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i can explore

jessica timmons

 

orientation and mobility Specialist (O&M)

support worker

Learn More about Jessica

Do you have a vision impairment or blindness ?

Would you like to be able to be more independent in your daily life and have greater access to your community?

Do you you have a ‘bucket list’ of experiences to tick off, but don’t quite have the support to do it?

Do you have an NDIS plan and are either Self Managed or have a Plan Manager?

I Can Explore provides Orientation and Mobility (O&M), and Support Worker services to people with a vision impairment or blindness.

Orientation and Mobility (O&M) is a specialised service that provides training to build independence and life skills, whilst, Support Worker services provide assistance, when needed, for participating in social and leisure experiences.

about jessica

Hi, I’m Jessica!

I’m an Orientation and Mobility Specialist and Support Worker based in Melbourne, Australia.

I graduated with a Graduate Diploma in Orientation and Mobility in 2013. Since 2013, I have been working in the Low Vision and Blind community. I am passionate about my work and absolutely love being able to support such a wide variety of people.

From 2013 – 2018, I gained invaluable experience working witin one of Australia’s leading low vision and blindness organisations. I worked with all age groups in a variety of metropolitain and rural environments, education settings, workplaces and aged care facilities. 

During this time, I realised that my freedom of choice to participate in life experiences where fraught with barriers for blind and low vision clients and friends. While I could go on all types of adventures, travel, bushwalks, explore new places, even try a new cafe, many of them couldn’t.

This naturally seemed unfair and it is why I started my business, I Can Explore.

My Mission is to provide people with the opportunity to access the same experiences as I can. And to provide a service that is holistic and individualised approach to each client

 

In 2018 I took a risk and branched out as an independent practitioner  combining Orientation and Mobility and Support Worker services.
 
The name I Can Explore was created to empowering people to put themselves first – “I Can” – and to encourage independence and curiosity to Explore” their local community, city and beyond.
   
It’s an honour to provide people with a safe space for people to freely explore their personal interests, by enhance their independence and expand social connections.
 
To expand on my knowledge of equitable dignified access for all, I completed the Diploma of Access Consulting in 2020, with the future scope, to provide businesses and organisations with the knowledge of how to create and provide more accessible spaces.
I’m a firm believer that generating greater participation of people with a disability in the community will increase the necessity of accessibility throughout the community. 

services

I Can Explore empowers people to choose how they want to explore their world.

Orientation and Mobility, or Support Worker services, can be provided as individual service or combined as a group service.

Services are tailored to the individual’s personal needs as a 1:1 service, or up to 1:3 depending on the activity and support required. An additional support worker may be required.

Prices are based on current NDIS guidelines for participants who are self-managed or have a Plan Manager.

orientation and mobility (O&M)

I Can Explore provides training to individuals with a vision impairment and blindness.

We provide a holistic and realistic training and experiences for people to enhance their personal independence and to safely and freely explore their surrounds.

O&M skill based training:

  • Building independent capacity skills to navigate the community.
  • Orientation training with or without a mobility aid.
  • Mobility Aid (White Cane) Assessment, prescription and training.
  • Independent travel skills for existing and new environments or travel routes.
  • Using and navigating Public Transport.
  • Problem solving skills
  • Navigating and Safety skills for road crossings.
  • Spatial and body awareness.
  • Concept development skills.
  • Using secondary mobility aids to support independent travel.
  • Using App Technology to support way finding.
  • Interpreting and use of Tactile Maps using Swell Paper, Lego, magnet boards or wikki sticks.
  • Applying tactile markers to assist orientation to devices, equipment or organisation in the home.
  • Increasing community engagement and self-advocacy.
  • NDIS Pre Planning Support, Outcome reports.
  • Understanding vision conditions and changing environments.
  • Awareness training on accessibility, simulation experiences for businesses, family and friends.
  • Orientation and Mobility services is not limited to vision conditions and can be adapted to suit disabilities that require skills to access the community, to find out how, please get in touch to discuss further.

support workers

At I Can Explore, watching other people smile makes us smile. And we love hearing all the things people say while we’re working with them. Like “I’ve always wanted to do that!”, “Wow, that was fun!”, “ Ticked that one off the bucket list!”.

A support worker may assist a person to attend events, explore a new activity, venture somewhere unknown, try a new cuisine, reach a goal to increase health and wellbeing, complete that To Do List around the home, or simply sharing experiences with like minded friends.

I Can Explore has a 7 seater vehicle to be able to transport for small groups.

Group ratio is based on a 1 support worker to 2 participants.

I Can Explore has up to 3-4 support workers available for group events. 

We provide a holistic and realistic training experiences for people to enhance their personal independence and safely and freely explore their surrounds.

I Can Explore extends beyond the individual and flows into society by means of educating and raising awareness of the needs for greater inclusion and accessibility for all.

Young woman crouched, smiling, patting guide dog off harness in open landscape.
Two women seated with mobility aids in dark grey wooden structure at NGV.
Mother demonstrates braille signage to child.
Two women sitting in stone bathing pool with small waterfall.

testimonials

“Jess is always such a joy to work with. As an orientation and mobility specialist, I never feel like I’m learning via a textbook method when working with Jess. She teaches me based on my strengths and I always feel like we work as a team.

As a support worker, Jess is kind of like Bear Grills – a life hacker and problem solver, she can always find solutions to help me maximise my independence. Who would have thought that a coffee machine would make the perfect tripod for an iPhone!

I appreciate the flexibility Jess offers – I can use a combination of support work and O&M in sessions if I want to.

I would highly recommend Jess – she is friendly, approachable and fun.”

 

L.HAYES

” I initially needed a support worker to help access my daily needs, including grocery shopping, errands, and medical appointments.

Jess from I Can Explore has encouraged me to explore new experiences and create new interests that I never had access to before, such as the I Fly experience (awesome!), walking trails, art and museum exhibitions, and some of the great markets, cafes and eateries Greater Melbourne has to offer, just to name a few.

As my support worker Jess has both fulfilled these needs, and enabled me to re-engage with the community in a way I couldn’t have done without her, greatly improving my health and well-being.”

I highly recommend I Can Explore, and cannot thank Jess enough for all that she has done and continues to do for me.”

 

M.Douglas

” I’m not a City-dwelling creature by nature. I live amongst the hustle and bustle for the sake of convenience as this makes mobility and everyday living much easier for me as a blind person. In my sighted days, I would drive into the beach every afternoon after work and go for a walk and/or a swim. These are things I had mostly cut out of my life because they aren’t that simple for me to enjoy independently.

I get very bored with flat walking paths and was up for some adventure.

We headed out to the Point Nepean Peninsula and did an amazing bushwalk which brought us out onto a secluded, but absolutely perfect beach. I was able to get rid of my cane, take off my shoes and socks and just go walking up the beach unaided.

we did a bit of climbing and scrambling over things as part of our hike as well. It was so much fun and I enjoyed every minute of it. This is what it feels like to be truly alive and I can’t recommend Jess from I Can Explore enough.”

 

L.Henley

get in touch

Call me on 0431 111 105  or fill out the form below and I will be in touch.