A new DVD, 'Starting School: Stories from parents of children with a disability', is designed to help families who have a child with a disability starting school. Produced by the Lady Gowrie Child Centre, with financial assistance from the NSW government, the DVD features the stories of six families who tell of their experiences as they prepared for their child to go to school for the first time.
It identifies strategies to ease the transition to school, including:
• You need to start planning early – one or two years before your child is due to start school. Selecting a school involves exploring choices. It is important for you to gather the information you need to assist you to make the best decision for your child.
• Before you start your search for a school it’s a good idea to choose an advocate – someone to support you, as you support your child. This could be a friend, relative or someone from a support or advocacy service. Choosing a school can be a very emotional time for a family and having a third party to support you can be useful.
• Once you have chosen a school, you can begin working with that school in preparation for the school year. There can often be a need for the school to plan ahead to access any funding available to support your child. It is important to allow adequate time for this process to take place
The DVD is part of a kit which is produced in Arabic, Cantonese, Dari, Dinka, English, Korean, Mandarin and Vietnamese. It's available on request from the Early Childhood Intervention Infoline 1300 65 68 65.
16 October 2009
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