adrianbooth

Hi, we emigrated from OZ 3 years ago and now live south of sydney in Helensburgh. We lived in Melbourne for 6 months a couple of years ago but our autism experiences started about a year and a half ago when our son (now 4.5) was diagnosed. Because we live in Helensburgh which just comes outside of sydney boundaries we got great support from northcot who are based down south. There is also a school run ny ASPECT in corrimal. I am told that if in sydney getting into ASPECT school is like winning the lottery however we applied to Corrimal last november and got in this Feb so a bit of comparison. Postcode lotteries and numbers come to mind like some things in UK. Im not sure what support there is in Melbourne but I'm a member of a Facebook forum which has members in that are so they would be able to help. RCN is the name of the forum so I could refer. We find costs here extremely expensive to the point that I'm looking at jobs back in the UK. Reality is that our house here is twice the cost of where we were in UK so mortgage is silly. Of course I get paid double but it only costs up i think if you are younger. For me we moved later in life and so have little time to make up so may consider going back. Things like medicals are 4* that of uk and private health only seems to cover inpatient services. Its been an eye opener this 3 years what you normally expect in UK and what the equivalent is here. Thats not to say I don't like it here but expect to pay much more. Melbourne is cheaper in the outer suburbs than sydney of course. SPeech therapy here costs around $120/hr as does OT and although we get FACHCI (the 12k until they are 7) you cannot use it to pay towards school fees at ASPECT for some reason. We were offered a transition year for our son at DET which was great but only 2 half days per week and for chris because he was born in August would go to normal school next Jan. In uk he would have started last September at 4years 1month. That would have been way way to early for him so in his case , at the moment, he is better here i think I am trying to find out if there are schools like the ASPECT ones here in NSW but havnt found any yet. Does anyone know if they exist? Regards Adrian

Hi again. We are just driving back from a drive down to shellharbour. I'm happy to give you my mob and Skype I'd if I can work out how to do it privately. Albion park rail is good for car places too on main princes highway. Can't miss them all clumped together. I quite like the Toyota camry. Nice sized family car and fairly cheap to run. Some dont like them but they just work and don't break down in my experience. Move from uk was reasonable. But homes sickness is hard. Leaving family and harder is all the friends. We discovered that our son has autism too so that's made it more isolating for us with lots more to cope with. We spent some time in Melbourne first. Caringbah. Nowra. Engadine and mow bought In helensburgh. Use country trains for going to work which are much better than the suburban ones. Hate driving in syd but gong is easy. Friend at work lives in campeltown and finds it ok Adroan --- I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=-34.405195,150.883745

we have a son 4 years old in 2 weeks time and have been in aus 2.5 years now originally from Tamworth Staffs.

Hi there. We live in Helensburgh which is a bit north of wollongong but happy to help if I can. We know more about stanwell park and the like which is nice though and also know the nowra area further south. Cars there is a row of dealers in north wollongong where I got my hyundai from. What sort you after? To be honest we would love to work further down south that way but at the moment I work in the city so didn't want to be much further south. Adrian