Support 2.5 year old Mimi G with Cerebral Palsy Treatment

Each year, Ray White Alderley participates in A Little Ray of Giving, a charity initiative to support local causes. This year, we have chosen a family close to our hearts - a 2.5-year-old girl, Mimi, who is the niece of our wonderful real estate agent, Janine McDonald. From November 12 to December 31, we aim to raise $10,000 to cover one round of intensive NAPA treatments for Mimi, as the NDIS does not cover multiple rounds of therapy. All funds raised will go directly to the family to support Mimi's ongoing journey.

Mimi G's Story:

Dimity and Matt are the parents of Mimi G, a 2.5 year old. Mimi was born at 30.5 weeks via emergency caesarean after her mother’s waters broke three days earlier. Mimi was kept in the Neonatal Critical Care Unit (NCCU) at the Mater for five weeks to receive around the clock care until she was ready to go home with her parents. Mimi appeared to be thriving when she left the NCCU and her parents were told she appeared to be healthy. It wasn’t until Mimi hit 9 months and started having multiple seizures a day that her parents realised something was wrong. After 6 months of back and forth between specialist appointments, gp appointments, emergency department visits, Mimi was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy by the Rehabilitation team at the Queensland Children’s Hospital.

Cerebral Palsy is a physical disability that affects movement and posture, caused by an injury to the developing brain either during pregnancy or shortly after birth. It is a permanent life-long condition which presents differently in each child, however early intervention services (e.g. physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy) can help to improve the outcomes in affected areas of development. Mimi is currently rated as a Level III for her gross motor skills with the expectation she will walk using a hand-held mobility device in most outdoor settings like a walking frame or wheelchair for longer distances.

Once Mimi received the diagnosis, it was recommended that she start engaging in regular therapies to help her development. At the same time, Mimi’s family was able to apply to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) to request funding of certain intervention services. Mimi was approved for an NDIS plan in mid-2023 and receives funding for physiotherapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy, excluding anything which is within Medicare. The budget allocated in the plan is meant to cover Mimi until Jan-2026, however it is likely she will exhaust this before then as the budget was allocated not knowing a lot about Mimi’s condition.

Earlier in the year, Mimi’s family was referred to a facility at Shailer Park called NAPA which specialises in working with children with physical and neurological delays. NAPA is renowned for their Intensive Model of Therapy which involves high repetition of exercises consolidated over a short period of time. In July-2024 Mimi attended an intensive block at NAPA – 3 hours of therapy a day, 5 days a week for 3 weeks. In that time, Mimi hit so many milestones, including going from standing on her walker to propelling herself forward with it. The cost of the treatment was around $10k which was covered by the NDIS. Mimi’s family would love for her to do more intensives with NAPA, however the NDIS are reluctant to fund multiple blocks and given the cost, it is not something Mimi’s family can afford to cover on their own.

Mimi's family are incredible thankful that there has been large investment into the research of cerebral palsy and as a result there are so much more information out there, as well as amazing facilities like NAPA. Mimi’s family is hopeful that she will continue to hit milestones and get as far as she can even with her disability, however there is still a long road ahead which involves daily home practice and weekly appointment attendance.