emma barrett Posted July 26, 2017 Share Posted July 26, 2017 (edited) hi all we currently live in new zeland having moved from the uk 6 months ago. There's myself, my husband and we have 6 children, the eldest is 10 and the youngest is 5 months. we are really struggling here in nz. we Come from sheffield in the UK where there is obviously lots to do and find it far too quiet for us here in nz. also with schools our main concern is our 7 year old has autism (aspergers) and there is little to no support here for him and he's really struggling. my husband is a nurse and has more or less been offered a job in mackay , queensland and he's wanting to go for that. I have slightly more reservations and don't want to jump out of the frying pan and into the fire so to speak! can anyone advise on any of these issues in mackay please? schools in general? autism support in schools and in the mackay region in general? is there much for the kids to do In the area? thanks so much in advance Edited July 26, 2017 by emma barrett Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nemesis Posted July 26, 2017 Share Posted July 26, 2017 (edited) 34 minutes ago, emma barrett said: hi all we currently live in new zeland having moved from the uk 6 months ago. There's myself, my husband and we have 6 children, the eldest is 10 and the youngest is 5 months. we are really struggling here in nz. we Come from sheffield in the UK where there is obviously lots to do and find it far too quiet for us here in nz. also with schools our main concern is our 7 year old has autism (aspergers) and there is little to no support here for him and he's really struggling. my husband is a nurse and has more or less been offered a job in mackay , queensland and he's wanting to go for that. I have slightly more reservations and don't want to jump out of the frying pan and into the fire so to speak! can anyone advise on any of these issues in mackay please? schools in general? autism support in schools and in the mackay region in general? is there much for the kids to do In the area? thanks so much in advance What visa are you using to move to Australia Will your child pass the medical? Edited July 26, 2017 by Nemesis 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LKC Posted July 26, 2017 Share Posted July 26, 2017 Do you already have a visa, or is there one through the employer? With autism it can be a bit of a catch 22 situation. If a child is affected badly enough to qualify for support then a visa may not be possible, and if the autism is mild enough for the visa to be approved then support may not be forthcoming. We have a daughter with Asperger's (diagnosed when we were already citizens) and to be brutally honest we have had very little help and support for her. The only thing she has had is a mental health care plan (because she also has generalised anxiety disorder), which entitled her to a limited number of visits to a psychologist. She has had no help or support at school at all, above and beyond things like being allowed to sit in the library at lunch times if she is feeling overwhelmed. We are in Sydney though, I'm not sure if things might be different in Queensland. One of the reasons that we're heading back to the UK is that we feel she will have better access to support there now she's moving up to high school. As a girl with Asperger's she is likely to need more support as she gets older. Our local high school in Sydney (which she would go to if we had been staying) has a special needs unit, but there are only a few places and she wouldn't qualify. Hopefully someone who is in Queensland might be along to answer more specifically. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eera Posted July 27, 2017 Share Posted July 27, 2017 Hi I'm in Mackay and I have an autistic brother, though he's always been in NSW and things may have changed significantly since he was at school. As a family we found that autism support in Australia was not good compared to the UK; over there he had support, case workers, residential special schooling and adult employment support. In Australia he was given a disability pension and basically left at home. However, in recent years Centrelink has been volunteering to give him other means of support, such as a money referral support so that anyone chasing money off him has to go through Centrelink to get approval - the idea is people can't rip him off for being naive with money - though he's tight as a duck's bum in winter so that's not really necessary. There's also the NDIS which he's been accepted for; we don't know what exactly that's going to provide long term yet, it might be a part time carer or similar. Now, specifically for Mackay; the school my boys go to has a special needs unit, and indeed a colleague with an autistic son was referred to this school because they are set up to deal with kids who need a bit more intervention. I don't know how many other schools around have a similar unit but there is support locally. Can I ask what you find too quiet where you are? If your kids like sport there's more than a hundred clubs to choose from; mine do Little Athletics but you'll find pretty much all martial arts, all forms of ball sports, everything to do with water (though not surfing, the Barrier Reef stops that, we have pretty flat sea), dressage, go-karting, drag racing. You name it. You'll likely find summer weather horrible compared to NZ. Our summer is like you'd get in Singapore - we are in the tropics after all, but winter is glorious and that's when most of the sporting season is. We don't have the brights lights of Brisbane, but Mackay is one of the largest cities outside the southern corner so we aren't exactly lacking in facilities. Rents are currently pretty cheap though there's a couple of major long-term infrastructure jobs which will probably push them up in the coming years. Crime is pretty low overall though there is an ice issue, but that's being found increasingly everywhere. It's been nearly 100 years since anyone was eaten by a crocodile locally, but stingers are an issue in summer, though the lifeguards drag the water and close the beaches if anything nasty comes in. The beaches are uncrowded, there's plenty of boat ramps and fishing facilities and good, locally grown food. Let me know specifically what you're after and I'll answer honestly, pm me if you don't want to post here. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottieGirl Posted July 27, 2017 Share Posted July 27, 2017 Whereabouts in NZ are you? I wouldn't describe Mackay as a metropolis and it's a long way to Brisbane. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaia Posted July 27, 2017 Share Posted July 27, 2017 Hi Emma, I have to say that if you are finding Nz too quiet Mackay may not be the ideal place either, it's regional Queensland. And speaking from experience disability services once you're out of the metropolitan area of Brisbane are really not all that great. Queensland and Mackay are nice enough but you may be in a situation where you are facing the same problems but in a hotter country. And to reiterate what another poster said above the visa process with a child with a disability of any sort is not straightforward. Whereabouts in Nz are you at the moment and what sort of visa would you be coming over on? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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