It is largely an accident that the case of my autistic stepson Peter – refused residency in New Zealand on health grounds by the country’s immigration authorities – has become a cause celebre. We never planned it that way, and for personal reasons we do not intend to fight what we see as an invidious Read more
There has been extensive recent discussion of the circumstances of baby Gammy, suffering from Down’s syndrome and heart problems, and apparently left behind with the birth mother in Thailand by the Australian commissioning couple, though they took his well sister home. Australians have responded generously with support for this photogenic little boy so that he Read more
Some people may think that I would be treated badly because I have Down syndrome. My experience has not been this way. God tells everyone to treat people equally, and I think that most people act in this way. I don’t feel as if people make fun of me or make me feel bad just because Read more
Happily employed intellectually disabled workers will soon be out of jobs if the Government removes employers’ subsidies, a New Plymouth cafe owner is warning. Peter Hardgrave of Espresso Cafe, who has regularly employed intellectually disabled workers for nine years, says he will now pull the pin because a Government policy to gradually remove the subsidy Read more
Because of her child’s problems, the author will never have a tidy, peaceful life. But none of this keeps her from being happy — as long as she asks herself the right questions: As someone in her 40s, unequivocally in middle age, I find myself and my friends in that stage of life that seems Read more
This account of living with disability highlights this month’s focus on respecting life. Sarah is in Year 4 at St Patrick’s Kilbirnie and her story tells of a danger many people with disability face, that of being known only for their condition rather than as people who live with a disability: “My condition is called Read more
At the Pacific Disability Forum Region Conference on 5 April Tariana Turia, New Zealand Minister of Disability Issues, used the Pasifika Church Disability Toolkit as an example of an initiative that helps to achieve needed changes with regard to the care of people with disabilities. The Pasifika Church Disability Toolkit is a resource which provides nourishment to the roots of the Read more