Guest Batesy Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 Hi everyone, I'm looking for some advice please. Let me explain my circumstances... Last year i went to Australia on a tourist visa for 6 months to see if i wanted to emigrate with my then partner who was Australian. We had already started the process of the spouse visa, and enlisted the help of a migration agent. My son who is now 5 (but at the time was still 3) had been waiting to be seen by a Paediatrician in the UK for over a year (he was referred through his nursery at the time, not a doctor) so while we were in Aus, we had him seen privately by a company called ISADD who specialise in diagnosing Autism and developmental delay. We got a diagnosis of mild Autism, subject to confirmation by a Paediatrician, which we didn't have time to do before i came back to the UK. When we got our medicals done in the UK for the spouse visa (and this was before the diagnosis in Oz) the Panel Doctor didn't actually pick up there was anything wrong with my son apart from mild speech delay, and i volunteered the information about the Autistic traits. Now our migration agent told me i basically shouldn't have said anything if the doctor hadn't picked up on it, as it would cause problems with the visa. Now things didn't work out between my partner and i, but i still want to move to Oz. Our local council accepted my son into our local primary schools additional support base from the diagnosis we have, but the primary school also suggested deferring him for a year and i work with him at home (they know about me wanting to move back and think it might be more beneficial to just prepare him now, to start school in Oz next year). What i'm wondering, as there are no medical records of him having Autism here, no school statements, and as its not all that noticeable apart from his speech, would i be better working with him at home and just mentioning the speech problem to the Panel Doctor when the time comes? Or did the migration agent give me bad advice? As for visas, I have an occupation on the skills list (60 points) but not sure which visa to apply for yet, as i hear the PR ones are harder to get (i.e. more thorough!) I have about 2 weeks to decide, I'm pretty confused what i should do :confused: Any advice you can give would be much appreciated! Claire Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest36187 Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 You`d also have to look at the legalities of moving your son away from his father. Talk to Tracey123 - They have just been through this and can help you with that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Batesy Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 Thats not a problem, i already have permission to move him out of the country. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest30038 Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 Hi Claire, as there is no official diagnosis I would say nothing. A diagnosis of Autism would require a full disciplinary team covering neurology, speech therapist etc. Although ISADD appears to be a reputable organisation, I would be wary of anyone using the phrase "mild autism". A more recognised diagnosis would be Autistic Spectrum Disorder which encompasses all autism with the disciplinary team emphasising (to you) which type of autism. The reason that a diagnosis should be worded in this manner is that many authorities such as centrelink would automatically assume that if a child is labelled with "mild autism" or "Aspergers syndrome" they would automatically assume that the child was functioning in a manner (not heavily disabled) that would exclude them, or you, from financial assitance by way of a carers allowance or similar, and perhaps even exclude them from learning support. A disabilty is a disability, and my personal experience is that a "high functioning" child ie one appearing to be mildly autistic, may well function entirely different on another day with certain stressors present. I wish you and your son all the best for the future, but I strongly suggest that if in the future you want confirmation via a diagnosis, that the diagnosis as written by the head of the multi-disciplinary team, be "Autistic Spectrum Disorder"........the word "mild" should never be used as although it may appear mild to others, there can be great trauma for the child in trying to function in such a manner and what goes on in the child's head may not be mild but extremely traumatic, irrespective of how he/she presents to others. kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest gail.crease Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 I think it depends if a disability will cost the medicare/local authority anything. I read recently of a case whereby a doctor had a downs syndrome kid and was denied a PR visa because of this. He was working here on a temporary visa and fought his case and won. My son was born with a kidney problem and had been operated on by the time of our medical. However our visa was delayed for 6 months until he'd been signed off by the consultant. My daughter had an obvious eye problem that the panel doctor noticed but it didn't affect the visa. Interestingly enough my son has been fine since we arrived. He has 6 monthly hospital appointments for kidney scans which are free on medicare. However my daughter had an operation on both eyes that we paid $3,000 for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gollywobbler Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 Hi Claire Is your ex-partner (the Aussie) the father of the child in question, please? I ask because if the child's father is an Aussie Citizen, the child is an Australian Citizen by descent. Please could you clarify this bit? Cheers Gill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Batesy Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 Hi Claire, as there is no official diagnosis I would say nothing. A diagnosis of Autism would require a full disciplinary team covering neurology, speech therapist etc. Although ISADD appears to be a reputable organisation, I would be wary of anyone using the phrase "mild autism". A more recognised diagnosis would be Autistic Spectrum Disorder which encompasses all autism with the disciplinary team emphasising (to you) which type of autism. The reason that a diagnosis should be worded in this manner is that many authorities such as centrelink would automatically assume that if a child is labelled with "mild autism" or "Aspergers syndrome" they would automatically assume that the child was functioning in a manner (not heavily disabled) that would exclude them, or you, from financial assitance by way of a carers allowance or similar, and perhaps even exclude them from learning support. A disabilty is a disability, and my personal experience is that a "high functioning" child ie one appearing to be mildly autistic, may well function entirely different on another day with certain stressors present. I wish you and your son all the best for the future, but I strongly suggest that if in the future you want confirmation via a diagnosis, that the diagnosis as written by the head of the multi-disciplinary team, be "Autistic Spectrum Disorder"........the word "mild" should never be used as although it may appear mild to others, there can be great trauma for the child in trying to function in such a manner and what goes on in the child's head may not be mild but extremely traumatic, irrespective of how he/she presents to others. kev Hey thanks for replying. What we we got in writing is that he is on the Autistic Spectrum, and classed as 'high functioning'. That was what was in the 16 page diagnosis, it was very thorough. What they said to us was that he had mild Autism. The assessment did involve a speech therapist and psychologist. There have been some of my family members question the diagnosis because its done over the course of a day, and on that particular day he chose not to be very compliant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Batesy Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 Hi Claire Is your ex-partner (the Aussie) the father of the child in question, please? I ask because if the child's father is an Aussie Citizen, the child is an Australian Citizen by descent. Please could you clarify this bit? Cheers Gill Hi Gill, Sorry i didnt make that clear! No the Aussie isn't my sons biological father, was just a long term relationship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gollywobbler Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 Hi Gill, Sorry i didnt make that clear! No the Aussie isn't my sons biological father, was just a long term relationship. Hi Claire In a situation like this, 99% of migration agents are not worth bothering to talk to. Very few of them know anything much about the workings of the Health requirement for migration and have any competent experience of dealing with it in practice. The only migration agent that I would be bothering to talk to if I were in your own shoes is George Lombard, in Sydney: Profile | George Lombard Consultancy Pty. Ltd. What s your occupation, please? That may well have a significant impact on everything (ie on which visa to choose etc) so it is well worth asking you what you do. Cheers Gill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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