What They Never Tell You.....

Yesterday Mr 5 had his bi annual check up at the pediatrician, he is at worse 15months delayed in some things and at best 12 months...Now the hurdles commence. His primary diagnosis is severe language disorder (SLD) which brings along with it behavioral problems associated with not being able to make himself understood; add to that Global Developmental delay, which gives you a five year old with the emotional level of a two year old, the gross motor skills no where near his peers and the fine motor skills of his 2.5 yr old brother. What a kabooosh!!!

So under Program For Students With disabilities (PSD) he does not qualify for INDIVIDUAL FUNDING unless we try got intellectual disability(he's have to score less than 68 in the cognitive part of the WISC test)...There is no denying his need of a aide at school, but the SYSTEM will not allow his behavioral issues to be allocated because they are part of his SLD. So we can hope that he FAIL the cognitive part of the test so he scores low in that area and qualifies for special school which would get him ongoing speech and occupational therapy...Sad, that you have to hope your child fail an IQ test to get what they need to get through school. If he qualifies, he'd go to special school part time and mainstream the rest of the time and gradually intergrate into mainstream.

Its a travesty that if he goes to a Catholic school and they get funding they can use it as they wish...So he may not get speech therapy, if he goes to a State school the Language Disorder Program (LDP) may not guarantee he gets speech either. Don't get me wrong...We are not welching...We have private health insurance but private health insurance covers only $600 per year for speech and at $90-$100 per session on a weekly basis it does not last long. Neither we nor Liam did anything to create this disorder and it affects many,many children...The Govt needs to take notice of the multitudes of families affected by disabilities from the severe to the not so severe, the while range.

Incidentally, the PSD application date has been bought forward to 15th JULY...Almost a whole term. Most childrens tests are organized for August/ September, so if you are up for funding again or need to organize specialists ...START NOW ( refer Section 3 and 4 of PSD 2006)

How Confusing.......

Seems I got Parenting Payment mixed up with FTB....DUUUHH.. See what happens when you read too many reviews and watch FOX News too much. Parenting is when your spouse is on Newstart/whatever.....FTB is what SAHM get for staying at home. Thanks to "YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE" for clearing that up for me last night.

Now, if your partner loses his job, he gets Newstart and you were probably getting FTB A & B before when he was in work....If he's out of work, you get FTB A (old child endowment) and instead of B, you get Parenting (roughly equal to Newstart) this is where Pete gets you, you have to look for work too...Hip hip hooray. So both of you, have to attend inane mutual obligation seminars at Centrelink, attend interviews at Job search/IPA/whatever, and find childcare for the kids who were once happy at home with mum...Lets just muck up kids minds, shall we. Of course, Pete and Tanya's little darlings ,when they were young ,never had to worry about that...No, Mrs Treasurer was too busy at tennis backing the tax funded Tarago into bollards on a regular basis.

Had a nice swim session last night at SAC, few too many people not enough space...Need to expand the pool not he gym I think...Not biased I use the gym more than I use the pool, but first things first.

And another piece of info which may not be widely known...if you get Carers Allowance from Centrelink...Pete is giving another "one off" payment of $600 per cared for child/person. Seems the many campaignsby vast organisations are achieving their goals....it shoulod be made every year...such carers save the Govt millions in costs.

Here's Jack.......

EMAIL REMOVED AFTER ADVICE..I did not have author permission to publicise email.
Now Cr 2#gets in on the act and emails me to cast personal assumptions on my being better...nice to know people are reading the site though. Still have to question why it came up ages after the original posting. Here's my reply:
Gee and I thought no one read my site...put it in commetns _____ so all can see. Has nothing to do if "i"m better than that"...your opinion is yours, mine is mine. Its my site and I can say as I wish thats what democracy is about. If we're on the case of people being better why'd you give someone my address last year any way..thought you were better than that!!!!

I'd already suggested how the system could be better...simple matter of the right program/system....same as they use for rates/ animal regos, etc...like I said I don't have to show my rates receipt to the rubbish collector or my dog rego to the ranger.
Do stay in touch

Money,Money, Money

So another budget for Pete, number 10, never ceases to amaze me the spin they put on things to make it look good...Yes, some will get more $$ but then petrol will rise, private health insurance just did, school fees will increase, it'll cost more for the everyday stuff like bread and milk and HEY PRESTO, Petes gift that keeps on giving,IS GONE!!!!! Cynical , I know.

Then there's the getting people off welfare and back into the workforce rubbish for single parents and SAHM (Stay At Home Mums). Dunno about any one else but I don't feel like I 'm on welfare because I get $100 a fortnight for staying at home for my children. And 84,000 childcare places is not going to help!!!!

The HR and Workplace Relations needs to be OVERHAULED completely across the board to encompass an equal playing field for all. Why do Commonwealth employees have paid Maternity leave and hardly any one else does?? Why do some Federal buildings have children sick rooms and in house child care, subsidized by OUR TAXES, and Coles don't? All employers need to look seriously at flexible work hours, job share arrangements, parental leave, special leave instead of the bottom line. Your most important asset is your employees!!!!

We are talking about forcing parents in to the workforce which cannot sustain the influx, this would lead to an increase in casual/part time employees with little or no IR rights, workers in low paid unchallenging positions which they would resent (I WOULD) We need to talk about respect and self worth. So Pete, take my $100 odd per fortnight and shove it..Because my kids are more important..I'll go back to my REAL job when it suits me NOT YOU, and on my terms, NOT YOURS!!!

Pete's mate Tony, (or maybe they're not talking any more) needs to talk to his BIG BUSINESS buddies about REAL LIFE, you know, where we don't have nannies and au pairs, Botox and beauty treatments, the real world not the 4 car garage, Mercedes,4WD ,Porsche and SAAB life of must be seen parties and such.

Taking his bat and ball and leaving the building...

Finally someone has got to local Cr and told him to leave off the politics forum at SOL as he was damaging himself and others.

THEY HAVE LEFT THE BUILDING ....TWEET>TWEET,TWEET (sounds of silence)

I truly believe that they have done irreparable damage to themself and any one associated with them...The Leader needs to look at SOL and just see the rot that is sprouted about, print it and they're outta the running in an instant. Funnily, enough; another Cr emailed me, (27/4/05)about childcare fees; wanted me to call him..I told him I didn't use childcare, he said he'd "heard from another source" that I'd posted about childcare fees on SOL...He reiterated that he'd "looked at my comments " and still wanted me to call him about it. It was nought to do with child care but kinder teachers having to recheck receipts for each terms payments. I replied asking who told him it was me? (ONE GUESS) and that I knew two other SueH in Sunbury. He still wanted me to call him..I declined, given that the issue was raised many moons ago and that this interest in my issues came about after I posted on Evans WONDERFUL site..I think the discussion was going to be JACKSIDED.

On a nicer note, I had a lovely Mums Day with a sleep in, home made and school stall bought pressies (the best) and shop bought stuff . Went to MIL's and then to Bunnings (my fav place next to Dymocks, Collins, Borders, Dusk, BodyShop and Collectors Shed) to get a pot for tulips. YES, people it is time to put 'em in, BULBS..Luckily I dug up most of mine from the old house before we sold (don't tell the new owners they are about 30 bulbs less than what they saw in spring last year)but have a new order of tulips, freesias, etc to plant as well as 100 daffs.

My little sausage chops is getting bigger and speaking better, he sees his pediatrician on Friday and may undergo WISC testing (IQ, receptive/expressive language, cognitive skills). We'll see!! When you have a child who was unable to tell you he loves you till he was almost 3.5yrs; every little thing matters...Today I was told that Buzz LIghtyear is AWESOME, MUMMY. For any one unaware of Buzz, watch Toy Story, Pixar have been the lifesaver in Mr 5's case as he relates well to Buzz and inso far as superheros go, he's got manners and is not too violent.

And I 'd like to THANK my pal, Max (Maxine) for visiting today....We don't see enough of each other and I miss our loud laughs, silly, jokes about mundane stuff...But she coming by again in a few weeks so we'll catch up again then.