Chantae was born with Tuberous Sclerosis, Autism, Epilepsy and over time has also developed severe anxiety. I am Kerry,  Chantae’s mom.

I became concerned about my daughter's mental health and ability to cope in a mainstream school environment. Recognising that Chantae could thrive in a different learning environment, I decided to home school Chantae.

Removing her from school was not an easy decision but a tough one that had to be made.  After 2 terms of home schooling, despite having an NDIA plan approved, we were struggling. We just couldn't find providers in our area that were registered with the NDIA. After many phone calls, we could get a respite worker and 2 therapists, one being a speech therapist and the other being an ABA therapist. But as they are so busy we could only access them once a fortnight. We just don't have the workers here in Victor Harbor or the facilities for children with disabilities. Instead of waiting for mainstream services and providers to fill the gap, I decided to rolled up my sleeves and do it myself for Chantae and her friends. 

I realised I had the experience and skills to offer respite care. So I decided to  registered my own business and I am offering respite on weekends and ‘’Social Skills, Life Skills’’ during the week in the Victor Harbor region.

I have set up my home to enable me to teach children to make their own meals even if it is just basic skills like preparing toast. Many of her peers are unable to spread their own bread. I have a room set up, classroom style with lots of games and arts and crafts. We have the beach right behind our house with a big playground. Some children are unable to visit these places yet as they are ‘’runners’’ and have no idea of safety.

My DREAM is to eventually get a community house where carers can bring the children together and we can teach the children to fend for themselves while carers help them out when needed.

I would love a community house that has a big backyard so we can have some chooks, guinea pigs, rabbits, with the opportunity to teach them the responsibilities of taking care of another living being. I would love them to collect eggs and bring them into a kitchen where they can then cook them up or bake a cake. I would love these children to be able to maintain a yard full of fruit trees and a vegetable garden and then use the produce to cook or even sell it in the community, teaching them the value of money and the skill of buying and selling.  I would love this community house to teach them about cleaning and maintaining a house, if a wall needs to be painted, we teach them to paint it, if a chair needs fixing, we teach them to fix it etc.....

So, I know I am only one person trying to start all this in my own home with my daughter who has a disability, but my girl has shown me that although she cannot read or write, she can now manage to do the basic things in life and this is more than I have ever thought was possible!  I now have limited free time, as home schooling a child with a disability is time consuming and can be extremely lonely for both myself and her and therefore I want to be able to offer other children my time and help them become the best person that they can be.

I have so many other things I would love to be able to get up and running, but I must prove myself to the community that it is needed here in Victor Harbor before I will get any help from them. So, I will continue to help other families that are struggling and need extra support in my home. Once I have saved enough money to get a community house up and running, I will be that lady that is trying her hardest for any child struggling. My main concern for these wonderful children is that they are not alone in a world that is very lonely if you have a disability. How nice would it be if they could all learn to work together with carers and make friends with each other doing what so many other people take for granted.

MY DREAM WILL COME TRUE ONE DAY!!