Coffs Harbour National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) worker Peter Lagettie on life’s little miracles
A Coffs Harbour man has been crowned one of Australia’s best disability support workers after helping a teenage boy once scared to venture outdoors. See how he’s made a world of difference.
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Coffs Harbour disability support worker Peter Lagettie is pinching himself after being named as one of the 10 best in Australia – not bad for a bloke who spent most of his professional life working in a paint shop.
“This is one of the most rewarding jobs you could ever do,” Mr Lagettie said of his new found vocation.
“It’s a strange job where you can be doing anything from going for a swim (with a client) to wiping somebody’s bottom.”
Mr Lagettie – a winner in the national Hireup Good Life Awards – currently helps three young men.
There’s Rafferty Buttle, who has autism, Jacob who lives with Down syndrome, and Liam who has the rare genetic disorder Williams syndrome, sometimes known as Elfin syndrome.
It was Mr Lagettie’s work with ‘Raff’ which inspired the 17-year-old’s mother Kari to nominate him for the awards.
Hireup, Australia’s largest NDIS registered platform provider, initiated the Good Life Awards in 2022 to honour exceptional support workers enabling a good life for people with disability.
“Peter has helped Rafferty achieve his goals by giving him the support and guidance needed to try and achieve independence. He has always treated Raff respectfully and given him a can-do attitude,” Ms Buttle said.
“Peter injects joy in whatever task he engages in, and that sort of attitude is worth bottling.”
Rafferty’s parents said witnessing their son contribute to household chores and embrace outdoor activities has been a transformative experience, fostering a sense of self-belief and significantly improving his confidence and overall wellbeing.
Raff is a healthy boy, but one who was scared of life outside the family home.
The breakthrough came when Raff’s grandmother needed help building a rockery garden.
“The rocks were too big for his nan and I said: ‘You can do this, look even your mum is helping’,” Mr Lagettie said.
Something ‘switched’, and Raff hefted a few rocks, and then others.
“We developed a rhythm and he kept working away for an hour-and-a-half,” he said.
Mr Lagettie said Raff’s previous reluctance to step outside had been life inhibiting.
“Some of it’s just ‘teenager’ – staying in your room on a PlayStation or watching YouTube videos,” he said.
“But he (Raff) doesn’t like loud noise and is wigged out by insects and wildlife and horse poo.”
While the outdoors can now be navigated, it’s a new world still littered with challenge.
“We were swimming on Wednesday because it was hot and Raff said: ‘There’s a fly on your shoulder, now it’s on your other shoulder’,” Mr Lagettie said.
“Then he just launched at it and hit me in the face and I said: ‘Mate you’re not that good if you were aiming for my shoulder’.”
Mr Lagettie has only been working with Raff since April/May, and the changes in the boy have been noticed more so by his mother than by the Bonville support worker.
“My role is to help him mix with the rest of humanity and so he can make friends – it’s a slow process,” he said.
“Raff is big on the internet whether it’s following a political referendum, the war between Israel and Hamas or dinosaurs – he’s quite witty and has a really good sense of humour.”
But Raff’s progress is nothing more nor less than that.
“If you’ve figured out one autistic person then you’ve figured out one autistic person,” said Mr Lagettie who also works one day a week teaching scripture at Bonville primary school.
Just as with all people, his two other clients have their own abilities and difficulties.
Jacob has Down syndrome and works two shifts a week as a checkout operator at Woolworths – one of these with Mr Lagettie at his side providing support.
“He (Jacob) lives very much in the moment and has no concept of money, other than it buys him a pie for lunch one day and fish and chips on another,” the 54-year-old said.
“But I’d say he’s as good if not better than anyone else (on the check-outs). He’s not the fastest but there’s some customers who seek him out because they know they’ll get his full attention.”
And then there’s Liam, who has Williams syndrome.
“People with this condition have elf-life features, small teeth with spaces in-between, and they can be vulnerable because they have a willingness to please others no matter what,” Mr Lagettie said.
Working as a disability support worker since 2018, it’s been a quantum career change.
“I was a contract painter, graphic designer and paint store manager – but in all the years I did that it was very rare at the end of the day that I thought I had actually helped change someone’s life for the better,” Mr Lagettie said.
The rewards of working with people with disabilities though have been profound.
“Sometimes they (a person’s disabilities) are massive and sometimes it’s just a bit of a glitch,” Mr Lagettie said.
“My job is to help them with their life and try to make their life better.
“It’s beneficial for me as well – it changes you.”
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