Australian Story - Angela, Zoe and Elise

 

Knowledge with Angela

Angela is a devoted mother and strong advocate for her children Elise and Zoe. When you first meet her, you'll find that Angela represents safety, knowledge, thoroughness, inclusion, and support. She is a valued member in MyTime Penrith who is always helping and offering her knowledge to others. Her disability advocacy journey has taught her the true meaning of seeing your child for who they really are - unique and individual. Prior to children, Angela worked fulltime in IT where she met her partner. Their family proudly identifies within the LGBTIQA+ community. She enjoys crafting when she gets time for herself. Her crafting includes crocheting and putting together books. She is also very knowledgeable when it comes to gardening, which she credits the efforts of her even more knowledgeable father who owns and runs a website on living sustainably in the suburbs - Under the Choko Tree. 

Angela and her daughter Zoe have recently been diagnosed as neurodivergent. It has been an emotional and enlightening journey. For Angela, it has given her clarity and a better understanding of herself, enabling her to better support her own wellbeing. This includes setting boundaries through agreed upon routines at home that have enabled her time for herself. This is particularly pertinent for sustaining the load of carers.

For Zoe's journey, it has opened for Angela more windows for understanding neurodivergence as well as a fostered a team effort in learning within her family whilst navigating the disability world. Zoe has been identified as gifted/twice exceptional which she is intrigued to learn more about. Her other daughter, Elise is also neurodivergent. 

Angela says the reason why a diagnosis is beneficial for her family, is it provides a starting point to begin to be educated, to better understand behaviours and to do your own research to upskill and support your family. "Each child is unique", where information about a particular diagnosis is out there which provides good guidance and a starting point, she believes it's also important to assess this information with your reality and your child's needs to make informed decisions. A lot of Angela and her partner's approaches to parenting is premised on responding and adapting to their children's needs and unique learning profiles. Angela states that her understanding of neurodivergence has been through what her children have taught her. The recent diagnoses have also provided a common talking point for the family to bond, embolden and embrace their identities. Such conversations have included conversations around identifying and speaking about each other's special interests. Angela's diagnosis has also been beneficial for her children in helping them to positively affirm and embrace who they are.

Angela and her children's disability journey situates MyTime Penrith to better understand the supports put in place during the primary school years. Angela has advocated for her children to receive accommodations and supports prior to diagnosis at school. Studying and being knowledgeable in the structure and mechanics of a system is important in her IT career. She believes the same concept applies when navigating the NDIS and the schooling system. The more informed carers are about the system they are operating in, the better they can make informed decisions to maximise the supports for their child. This involves knowing policy, processes and where you are positioned as a carer in each situation with other stakeholders. Too often parents and carers are ill equipped with knowledge and skills to strategically navigate and attain the best supports, which reduces the voice of the most important stakeholder in a child's life. This is a rampant problem that needs addressing in the disability community. 

To counter a hegemonic disempowered positioning of carers, MyTime Penrith is embarking on a learning journey with Angela to better understand navigating school supports through inquiry based learning driven by: "how can we get the best supports for a child with disability at school?" This inquiry learning will occur within the group alongside Angela's journey. 

Within IT systems, processes and routines can be reworked and rerouted if it is not delivering its intended purpose. Angela believes the systems of the NDIS, the disability supports and schooling system can be rewired to further better include families touched by disability. It begins by looking through the lens of families. The work of inclusion needs to always and continually situate parents, carers and people with disability at the core of decision making and as empowered to self determine.

MyTime Penrith would like to thank Angela, Elise and Zoe for sharing their journey and allowing us to learn from their experiences. If you would like to know more about Angela and her journey, feel free to reach out or join one of our future sessions.