#1424 Saturday 10 December

It's a hot day and we're not doing much .... just staying under the airconditioning.

#1423 Friday 9 December

I love the way that Kaylia has learned to show affection and express feelings ..... this morning,  as we were preparing for departure to school, Kaylia came over to me and hugged me ..... and then went and hugged Joe.  It was a special moment.

You may remember my rant a few weeks ago about the Medicare benefit available to children with a disability? ..... and that the benefit literally  cannot be claimed because of the disability?   Well I wrote to the Federal Minister for Health about the issue .... and I received a written response yesterday.  Basically the response was that "Yes, that's correct .... the legislation was written that way."!!!!  Isn't that appalling?

So .... this is what I wrote to our local Federal Member .....

My daughter has severe autism and she is unable to receive any normal dental procedure as she cannot remain still enough for a dentist to work.  Consequently all dental work must be performed under general anaesthesia in hospital.
Under the CDBS, she is entitled to receive a benefit.  However, in-hospital treatment is excluded.  That is... because of her disability, she cannot access the benefits under CDBS!
On 22 November 2016, I wrote to the Hon Sussan Ley to point out this crazy anomaly.  Yesterday I received a reply (Ref : MC16-033221) which basically acknowledged the situation and said that the legislation was written that way.

Do you agree that a child with a disability should not be excluded from a benefit solely because the child has a disability?

#1422 Thursday 8 December

She's getting so tall!  When she wears the brace, she is forced to stand up straight .... and she looks so good.  I'll try to get a photo.

#1421 Wednesday 7 December

I'm sitting on the balcony .... and a few metres away I have our resident magpie talking away to me.

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Kaylia continues to be very excited about the trip.  I hope her excitement extends into the time there ...... she tends to always focus on the next thing .... forgetting about the "now".This morning I have completed the tasks that needed to be done before the Bali trip in 11 days time. The spa roof still has a few details to be done but it can wait.

Evening:  we've all gathered on Kaylia's bed .... and she is pushing for "Dr Daddy" .... teeth cleaning.  ...... and the out of the blue she says .... "I like Dr Daddy." ...... wow!   This is serious language development.  She has taken a concept she knows and applied the concept to a new subject.  I get excited when she does things like this.

On a completely different topic .... I only play one game on my phone .... and it pops up ads between each game.  It just popped up an ad about snoring .... a very important topic .... so I thought see what the ad was about. It was promoting a jaw support strap .... which I already have.  The price? $99!!! I need the support after my jaw dropped at that.  I bought mine on Ebay for $2!  Rip off!

#1420 Tuesday 6 December

Teddy is a very weird dog!  It's always been a struggle to find a dog food that he would eat .... but his reluctance to eat is reaching new extremes.  Yesterday it thought I'd give him a treat with a piece of cooked steak ..... he looked at it ..... looked from the left ..... looked from the right ..... sniffed it from all angles ...... shoved it around ..... and finally he delicately nibbled it down.   It was quite a performance.  Any normal dog would have gobbled it before it hit the floor.   Maybe he has autism!

Kaylia continues to tell us about how she likes school .... "I like school."   ..... over and over ..... I coach her with other ways to say it .... but her mind is fixed on the one sentence.  She wants to say other things ..... but (big smile) .... "I like school!"

4pm  I'm upstairs on the bed ..... Kaylia likes to flop when she gets home from school .... so we spend time in the cool breeze from the fan .... each with our phones!

#1419 Monday 5 December

Kaylia was very happy this morning .... she's a delight.   .... and she was excited when Naomi told her that she has another visit to the dictor on Friday!!!   That visit is to see the orthopaedic surgeon who is managing her treatment for kyphosis ... the brace.

The gradual introduction of the brace is going well .... she is still accepting it and the wearing time is increasing.

As I write, Teddy has found a warm place on the roof to relax.

#1418 Sunday 4 December

It's 8:30pm .... shes been very happy all day but now she's arcing up over something .... sounds like "di-o" .... who knows!   We will just have to wait her out again.

It lasted for another half hour.   When I went in at 10:30 for her "wee run", I found that the wee was right in progress!! So it was wet bed and a wet trail to the bathroom!   Ho hum.