Changing Lives – it’s in your reach

Tuesday, 17th of May, 2011

Synapse Training travels across Queensland delivering quality training aimed at increasing understanding about Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) and behaviour that challenges community understanding.

We receive positive feedback from our regional and metropolitan registrants regularly. One recent comment from a community service provider based in Far North Queensland struck a particular chord with us.

Through implementing some of the practical approaches covered in the training this organization said that they have seen “a significant difference” not only to the life of one of their clients (living with ABI) but to their organization as well. Evidently the ability to improve someone’s life has brought positive benefit back to the organization.

“Synapse receives constant feedback from individuals and organisations working in the human services sector saying they are now in a better position to make a positive impact, that has far reaching consequences, as a result of the training we provide,” said Grant Blest, Synapse Training Manager.

“From what we observe this often only takes one action or one person to make that difference.”

Grant went on to say, “I sometimes think organisations feel that because we were formally the ‘Brain Injury Association of Queensland’, that we only work with people affected by brain injury, and this could not be further from the truth. Over the past 2 years Synapse have worked with a range of disability services, aged care, mental health, child safety, corrections and even child care organisations that have all benefited from our practical behaviour training."

Synapse Training works to demonstrate the practical ways that support staff, community service workers, health therapists and carers can make in improving the lives of their clients and/or family members.

Synapse integrates world leading evidence-based practice (using positive behavior support), years of first-hand lifestyle support experience, and clients’ perspectives into our training program. Our work groups outline real-life case studies that demonstrate successful techniques put into practice.

Positive Behaviour Support is a way of helping people with disabilities learn how to achieve what they want to achieve.

“When registrants leave our training we ensure that they have the means to apply positive techniques immediately,” said Grant.

“Synapse’s own lifestyle support workers use positive methods to teach clients new and different behaviours and this can be achieved in a number of ways.”

Some of the ways to provide Positive Behavior Support (PBS) include:

-    Modifying the environment so that where the person lives and works becomes better for him or her.
-    Improving the person’s lifestyle choices so they have more interesting and enjoyable activities to keep them involved.
-    Avoiding the use of punishment or methods the person finds unpleasant as ‘consequences’ in order to get desired behavior.

Over the coming months Synapse Training will be coming to Rockhampton, Roma, Mackay and Brisbane.

Register for a course now - there's one near you.

Synapse also runs a number of free “Understanding Acquired Brain Injury” seminars each year for unpaid carers and anyone wanting to find out more about ABI.

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Media inquries: Anna Petrou on +61 7 3137 7400 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .