by Dancing Wombat | Sep 14, 2018 | Achievements, Blog, Learning Through Performance
Every instrument, including the wildly underappreciated recorder, has its own charms. When it comes to instrument playing in the younger years – especially in a specialist/special needs setting, where I teach – the recorder is a prime example of how...
by Dancing Wombat | Jul 26, 2018 | Achievements, Blog, Family and Community, Identity and Belonging, Sensory Issues
Dear Village Roadshow Theme Parks, I’m guessing from the week my family just spent visiting your Gold Coast Theme Parks that you don’t see a lot of special needs (“SN”) families like us. Your limited special needs services, autism insensitivity, contradictory...
by Dancing Wombat | Jun 11, 2018 | Achievements, Behaviour and Communication, Blog, Coping Strategies, Sensory Issues
Ongoing eye surgery My daughter had a major operation three years ago to give her new lenses – new eyes, as we described it. Her eyesight improved dramatically and the child who had needed glasses from the age of 21 months now moved around confidently without them....
by Dancing Wombat | Mar 13, 2018 | Achievements, Blog, Coping Strategies
My oldest son made a courageous decision, a few weeks ago, to return to schooling. He was courageous, because he really didn’t want to do it. He came to this decision reluctantly, begrudgingly…and two weeks into the beginning of term. He was courageous, because he was...
by Dancing Wombat | Dec 12, 2017 | Achievements, Blog, Health and Fitness, Life Skills, Sensory Issues
Opportunities for special needs kids (and adults) to get involved in mainstream sports are limited, although you mightn’t think so from all the media promotion and sports groups out there. So I’ve always been keen to encourage my daughter to participate in...
by Dancing Wombat | Nov 13, 2017 | Achievements, Behaviour and Communication, Blog, Coping Strategies, Family and Community
Living with teens is, to my mind, like an uncertain trek through the ‘Stans’ of the ancient Silk Route – Afghanistan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and so on. We often view the ‘Stans’ as metaphors for uncertainty,...