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Choice of school an illusion for disabled children

Preliminary research by CCS Disability Action shows that for many families the 'choice' of which school to send their disabled child to may be an illusion.
Two parents described themselves as ‘lucky’ when the school accepted the child and another two had to move their whole family to another city to find a suitable school that would welcome their child.

CCS Disability Action has now launched phase 2 of a this research project to look in more detail at the kinds of choices parents and families have (or don’t have) when their disabled child starts school or needs to change school.

If you are a parent, family member, whanau, or caregiver who has applied for ORRS funding for your child under the criteria of 'learning' or 'language use and social communication' – even if the application for ORRS was not successful – please get in touch. You can take part in the survey even if you have a child or children no longer in the education system.

Contact your local CCS Disability Action office for a copy of the survey - phone 0800 227 2255.
Or you can complete the survey online: www.ccsdisabilityaction.org.nz
Surveys needs to be completed by Friday, 3 June 2011.

What's is the research about?
The Families Choices: Choosing School(s) project describes the kinds of choices parents, families and whanau have when their disabled child starts school or needs to change school.
• What kinds of choices do parents have to make?
• What sorts of things influence those choices?
• How can we support families to make these choices?
• How do these choices impact on disabled children and their families, and the community?

Who can take part?
We are looking for parents, families and whanau or caregivers who have applied for ORRS funding under the criteria of ‘learning’ or ‘language use and social communication’ and have:
• been successful, or
• not been successful, or
• have a child/children no longer in the education system but did apply for ORRS funding in the past.
This survey should only take 10-15 minutes to complete. The survey answers will be confidential and anonymous. The collected information will remain private – your name is not required.

ENDS

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