Primary aims:
• To inform and support families/whanau whose lives have
been changed by Down syndrome
• To promote and advocate for positive attitudes
• To promote the rights and inclusion of people with Down
syndrome
• To review policies and lobby government, and other agencies
The NZDSA offers:
• new parent support - through trained support parents
• national coordinator
• regional groups - activities throughout thirteen centres
in New Zealand including coffee mornings, family events, guest
speakers and individual support and advocacy
• newsletter - a quarterly update of news, information
and stories, sent to all members
• information packs - for schools, professionals, family
and friends
• website www.nzdsa.org.nz
• freephone number 0800 NZDSAI - so parents and professionals
can easily be linked to support parents or a central information
number
Southern Stars Charitable Trust
Southern Stars Charitable Trust will be calling throughout the Auckland region from Monday 30 June to raise funds to allow NZDSA to produce the "Transition from Schools" resource and toward other projects we have planned. Visit www.southernstars.org.nz to find out more about the work of Southern Stars Charitable Trust.
Sovereign Sunshine online charity vote
The NZDSA is delighted to announce that we received the most votes in the Sovereign Sunshine online charity vote.
We would like to thank you for your vote - we won because of your support!
Your vote will enable us to provide an additional support service to young people with Down syndrome and their family and whanau.
We would also like to acknowledge and commend Sovereign for this unique initiative to support charities that are smaller, less well known and who find funding more of a challenge.
NZDSA AGM announcement
Announcing the New Zealand Down Syndrome Association's
Annual General Meeting
Sunday 14th September 2008, 11am
Venue: Concorde Rooms (A & B)
Sudima Hotel
Cnr Corner Memorial Avenue & Orchard Road Christchurch
Who gets born?
The Bioethics Council has released a report presenting the findings of the 'Who gets born? Pre-birth testing' project, which was run in 2007 and early 2008. It includes sections on the public deliberation process used for the project, how participants worked through the issues, and the Council thinking and recommendations to the government.
The report is available here.
Schools Plus
Schools Plus, recently launched by the Prime Minister, is the policy being developed to achieve the government?s goal that all young people are in education, skills, or structured learning relevant to their needs and abilities until the age of 18. The government plans to work with schools, tertiary education organisations, business, families and wh?nau, and iwi and communities to achieve this goal by 2011.
As a starting point, the government wants to hear ideas about the best way to implement Schools Plus. The Schools Plus discussion document sets out what the initiative is about and the kind of issues that need to be considered. You can find this document on www.schoolsplus.govt.nz. All submissions should be received by 31 May 2008. You can post the submission to:
Schools Plus
Ministry of Education
P O Box 1666
Wellington
Or email to: schools.plus@minedu.govt.nz
Collection Of Evidence Of Practices That Prevent Disabled Children Fully Participating At Their Local School.
IHC is currently preparing a complaint to the Human Rights Commission against practices that exclude disabled children from full participation at their local school. Families are invited to participate in this complaint... more
World Down Syndrome Day
On Wednesday 12 March the NZDSA celebrated World Down Syndrome Day at Government House Wellington. At our annual T4T event three national achievements awards were presented.
The Dominion Post, in addition to running photographs from yesterday's High Tea, have also included a short video, which can be viewed here:
www.stuff.co.nz/dominionpost/4437362a6479.html
www.gg.govt.nz/media/images.asp
World Down Syndrome Day (WDSD)
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If you are interested in hosting a T4T event in your region in 2009,
please register your interest so that we can send you a quick guide information pack.
Please contact Zandra 0800 693 724 or national.coordinator@nzdsa.org.nz
Announcing the Transition Process DVD
A resource package for parents and educators who are transitioning children into Daycare, Kindy and School.
The NZDSA's objective for this DVD is:
- to provide parents with information and support to facilitate a successful transition process
- to support and present information to educators involved with the transition process
- to provide a generic resource explaining the Ongoing and Reviewable Resourcing Scheme (ORRS) and Transition, and
- to raise awareness and promote inclusion.
The Transition Process DVD follows the stories of the families featured in
We welcome your Baby which is part of the New Parent Pack. It also introduces a few new families.
The DVD consists of the following sections:
- Transition overview (7mins)
- Our stories (33mins)
- ORRS Funding (10mins)
- Daycare and Kindy (15mins)
- Dual Diagnosis (8mins)
- Educators' Perspectives (15mins).
The NZDSA has put together a Transition to Daycare, Kindy and School Pack which consists of:
- The Transition Process DVD
- the booklet Starting School by the Ministry of Education
- a poster Code for New Zealand Schools by IHC.
NZDSA members who have children with Down syndrome between the ages of 3-6 are entitled to one free copy of the DVD pack. Parents may request the Transition Pack from National office - please call Linda te Kaat, the National Administrator 0800 693 724 press 2 or email her.
Parents or educators who are not members of the NZDSA can purchase the packs for $20.00. Please contact Linda as well.
Carers Strategy Update
The Government has launched the Carers' Strategy and we have formally entered the five year Action Plan period. You can access the Strategy and Action Plan document by going to www.carers.net.nz and clicking the homepage Strategy button, which links directly to the document at MSD's website. Or you can access the online document at www.msd.govt.nz
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