For many people living with disability, connecting through apps with others who share similar life experiences can be challenging. Most mainstream social networking sites have blind-spots when it comes to the safety, accessibility, inclusivity and support needs of people with disabilities.
That’s why disabilities community organiser Steve Bear created Alvie, the country’s first social platform uniquely designed for people who live with disabilities. The app aims to connect those living with disabilities with like-minded people who share similar life experiences, interests and hobbies, facilitating relationships and enriching friendships.
For Bear, the app’s central purpose is providing emotional assistance — especially from loneliness.
“From my experience of working with many children with all kinds of disabilities, I understand that loneliness and isolation is one of the biggest challenges these kids face on a day-to-day, and can lead to lack of personal and social development, as well as an increased risk of mental illness,” he said.
“Building Alvie was an opportunity to give people with disabilities at any age, a safe space created specifically for them, where they can feel comfortable, accepted for who they are and experience more social interactions that will hopefully form into meaningful friendships.”
With Alvie, the algorithm has been engineered to match members based on their age, location, interests, and hobbies, and will enable online, one-on-one conversations if both members accept.
“There are so many interests to choose from, including NRL, AFL, movies, cooking, art, PlayStation, X-Box, online gaming, playing cards or even just eating out with friends,” Bear said.
“Alvie’s aim is to match people with a disability who have similar interests and hobbies, so they can easily connect, make meaningful friendships and make the most out of life.”
The app also provides assistance with facilitating in person meet-ups, and has several measures installed to prevent bullying, harassment, abuse or misuse of the app.
With Alvie, all members are required to have an Australian police check before they can be officially registered. The app also allows a support worker, guardian or parent linked to a member’s account.
“We’re doing everything we can to make it as safe as we can make it,” Bear recently told Pro Bono.
“A lot of the time the participant, the member of Alvie [is not] aware of what is totally inappropriate, so that’s why it’s not an automatic suspension or deletion of your account, because we’re going to use it also as a tool to help the socialisation and understanding [of] what is appropriate and what is inappropriate at different times,” he said.
The app is NDIS friendly, which means the $120 annual membership fee can be claimed through NDIS for NDIS Core funds or Community Participants. You can sign up here.
Correction: An earlier version of this article named Jerusha Mather as an Ambassador of Alvie. Mather is not an Ambassador of Alvie.