Page 1075 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 20 March 1991
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previous administrations - in the integration programs in our schools which get mainstream and special needs children closer together. I want to focus on the problems of at least two parents in this respect. They will be cases that I am sure are well known within the government ranks.
Carlos Moreno is a young child, about nine or 10 years of age, who has been diagnosed as being cerebral palsied, though his parent does not necessarily accept that that is the case. Let me say that I have great respect for Mrs Moreno, who may be known to some of you. She is utterly determined that her child will get the best education that he possibly can. To that end, she has made herself poorer and poorer, she has worn herself out financially and I hope not yet emotionally, because she is determined that that child will not be limited by perceptions about what he can achieve. I want to emphasise that, because I taught in special schools for 10 years and the danger that crept up on me - and I did not realise it - was that after a time I was accepting less and less from the students I taught, giving tolerance on the ground that, "Well, they cannot do that". There is a danger that we accept too little from people with physical or mental disabilities. So, I respect Mrs Moreno. She has put enormous commitment into her child and I have asked this Government to do more to match her effort.
I want to give credit to the agencies of this city that have provided her with a lot of support and assistance over the time. It has never been enough for Mrs Moreno. I accept that her demands are high, and quite properly. During the time that Mr Humphries was away, I wrote to Mr Duby and asked that a special task force be established in the health department at that time to review the case of Carlos Moreno. I also, at that time, spoke to some of the bureaucrats who would be concerned and I was assured and I expect to receive a very serious and studied response. I have to say that I am still waiting for that response 2 months later, so it has not been a quick response. Perhaps the 2 months tells me that it is going to be a very serious and studied response. Minister, I expect that that will be the case, and I will be anxious to hear it. I believe that we want to help Mrs Moreno and her son, Carlos.
Let me raise the case of another child, Penny Caiger, who may also be familiar. This child has Down's syndrome. Her parents have a simple request that their child be educated as closely as possible in a mainstream school, and not at the special schools where many Down's syndrome children are educated. Her parents believe that that will be of the greatest benefit to little Penny, and they have had a struggle with the education department to have that view accepted. Recently, I believe that there has been some compromise in that. It is not entirely satisfactory to Mrs Caiger; nevertheless, it is acceptable.
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