Student Profile - Darrell Blackman (long time ACS student) has studied Industrial Psychology, Abnormal Psychology, Crisis Counselling, and Leadership with ACS.

My life has been full and varied in work and in where I have lived. As I am now sixty two years old it is time to put all life skills and learning together to fulfil my life goal of helping others who need that extra support in their life.

Originally I was trained in Geelong, Victoria as a pastry chef and baker. After six years I moved on and worked in mining camps in Queensland for three years. After this adventure I moved to Perth, Western Australia and undertook a traineeship in horticulture at Queen's Park.

On returning to Victoria at the age of twenty six, I spent sixteen years in maintenance and gardening. This was not fulfilling me and I was retrenched in early 1992. Not knowing if I would be employed because of my age of 42; I took up studies in Disability, Welfare, Aged Care and also returned to school and completed my VCE and some university modules in English and Journalism. I obtained work in the Disability field and continued my studies in Disability and Counselling. This was enhanced by my enrolling in studies with ACS many years ago and because of this extra training I am now the Lead Practitioner for St Laurence Community Services in the Barwon Region of Geelong. The extra studies from ACS of units in Psychology, Counselling and Leadership have allowed me to reach my full potential as a competent and compassionate worker in the Disability Sector.

I continue to study correspondence from ACS as this suits my work and my more relaxed style to approach studies. At the moment I am studying Leadership and with RPL's will hopefully complete a qualification in Counselling and perhaps Psychology over the next few years. My present work demands that I keep up with trends, research and changes in the Welfare/Disability field. Training to me, is a life time experience and the modern world demands more of its workforce. This move to a highly skilled and motivated workforce has the advantage of employing the best workers who want to learn new things. Without training, life can become 'humdrum' and aimless.

With my firm belief that training keeps a person sharp and interested in many aspects of life I highly recommend the courses that are on offer from ACS. The training that is on offer has seen me as a mature aged person continue to learn subject matter that allows me to support marginalized people in the community such as people with disability or long term unemployed.

We are pleased to announce the release of a brand new course: Cat Psychology and Training. Understand cat psychology and apply that knowledge to manage and influence the behaviour of cats. Throughout this course you will learn to:

• Explain how cats communicate; and formulate an understanding of possible ways that a human may communicate with a cat.
• Understand behaviours that are natural, hence predictable in cats; and learn to read signals that cats give.
• Explain how cats develop behavioural characteristics throughout stages of their life.
• Describe commonly occurring behavioural problems in cats.
• Describe techniques for training cats.
• Implement measures to manage the behaviour of cats.
• Develop knowledge on running your own cat business.

To read the full course outline, and to enrol, please click here.

Our courses are constantly being revised and updated. This weeks course news:

Our brand new Dog Psychology and Training course is now available to study online.

Our Earth Science course has been revised and updated.

We are pleased to announce the release of a brand new Ebook - Pests and Diseases.

Are you one of those people that kill every plant you touch? Perhaps it's not you, perhaps it's a pest or disease! A little bit of reading might just turn your garden into an oasis. Learn how to identify pests and diseases and bring the spring back into your garden! Click here to find out more!