We spoke with Daniel the other day about what subjects he would like to elect for next year at school. Daniel is in High School now and is in the process of selecting what subjects he would like to study for next year (Year 9).
The school has been amazingly supportive of everything that Daniel has tried his hands at, and although Daniel throws himself at everything with reckless abandon, there is always varying degrees of success.
You can imagine our delight when we received the news that Daniel will receive his first electric wheelchair. Daniel is 13 years old and, as a lover of both fast cars and the highly successful car show Top Gear
, we knew the thought of getting behind a motorised anything would having him busting with excitement.
He was sitting in the lounge room watching TV when Penny and I came in to tell him the news. While the first sound that came out of his mouth were screams of delight we thought we had anticipated what his first questions would be, When do I get it?
, Do I get a choice?
, Can I test drive it?
…
This blog has been prompted by one of my readers who made the following comments on another blog I had written. Patricia writes (and I have edited this slightly to reduce space), My twins Julian and Joanne are in year 2 attending a public school. Rodney do you have any information on how the DET funding Support is utilized by a school? I keep getting told that its at the discretion of the school how to use it. I just happen to know (by accident) recently that Julian has approval for 28 hrs 50 mins of DET Funding Support. Hence I was surprised the school could not provide an aid for Julian to be able to attend the cross country carnival which he was very enthusiastic to attend and was instead told by the teacher to remain at school.
Hi Patricia, Thank you for your questions.
You raised two important points:
Read more: DET Funding and your responsibilities (Winning the War!)
The transition from primary to high school is a big step. Now throw into the mix new friends, new location, new demands on homework, a new
teenager as well as a disability, and you have a child under considerable pressure.
Just like primary school, Daniel has had a teacher’s aide with him in order to push him around in the wheelchair, scribe for him during lessons, assist him with practical tests, etc. There was, however, one thing that we did not count on – his desire to be independent.
Rodney Clarke Welcome to the Hey Dad blog … my name is Rodney Clarke and I suppose I qualify for the Hey Dad blog page for one major reason … I'm a dad! More about me…
