Strong Voices

In an age of internet scams that affect everyone, it’s clear that more support and safety resources tailored for people with intellectual disabilities are needed.

Hōhepa Canterbury decided to address this gap and has developed the Digi Citizens Framework – a resource designed to educate and empower digital users with intellectual disability.

The project was launched in 2022 when it became evident there was a vast range of digital competencies and skills among the rangitahi who Hōhepa Canterbury was supporting.

“We wanted to empower young people to be good digital citizens,” says project lead Sarah Kinley. “But there were no resources suitable for people with intellectual disability. Mainstream-designed resources make a lot of assumptions.”

Sarah and the Hōhepa team realised they needed to start at the beginning. They worked to develop a framework within which a person could assess their digital knowledge and identify learning opportunities and areas where they may need additional support.

The framework has three aims: to support, educate and empower. Firstly, a person is offered an introduction, followed by an assessment of their competency and opportunities for growth. Then, if appropriate, a plan is developed using strategies to support a healthy use of technology with ongoing education and reflection, ultimately empowering the person to be a successful digital citizen.  

Hōhepa received a small allocation of funding from the Ministry of Social Development to do the initial work. It’s now working to implement this with users of its services.

The results have been overwhelmingly positive, with people opting in because they want to use technology in ways that are safe and look after their wellbeing.

“We have people who, although being deeply tech savvy, have still been exposed to scams due to their increased vulnerability,” says Sarah. “Using the framework has brought change and we’ve seen some great habits forming.”

For one person who was spending a lot of time on their phone, it’s had a very positive impact. “They were able to identify what they wanted to change,” says Sarah. “And they’ve been out doing other things and are really excited about this change.”

For some, it’s been a case of using technology more effectively. “We’ve got people now able to video call friends and whānau without support. This is exactly the kind of change we were hoping to see.”

Hōhepa Canterbury has also engaged with Netsafe and People First in promoting the Digi Citizens Framework and tools and ensuring the tools are accessible.

While the initial aim of the project was to support young people with intellectual disabilities, it’s now clear it will also benefit adults with intellectual disabilities, as well as their whānau, support teams and educators.

“We want it to be used by everyone and anyone. We know it’s beneficial and we want it open to all,” says Sarah. ”Because we’ve designed the Digital Citizens Framework for people with intellectual disability, it can be understood by the world.”

Hōhepa is now looking to secure funding for the next exciting step – developing resources to support the framework.  

“We recognise this is just the beginning of a journey to empower all people with intellectual disabilities to be successful digital users.”

The framework and tools are outlined on the Netsafe website: https://netsafe.org.nz/adults/supporting-people-with-intellectual-disabilities

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Photo by Christin Hume on Unsplash.