Posts by Hilary Stace
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For anyone who is interested and can be bothered, there is a short opportunity before 5 November for feedback to the government's Disability Action Plan 2014-18. This follows another short consultation in September. I would have preferred a longer time frame which would have allowed the request and information to circulate out to the sector and let people think about the issues. I missed the first one altogether, and have only just heard about this second one (on a Facebook page).
ACC is also asking for public feedback - two days left - in an exercise called Shape your ACC .
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We really need something like a Royal Commission into historic child abuse. They have now got them in Australia and the UK. Child abuse was rife in the state institutions and probably just as widespread in society generally as in other countries. Needs to be really safe though.
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Access: Persistent Polio, in reply to Rosemary McDonald,
Thanks Rosemary.
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Hard News: A cog in the Mediaworks machine, in reply to Sacha,
So frustrating that a lot of interesting and political news is censored. There was also a protest at parliament today against selling off state housing but that wasn't mentioned either.
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Thanks for this Fiona. Just wondering, have you had anything to do with the Enabling Good Lives pilot programme in Christchurch, or is Claudia too young?
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Thanks Nat. I am currently trying to find out if any country is doing things well for our children. Sounds like your US experience was good, although I have heard that it varies by school districts. Also that in areas with lots of charter schools the underfunded public school system is left with the special needs and other kids who require more resources.
Did you have to have a DSM diagnosis? Do other children with special needs at the school get the same level of intervention?
By the way when my son was at primary school in Wellington before the days of ORS he had a 6 monthly assessment meeting at which the principal, psychologist, SLTs and classroom teachers (and me the parent) attended. The SLTs were on site and saw him everyday in the classroom and the Ed Psych regularly visited. Together they decided the level of resourcing and intervention he needed for the next 6 months. So NZ could do it, and could again.
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I read an article several years ago which said there were about 100 students in a special unit in Auckland Grammar. They weren't allowed anywhere near assessments (as they couldn't risk the league tables). I guess they were in-zone students they couldn't persuade to go elsewhere. Not sure about the current situation though.
And National Standards in primary are now compulsory for all students including those on ORS, and schools are not allowed to report anything about those with special needs in their league tables. So schools with higher numbers of children with special needs, who are unlikely to achieve on these one-size-doesn't-fit-all standards, have league tables which look worse than schools which can persuade special needs kids to go elsewhere. Just one of the several incentives in the system for schools to exclude kids who might require more resources. -
One in Five on Radio NZ covered many of the issues. Good contributions from Catherine, Giovanni Tiso and many parents
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/oneinfive -
I get annoyed when people expect you to be excited about the World Cup and imply it is somehow non patriotic not to be.
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Access: Safe schools for everyone, in reply to Kumara Republic,
I hope they realise her value and how widely respected she is.