Accessibility support:
Autism NZ
The main purpose of Autism New Zealand Inc. is to provide support, resources and information on autistic spectrum disorders to those with these conditions, their family/whanau, caregivers and professionals working with them. www.autismnz.org.nz
The Disability Allowance is a weekly payment for people who have regular, ongoing costs because of a disability, such as visits to the doctor or hospital, medicines, extra clothing or travel. So for a child born with a special need, a disability allowance of $42 per week is available, if you don't claim staight away you don't get backpaid. You will need a diagnosis from your GP. www.workandincome.govt.nz
Group Special Education (GSE)
The former Specialist Education Services (SES) and the Ministry of Education's special education area combined to form a new group in the Ministry focussed on providing services to children and young people with special education needs, and their families and whanau, schools, and early childhood education centres.West Auckland GSE Centre, Henderson, Ph: 09 836 6630
www.minedu.govt.nz/NZEducation
Disability Information Advisory Service (DIAS) The DIAS contact list has many specific need support groups listed in alphabetical order: www.moh.govt.nz
Health and disability commisioner Champions of consumers' rights: handling consumer complaints about health and disability services and how to improve the quality of health and disability services. This site has a good FAQ page. www.hdc.org.nz
IHC (In Your Commmunity) Library and Information Service Ph: 04 472 2247 www.ihc.org.nz
Needs Assessment and Service Co-ordination Service (NASC) NASCs provides services for the Ministry of Health Disability Services and accesses the need for DSS funds. Your local NASC will help identify your needs and to outline what disability support services are available. Taikura Trust, Auckland Ph: 09 278 6314 or 0800 TAIKURA (0800 824 587) www.taikura.org.nz
New Zealand Down Syndrome Association informs and support families/whanau whose lives have been changed by Down syndrome www.nzdsa.org.nz
Office for Disability Issues is a focussed policy group, located within the Ministry of Social Development. www.odi.govt.nz/about-us
Parent to Parent Support and information network that offer a range of quality training courses, open to parents who have children with disabilities, health impairments or special needs. Information on other short courses and seminars is available on their website at: www.parent2parent.org.nz.Ph: 07 834 1108 or toll-free 0508 236 236.
Special schools:
In New Zealand there are no special Early Childhood Centres available for special needs, usually as each child has their own individual needs. Children will respond best to the nature and style of education that best addresses those needs. The Government’s policy under the Education Act is that all students, regardless of any disability they may have, are entitled to enrol at their local regular school or early childhood educator of their preference. Here are some West Auckland educational facilities for school-aged children that may be able to give advice:
Day special school: Arohanui School. This school website has a great section on 'special needs live feeds' with lots of useful special needs resources www.arohanui.school.nz
Day special school: Oaklynn Special School www.oaklynn.school.nz
Residential special school: Westbridge Residential School, Waitakere City. www.westbridge.school.nz
Kelston Deaf Education Centre. The Centre supports deaf and hearing-impaired students in mainstream schools in the top half of the North Island. www.kdec.school.nz/
Gifted:
Small Poppies activities for youg gifted preschool children. Session time in West Auckland: Te Atatu South, Thursdays for 2&3yr olds 9.15 – 11.45am. For further information phone Small Poppies on 09 845 4176. www.georgeparkyncentre.org/SmallPoppies
Supporting a gifted student with strategies, lessons, worksheets, behavior contracts www.about.com/special education
Is my child gifted? An article on a Canadian parenting website: http://www.canadianparents.com/article/is-my-child-gifted
Reports:
New Zealand Disability Strategy Discussion Document The Sector Reference Group provided advice on the content of a discussion document - Making a World of Difference - Whakanui Oranga. The Ministry of Health, and representatives from the Sector Reference Group, held 68 meetings around the country to consider the New Zealand Disability Strategy Discussion Document. The consultation process resulted 700 submissions, including the feedback from the 68 meetings. The summary of the findings is available with other publications on this website. www.odi.govt.nz/resources
Resources/links:
Adaptive Technology Solutions Communication solutions for people with disabilities www.adaptivetech.co.nz
BrowseAloud the BrowseAloud service from Texthelp Systems Ltd, websites are instantly speech-enabled, reading the text that users require with the hover of a mouse www.browsealoud.com
IBM Human Ability and Accessibility Centre A collection of products developed for people with vision, hearing, speech, mobility and attention/memory disabilities. Includes screen access software, keyboard utilities, interactive speech and cognitive tools and more. www-03.ibm.com/able
Microsoft Accessibility and Disabilities Site A site dedicated to their disability projects and the special needs features of the Windows operating systems. Includes various software utilities developed for special needs. www.microsoft.com/enable
Spectronics Inclusive learning technologies Supplier of special needs software and assistive technologies. www.spectronics.co.nz
Sign language tool kits Teach your children this official language, developed by Deaf Aoteroa and Kelston Deaf Education Centre. www.nzsign.co.nz
