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The Australian Government has launched a national campaign today to inform all Australians about the coronavirus (COVID-19). The campaign includes four videos with captions and are aimed at stopping the spread of the coronavirus: Good Hygiene Starts Here Help Stop the Spread Stay Informed Recent Traveller Easy Read Information If you are looking for Easy […]

Source: AFDO

Many teachers in schools all around Australia have the same burning question at the beginning of a school year. How do I include and not exclude students with Down syndrome into the mainstream classroom? How can I make sure these students access and participate in the same education as the other students in the class? Where do I begin?

Source: Down Syndrome Australia

Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) and Down Syndrome Australia have launched a new national campaign, Welcoming Disability, to address the discrimination faced by people with a disability applying to migrate to Australia. People are being refused Australian visas simply because they have a disability or health issue, even though they meet all other requirements. This can happen even when they are not eligible to access any Australian health or community services. 

The Welcoming Disability campaign is being officially launched in Adelaide on 12 March 2020 by esteemed academic and leading expert in this space, Professor Mary Crock. See the full media release here.

Source: Down Syndrome Australia

Yesterday we featured the story of the Mammen family from WA who managed to secure permanent residency in Australia after initially being denied on the basis that their son Nathaneal failed to meet the migration health requirement – because he had Down syndrome.

Source: Down Syndrome Australia

CoronaVirus – ways to prepare and stay safe. http://bit.ly/32OIHbi This is an Easy Read guide. Easy Read is a method of presenting written English to make it easier to understand for people with learning difficulties or who have another first language. It is also useful for the general community in presenting information that has technical […]

Source: Deafness Forum of Australia

Nathanael was born in New Delhi, India in 2010. Due to the social stigma attached to anyone born with Down syndrome, a negative outlook within the society and lack of any infrastructure or support system in India, we knew he would not get a fair chance to live to his full potential. As parents, our main objective was to provide a positive environment and give him a fair opportunity so he can live an independent life when he grows up. After much research and consultation, his mum Nimi, being a teacher by profession, enrolled in a Master of Education, specialising in Special Education at Edith Cowan University. Her intention was to learn how to teach children with disabilities so we could teach our son the way he learns best. With that, we came to Australia in 2013 when he was just two years old.

Source: Down Syndrome Australia