January 2025
We are pleased to see that children with disability and their families are a cohort that is being considered in Department of Social Services’ (DSS) consultation process for Family and Children (FaC) Activity. Children with disability and their families are too often excluded from mainstream programs because of a lack of understanding of support needs, a lack of accessibility in program design or ignorance and discrimination.
It is common for many children in our community’s cohort to receive a prenatal or immediately postnatal diagnosis, though some may not be diagnosed until adulthood. However, whether an individual has a diagnosis or not, no two people’s needs are the same. People in the cohort we represent may present with intellectual, physical, and/or neurodevelopmental conditions and health issues.
It should be noted that we do not operate a FaC activity. Our organisations are not experts on these activities however members of our consortium do work closely with those who do, such as playgroups. Our members offer specialised support to families and sometimes that support is organised through FaC activities and delivered in conjunction with them. We generally believe that all children should be accessing mainstream FaC and recognise that especially for those children who access individual and clinical services, FaC activities are an opportunity to spend time with same-age or similar- development peers and for families to engage with those local communities.