Corey's Story - one of our new kids on the block!

“Happy, determined, loving, determined, quizzical, determined, joyful, determined, endearing and did I mention determined???” These are the words his mother Lisa used to represent Corey when asked how best to describe him to someone that doesn’t know him.

Corey is just 6 1/2 and joined the Kindergarten Class at St Gabriel’s earlier this year, after a number of stress filled and anxious pre-school years.

Corey got a virus in the first few days of his life and the result was cerebral palsy, profound deafness and cortical visual impairment. Not a trifecta that you would wish on any one but despite his challenges, Corey is getting on with his life in a way that sends a shiver of inspiration down your spine.

The doctors had told them their son would do no more than lie on the floor and dribble, but they didn’t accept that prognosis and have been fighting ever since for their son’s quality of life.

Those early years are a blur of doctor’s appointments, physios, specialist after specialist visits to numerous organisations that assist with Corey’s various disabilities. His parents went to the Shepherd Centre, Matilda Rose, Vision Australia the Spastic Centre – you name it, they would explore it searching for the best possible care and seeking out the best possible opportunities for their son to lead any semblance of normal life.

Their path bought them to St Gabriel’s late last year. They wanted a school that would provide support for his disabilities and provide him with a decent education where he had a chance to learn to communicate, be independent and happy and such is their dedication to their son, the family has recently re-located the home from the southern suburb of Illawong where they were hoping to settle - to West Ryde, all to be closer to the school that was educating and nurturing their son.

And they couldn’t have got it more right….Corey’s Mum says he has blossomed in the care of the staff at St Gabriel’s. The improvement in his communication and understanding is outstanding in the short time he has been coming. He is beginning to break that complex literacy code starting with writing and recognising his own name and those of his friends. It’s very exciting to see his development and that he just simply LOVES school.

Corey’s family will spend the immediate future settling into their new home, safe in the knowledge that they have made the best decision they could for Corey’s future and he is in the best environment for his needs. In his mother’s opinion – “the only environment that was right for Corey”

How St Gabriel’s helped Melanie and her family..

Annette spoke from the heart at last year’s Charity Golf Dinner. Here is a little of what she had to say:

“When our baby daughter Melanie, was diagnosed with severe to profound sensori-neural hearing loss we felt fear, disbelief and helplessness - our baby girl was deaf!.

‘Sensori-neural’ was the first of many long words we were about to become very familiar with, as we began on this challenging journey.

We also heard a much less scary couple of words: “Early Intervention” - the specialised education given to hearing impaired babies and children during their first five years, in order to maximise their potential for normal speech and listening.

At five months old, Melanie joined the Early Intervention Centre (EIC) at St Gabriel’s School for Hearing Impaired Children. Therapy consisted of a weekly home visit in the first few weeks, then ongoing weekly tailor-made auditory verbal speech therapy sessions for Melanie and also educated us, counselled us and assisted us with the practical side of things… such as how to keep an impossibly large hearing aid on an impossibly small ear and keep it from whistling at the same time.

We were optimistic that early intervention, together with an early diagnosis and the consistent use of hearing aids would result in Melanie being able to talk. But the words just didn’t come.

After some time, it became apparent that Melanie was not reaching the normal milestones that would have been expected following her implant. Although she was hearing well and understanding most things said to her, it seemed she had a significant developmental delay. This meant that schooling options were very few, as she didn’t quite meet the criteria set.

90% of children, who go through St Gabriel’s Early Intervention programme, are able to join their peers at mainstream school by the age of five. You may have wondered what happens to the other 10% of children who don’t make it to mainstream school.

Melanie is one of those children.

Students are enrolled for a variety of reasons at St Gabriel’s School. They may, like Melanie, have an unidentified syndrome that poses learning or physical challenges in addition to hearing impairment. Or they may need further help with their language skills before being integrated into mainstream schooling.

Each child has their own Individual Education Programme that targets their language and cognitive needs. Providing 30 different programmes requires a myriad of educational resources, equipment and not least, incredibly skilled teachers and teachers aides.

We chose St Gabriel’s School for Melanie, because of its fundamental goal to provide an ‘as normal as possible’ school environment. In addition to school work, each child is encouraged to be independent, learn Christian values and many important social skills.

I have never met such a beautiful group of children as those who attend St Gabriel’s- all with big hearts, innocent minds, and a zest to try anything and everything that a “normal” kid can do.

Sometimes I wonder who is teaching who. For we have learned patience, perseverance, the true meaning of unconditional love, and a new appreciation for the things that really matter in life.

Do we still experience fear, disbelief, and helplessness? Our feelings of disbelief have turned to acceptance.

We accept that deafness does not discriminate – it can affect any child. We accept that Melanie will always have more challenges than most. We accept that deafness and the inability to speak is only one part of Melanie and we embrace her vivacious personality, her ready smile and her need to always be in the thick of everything.

We don’t feel helpless any more. We know there is still more we can do to help Melanie reach her potential. We feel privileged to be in partnership with St Gabriel’s, together supporting Melanie as she continues on her journey.

As the parents of a child who has needed every ounce of expertise that could be offered, we sincerely thank those who support Melanie through the Early Intervention Centre and St Gabriel’s School.

- Annette