Cert III for my son
This is my son Joel. He was diagnosed with severe CAPD, Central Auditory Processing Disorder.
In short, the brain cannot make sense of what his ears hear because the auditory signal is distorted in some way. As a result, one of the biggest
problems experienced with CAPD is difficulty listening in background noise.. so imagine what Joel's school life in a classroom would be like. It has been horrendous for him.
He is in year 11 and whatever Joel chooses to be in life, we have come
to accept that it will take him much longer to get there than his peers.
Since his diagnosis at age 8, can you believe I am still waiting for the
Education Dept to fund him having a listening device for the classroom? His education is almost over... and they have provided nothing.
Did you know that there is no funding or support from the government even though this is a severe learning disability it is not 'classified' as a disability?
In first year, his school did provide a general line study which meant he could go to a class and receive additional one to one support. This was perfect for him... until halfway through the year we received a letter saying it was going to be scrapped due to 'no funding'.
At the end of last year during a 'Negotiated Education Plan' meeting (a meeting a parent has with the school when your child has a disability,
oh and by the way, the education department acknowledges that it is a
disability but not Centrelink), I was told there is an opportunity could for Joel to do a Certificate III in Administration employed with Minda
Inc. and it is paid employment.
But there is a catch - the school wrote an email to me yesterday stating:
"Unfortunately it appears that the school is unable to fund the $2,000 required to fund the course."
They said they could set up a 'payment by instalment' plan. Here's my problem - as a 'financially single' parent I am already struggling to pay off their $2000 plus school fees let alone another $2000 on top of that.
And before you ask, his dad has a part time job and isnt able to help out, I know if he could he would.
Please let me tell you how incredibly hard this is for me to to ask for
help. However, I have no choice due to lack of support or funding.
We would greatly appreciated any help.
