Posts by Hilary Stace
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There is so much wrong with how NZ is doing policy on education at the moment.
It's a bit like grabbing at ideas (many with an underlying principle of privatisation) and seeing how they fly. Fortunately, there is a lively informed social media network which can quickly analyse and spot the shortcomings eg in this article about the Tiso family (which isn't the full picture but all you can fit into a mainstream media article.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/83481426/fears-daughter-will-miss-out-twice-in-change-to-special-education-fundingMeanwhile one of my favourite autism bloggers has recently become active again and points to the problems with a system which relies on low status SENCOs and teacher aides.
https://autismandoughtisms.wordpress.com/2016/08/23/teacher-aides-and-sencos-in-new-zealand-schools-symptoms-of-a-broken-system/ -
Access: Disability as a wicked policy problem, in reply to Angela Hart,
Don’t forget the family benefit. Married women got the equivalent of a third of national super (the pension) for each child. It went into their own bank account. So with three children there was the equivalent of an extra salary coming into the home. It could even be capitalised for a home with a 3% State Advances loan. Ironically, the family benefit went in Ruth Richardson's 1991 'Mother of all Budgets'.
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There is always a reason for behaviour. Is has context and does not occur in a vacuum. The purpose could be to gain something, access something, escape from something, remove something, or a result of pain or boredom. Or it just feels good.
When trying to change behaviour positive reinforcement works better than punishment. Being alert to what triggers behaviour (antecedents) means it may be possible to divert undesirable behaviour at that point with appropriate strategies. It is very important to check out whether there are medical reasons such as untreated infection or pain. Much behaviour is as a result of boredom which can be addressed by active engagement. (I learnt all this by listening to the speaker Angela mentioned above but can apply to any behaviour in children or adults).Yet in our mental health system we seem to go straight to punishment, seclusion or other negative reactions.
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Been into the court a few times this week. It can't be any fun giving evidence. You can be under the spotlight for days, grilled by counsel who are in their regular cultural environment and familiar with the workplace while for many of those who give evidence they must be well outside their comfort zone. They are probably also thinking of all those urgent jobs which are building up while they are trying to explain their professional or personal knowledge in a way that those in the court can understand. There is a lot of miscommunication about language and the meanng of words and terms. They have to be constantly alert, otherwise they might fall into a trap that has been set.
But saying all that there is an important principle at stake here in this case. It is expressed in Article 14 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities that NZ ratified in 2008, meaning that this is effectively NZ law since then:
Article 14 - Liberty and security of the person
1. States Parties shall ensure that persons with disabilities, on an equal basis with others:
a.Enjoy the right to liberty and security of person;
b.Are not deprived of their liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily, and that any deprivation of liberty is in conformity with the law, and that the existence of a disability shall in no case justify a deprivation of liberty.2. States Parties shall ensure that if persons with disabilities are deprived of their liberty through any process, they are, on an equal basis with others, entitled to guarantees in accordance with international human rights law and shall be treated in compliance with the objectives and principles of this Convention, including by provision of reasonable accommodation.
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Spotted this useful paper at the Autism NZ conference this weekend. It is by someone who knows a great deal about autism and behaviour issues. I'm not attending the conference but I'm sure Angela will give an enlightening presentation to those who are.
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Just been reading a book that is very relevant to this case. Former Mental Health Commissioner Mary O'Hagan's 2015 autobiography Madness Made Me, covers much fascinating information about her life in the mental health system and the rise of the psychiatric consumer movement. She was also influential in writing Article 14 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities about the importance of liberty and security.
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I agree with this post. The authorities don't know how to deal with this increase in scrutiny.
http://thespinoff.co.nz/featured/12-08-2016/exclusive-leaked-draft-report-calls-2016s-landmark-mental-health-journalism-biased-and-inaccurate/ -
I wonder whether there is a gender aspect to this? A group of us (mostly 'mature' students) met together regularly while doing our PhDs. Even though our topics were very different we had similar issues with supervision, prioritising, writing etc and we supported and encouraged each other.
But for me the PhD was the one time when I had a real job (funded by a scholarship). For three years I had secure funding and was doing something - 'writing a PhD' - which was socially and academically valued, and was an occupation people understood. I also never got bored with my topic so the 24/7 aspect of it was OK. You are allowed to be obsessed.
It was a little oasis in a lifetime of part time jobs, insecure contracts, parenting (much of it on my own) and disability activism. Didn't lead to any work afterwards, though and now I have the same answer as before when people ask what I do ie 'bits and pieces'. I look back on those years with pleasure.
I was just lucky I guess.
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I'm not so sure that the legal team are such villains. After all they have chosen to work in the public system and forgo the big remuneration of the private sector. That programme about the law that used to be on TV7 and was hosted by Greg King had some interesting interviews with lawyers about their work and motivations and they were almost always honourable and concerned with ethics and justice.
The trouble is that in the public system the ideas of public service and public good are currently unfashionable. It is about rationing, denying, limiting resources, and above all not upsetting the Minister or Cabinet.
The new NZ Disability Strategy, which is currently being rewritten, quite blatantly has Cabinet as the main target for pleasing. Disabled people and families are 6th in the hierarchy. So the system itself is disabling and punitive Agents of the system have a tough time fighting that and keeping their jobs.
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Access: Patients X, Y and Z, in reply to Nick Russell,
I mean it that it is part of the public service with all that entails. Shouldn't be working against the rights of citizens. This is a general comment about the legal system. It is not something above us all.