Vision

Last night I watched Q & A on the abc with some excitement - as a political junkie to have the PM front up for a round of unscripted questions from the public - too good a viewing opportunity to miss. I went to their website and lodged an online question - they didn't use it - what happened was way better - quite close to the end of the show (48:55 minutes in to be exact! - you can see it on the iview) a woman stood up to give her question. She began with a courteous greeting - here is her question:
"You spoke about your own education opportunities earlier. I have a five year old daughter with Down Syndrome who has just started mainstream school. Do you share my vision of a fully inclusive education system where children with disabilities can thrive and succeed at school? And if so what are you doing to make it happen?"

Whoo Hoo - that was pretty much exactly the wroding of my own question although I had also said how pleased I was to see the government's policy on improving funding for EI services.

The PM answered:

"Yes I share your vision and yes I understand we are some way from achieving it. We've got more to do but we have as a government increased the amount of money going to support children with special needs in our schools but there's more to do. And one of the things I want to do as we review school funding is make sure we are taking into account the needs of children with disabilities better than they are taken into account now. So we're a government that's almost doubled the amount of money going into school education it's a start but there is more to do.
One of the things we've announced in this campaign is rolling out better packages of assistance. We've started a system for dealing with children with autism that enabled families to get early intervention, speech therapy, the kinds of things that can make a difference early on. We want to roll that out for more children with different forms of disabilities so that will help make a difference too.
But the vision of inclusion is a good one and we want to keep working to get that vision working in schools right around the country."

I hung on her every word. Now I could focus on what the response reveals about the state of the current system but I won't - instead - YAY for JB the special needs Mama who stood up and asked the question (cos yes we are still at that point in the discussion in this country! When you embark on the inclusive journey it feels like you are finding your way along a dark and murky path that few have gone before. The way is steep and tricky with occassional blasts of light and fresh air and fortunately if you fall down you'll probably find the clues, the red cloth swatch left behind as a clue or as comfort by the even braver souls who have gone before you). JB gave us and our kids a voice. We got a mention on national tv. How cool is that? On a show that must have blasted the ratings. We got a response from the PM that I believe was honest and heartfelt. From what I have read I think that JG and Bill Shorten 'get it' by and large - and that tey are willing to try and improve things. The introduction of a National Disability Scheme is another area that I am glad to hear them working on. So for now - I am basking in the 'face' that was given to Hannah with that response. Now to the callenges of structuring the funds, meeting the individual needs of a significant and diverse group of students - they like all the other kids there - are our future ...