Page 1080 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 20 March 1991
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DR KINLOCH (12.26): We welcome a public discussion of this subject, of course. We would all agree with Mr Wood about these services being a measure of our humanity. Of course, there are problems with individual cases, and I was much touched by Mr Wood's two examples. I am especially affected by that because, if you will allow me to say this, it reminds me of my mother and my Down's syndrome sister, Helen, who is still alive, and all the problems that that gave our family. Helen dominated our lives as a family. I do not doubt at all that this is equally true for Mrs Moreno and John and Janelle Caiger.
I feel very strongly in sympathy. I do not know the Moreno family; I do know the Caiger family. Indeed, I am very grateful to both of them for many reasons. I have met Penny Caiger and I recognise the dilemmas there. I want to say that there are very grave problems about mainstream schools and special units. Down's syndrome children do not come all the same. They range over a great range, as we all do. There are Down's syndrome children of relatively high ability, intellectually or artistically, and there are some who are at the other end of the scale. Often there are physical difficulties that go along with some Down's syndrome children and which are not so with others. So you have to treat each case on its merits. There are, indeed, problems with integration. Being involved to some degree last year with the department of education on this matter, I found that there was a great deal of concern about these things. I certainly would now like to offer to the Minister or to anyone else in the house concerned with this matter anything I can do to assist in that particular matter.
May I also refer to another mother with three children, a daughter and then twins, a boy and a girl. Both girls suffer from a very terrible disability; they are both profoundly disabled. The mother had some worries. That brought about a formal visit through the Ministry for Education to Cranleigh School. We were able to meet her needs, and we all agreed about respite care. It is desperately difficult to be a carer. I do accept the theme that has been put forward here.
The ACT has ratified the Hobart declaration on schooling, which sets out common and agreed national goals for schooling in Australia. Two of these goals relate specifically to provision for students with these special needs. This is one of them:
To enable all students to achieve high standards of learning and to develop self-confidence, optimism, high self-esteem, respect for others, and achievement of personal excellence.
It is very difficult to do this for some children, children who are both deaf and dumb, physically disabled and so forth. One does what one can. The other part of the Hobart declaration states:
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