Les Cope

Prior to his involvement with Ability Dignity Access Management (ADAM inc.), a Victorian non-profit organisation whose main focus is empowering and supporting people with disabilities. Les was a founding member and Chairman of ‘Chandler Co-operative’, one of 13 disability groups forming the Victorian Parent Advocacy Collective (VPAC) in the 1980s-90s. VPAC in-serviced school communities and supported children with disabilities to access their local schools through the Victorian School Integration program. This enabled Les’s son to complete his VCE, after which he decided he never again wanted to be segregated. His high needs and the families experience in those early years was instrumental in his success for early access to the NDIS. The NDIS now provides him with the supports he needs to live an independent life. Les continues to share Information and empower others towards self-advocacy in his current role as an administrator with the ‘NDIS Grassroots Discussion Facebook Group. This complex group, with  over 30,000 members including people with a wide range of disabilities, their families, community members and professionals, supports people with disabilities to understand, work with and navigate the NDIS. His  posts and documents covering NDIS processes, individual planning and problem solving are available through the NDIS Grassroots Discussion group in the files section and as individual posts.

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