A YARRAVILLE mother is taking her tale of raising a child with severe disability to the world.
Claire Halford has written in a global UNICEF report about the challenges and rewards of raising her five-year son Owen, who has cerebral palsy.
UNICEF’s State of the World’s Children 2013 report calls for better policies to meet the needs of children with disabilities and urges the world to “see the child before the disability”.
Released last week, the report features stories highlighting the challenges faced across the globe, from the poorest countries to the wealthiest.
Mrs Halford says sharing her story has provided greater insight into her own journey. “It was a chance to flesh out those thoughts and give me a good perspective on our situation.”
When Owen was born he was unable to breathe and his brain was deprived of oxygen. He was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at five months and cannot sit, roll, walk or speak. At one point he was having up to 200 seizures a day.
To look after Owen full-time, Mrs Halford passed up an opportunity to return to teaching life drawing and design at university.
She said parents of children with disabilities were riding an endless roller-coaster.
“Friends and family could say or do nothing right, so I sought out others who were in a similar position, through support groups in my area and on the internet.”
Mrs Halford said society’s under- standing of living with disability was slowly improving and she was heartened by the support for the National Disability Insurance Scheme, but there were still many gaps.
UNICEF Children with Disabilities report: unicef.org/sowc2013
