths. The staff were very friendly and answered every single one of Henry’s questions (and this kid asks a LOT of questions ). They also reiterated some of the strange ways his hand may feel as he feeds the animals, which is something I hadn’t even considered so thankful to them for that!Being able to take our own food and have a picnic was perfect as it’s always so hard to find foods that Henry will eat based on texture and we generally avoid places where outside food is prohibited.I would definitely recommend it to any families wanting a great day out! It was so great! The ability to let the farm know our situation through Cérge prior to arrival, the Visual Story to prepare and the amazing staff at Whites Ridge Farm. What a great day! I can’t wait to go out again and usually after a day out I think I never want to go out again! 

I thought my love for basketball was gone forever, I thought we had our time & now we were over for good. I haven’t played basketball for 6 years, it’s like losing so much of my identity, a part of myself.I’m a huge fan of sport but I have anxiety & depression, I like to live alone and I like quiet places. Quiet places & sport don’t always go together that well, so for the past few years anxiety wins & I haven’t been able to immerse myself in sport like in the past.I know playing again would help. I just can’t get to the point of where it can help me because my barriers aren’t in playing the sport. My barriers are leaving the house.Whenever I have to go somewhere, my mind pretends like I am already there & starts having different conversations.So many voices & thoughts all telling me different scenarios & that makes it hard for me to concentrate. When I reach the place where I know it will be busy my heart starts beating fast, I feel alot of anxiety & discomfort & my brain get frozen.All I can think of is bad situations. Bad outcomes. Bad scenarios. It’s exhausting.I am scared people are going to make fun of me & won’t talk to me & it loops around & around. When I go in there & I am not comfortable I start feeling anxious & uneasy & feel like running away. Fight or flight kicks in & it can really take over my life.I heard about Cérge & at first wasn’t sure it could help me. I didn’t want to make a big deal or draw attention to myself but I noticed Eagle Stadium was on the app & they have basketball. I love ball.It took me a while to work up the courage to go to check it out. I looked at the Visual Story & Sensory Guide & went through all the stuff on the app. I knew if I could prepare my brain for what it would see by looking at all the photos, then when I get there it would be like what I have already seen & it would hack my brain to feel more at ease.The survival tips and processes of anxiety & depression are very real & often very unnoticed.After a few months I finally felt ready. I had all the information and all the visuals. I used the app to let customer service know I was going and used the Cérge chat in the app also for support.Arriving at Eagle Stadium & going to the courts felt like home, I could not look away. The smell of the court, the squeak of the ball. My body remembered & it felt like home. The staff were so welcoming and kind & gave me a timetable and spoke to me about what was on and when.Hearing the bounce, the ball, the cheers, the thumping as people ran up & down the courts. I need to be back. I am so coming back.I left with desire & a plan! The staff gave me details of who organise teams so I can play in a team & I also asked about tennis because I would love to play tennis. Buts that’s the next story!