It’s been a more challenging year than usual for parents of children with a disability. Several services have been cut due to a lack of funding leaving families without crucial support. But one community group in southern Tasmania is doing its bit to keep families connected.
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00:00Kristen Matheson is an aerial therapeutics teacher for children with autism and other
00:10forms of neurodivergence.
00:12There's been major improvements in their physicality and also emotionally as well, with emotional
00:20regulation.
00:21A lot of those clients now cannot access me through NDIS anymore.
00:26NDIS cuts in October have meant some participants are unable to access therapies in the creative
00:32space.
00:33Kristen says this puts extra pressure on parents.
00:36They're the ones that are going to need to be lying in the hammock because it's going
00:40to create chaos for a lot of families.
00:43Earlier this year, Autism Tasmania shut its doors due to a lack of federal funding.
00:48Autism Tasmania ran support groups for parents and all of that's scrapped now as well.
00:54Quirky Kids and Families is a community support group.
00:57It holds monthly events in the Derwent Valley, tailored to supporting diversity in children.
01:03And the children are free to just be themselves without being forced into the little mould
01:08that we try to push these children into.
01:11And the people who care for them.
01:13It is more so that the parents can bounce ideas off each other and just talk to each
01:18other.
01:19It's also about being in an environment where we're not judged.
01:22With various support services being cut in Tasmania and NDIS support being reduced, community
01:28groups like this one say they feel they're becoming more important than ever.
01:32They say they're filling a growing gap in connection and support.
01:36Unfortunately, the grants that we usually rely on weren't available this year.
01:40We've done everything fundraising.
01:42We're going backwards pretty much when it comes to disability and the supports that
01:48we have.
01:49A community facing adversity, but finding reasons to smile.