4.7 In conclusion
5.1.2 Naming the chronicles
5.1.2.4 Chronicle 4: Going ‘down- under’
As Tiara began to grow, we noticed the slow development and the milestones were just not there. This created an instinct to pay increasingly more attention to Tiara and less to our son.
He would be working with two sets of puzzles or building blocks at the same time whereas Tiara would struggle to put a few words together. Her first sentence was ‘Yes Jesus loves me’.
She learnt this from a musical video which was given to her by one of our friends.
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We knew that schooling Tiara was going to be a challenge and the Down Syndrome Association – Kwa-Zulu Natal (DSA- KZN) recommended a few schools, but we were not pleased with any of them. We felt that children with learning disabilities were being too isolated, and we wanted her to be educated in an environment where she would benefit more from interacting with other children with all levels of aptitude. There was no such place in South Africa and we began to investigate the availability of schools for inclusive education in other countries. We knew of families that had emigrated to Australia and New Zealand, and they spoke highly of learning spaces for children with Tiara’s needs. We decided that we would emigrate to Australia, via New Zealand as the waiting period, at the time, for Australia was about 3 to 5 years. After a lengthy and expensive application process, interviews and medicals we were granted visas for New Zealand in May 1999. Thereafter, we began to have doubts as we would be leaving behind our family members, our immediate support from my mother-in-law, who used to take care of our children whilst we were at work. We would also be leaving our jobs and venturing into unchartered waters as the economy in New Zealand revolves around approximately 4 million people and a lot more sheep. We decided, however, that the need for Tiara to be in a learning environment suitable for her was of paramount importance and the decision was made to visit New Zealand in the winter of 1999. There was a lot made about the ‘harsh’ weather conditions to that of South Africa and we agreed that if we could handle the winter there we would be comfortable. Michael had arranged for
interviews with three of the major construction companies, and I had arranged interviews with two schools in Auckland for a teaching position. We spent three weeks in New Zealand and were impressed with the learning spaces they had for children like Tiara. Furthermore, all children from the age of five have a right to free education until they turn nineteen.
Children having special intervention and support needs continue to receive free schooling until age of twenty-one. Things were looking very promising and we felt that it would be an ideal place for our little girl to develop.
The weather was manageable and Michael was offered employment by one of the largest construction companies there. The New Zealand Teacher registration organization was extremely impressed with my CV and did not foresee any difficulties in me securing suitable employment in any one of their schools. Things were moving rapidly and Michael needed to
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respond to the employment offer within a few days. We decided that he would accept and that he would commence on the 1 of September that year. We returned home with mixed feelings but the driving need to access suitable learning spaces for Tiara was the motivating force behind our decision to emigrate. Michael resigned from his job, cashed in his pension, and we sold all our assets, but could not sell our house. I was tasked with this responsibility as
Michael would return to accompany the family for the great trek in December of that year.
Within a few weeks of Michael being in New Zealand he could sense from the tone in our telephonic conversations that all was not well back home. I was having second thoughts and my health began to suffer. I was concerned about the close family ties that we would leave behind, and the loss of the support structure in the care and love of my mother-in-law for our children. Michael returned home in November 1999 and we decided against emigrating.
Tiara would have to make do with the schooling spaces that South Africa had to offer children like her. But we would endeavour to find the most suitable. We would do everything in our power to ensure that we give her every available opportunity to develop to her full potential.
Gothard and Ford presented a paper, at the eight World Down Syndrome Congress, held in Singapore in April 2004, in which they related their treatment by the government officials in their planned emigration application. They identified discriminatory practices when they received a negative report from the Health Assessment Service citing the probability that the needs of their CWDS will include additional educational resources over and above what is provided in mainstream education. An additional reason for the decline was that the child will in the future most likely require supported employment which is considered as a cost to the Australian community. The final outcome set aside the ruling of exclusion based on
independent and substantial medical evidence submitted by the parents. The advice offered to prospective applicants for emigration was that they would encounter more stringent selection through application process than would otherwise be the case. It is for this reason that we chose to go to New Zealand which was less stringent, rather than Australia.
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