Our Stories
Robbie
When Robbie (35) was first born, his immediate future was not very bright due to his Gross Hydrocephalus (fluid on the brain). He was deemed inoperable and his cranial fluid build-up resulted in his head growing a staggering 2 cm per day. He needed special nursing care and the experts gave him a very short life span ... continue
Sarah
Where does one start after caring for an intellectually handicapped daughter for 27 years? Before Sarah came along we functioned like most normal families with two very young active toddlers, Daniel aged 4 and Vanessa aged 2 and after Sarah came along we endured one constant battle after another. ... continue
Dean
Dean is now 31. I tend to refer to him as an adolescent toddler, because to this day he still has such a mixture of these traits. He also has a wonderful heart, he is a good person. But that does not help him to achieve the things he wants from life. ... continue
David
David has Cornelia de Lange Syndrome. This is a genetic aberration which, in David, has caused severe intellectual impairment, a variety of medical problems, extreme language difficulties and behaviour issues. At the age of 26 years he has been assessed at the intellectual level of a toddler. He has obsessive/compulsive and ... continue
Natalie
Our family has five members – Mike, Carmel, Natalie, Anthony and Matthew. This is Natalie’s story. The birth of a child, particularly the first born, is one of the happiest events of all. However, this joy and happiness was soon shattered when Natalie turned blue shortly after birth. Tests revealed that she had … continue
Joe and Justin
My name is Margaret. My husband and I are carers for Joe, 30 years of age and Justin who is 26. They are the only ones of our five sons to be still living at home with us. Both Joe and Justin were born with a rare genetic condition which causes them to be severely intellectually disabled. ... continue
Christopher P
Chris is 24 years of age. He was born with Cerebral Palsy, hydrocephalus, a buckled rib cage and a left side tortacollis. He also has an intellectual disability. At the time he was born I also had another son Tim who was two. ... continue
Daniel
Daniel is thirty-two years old. He is an integral and much loved part of our family. The eldest of four boys, Daniel presented as a “normal” baby boy and we rejoiced in his birth. However, by age one, we were concerned that he was not progressing like other toddlers his age. ... continue
Christopher E
My name is Catherine. My husband and I are caring for our 32 year old son, Christopher, who has been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder with Moderate Intellectual Disability. Christopher displays very uninhibited behaviour ... continue
Craig
We, Christine (58 yrs) and John (63 yrs and a returned service pensioner), are the carer’s and parents of Craig who is 32 years old and is Autistic, with intellectual disabilities. Craig was born 13th March 1977. He was pronounced a healthy baby boy, reaching all milestones average for his age, until he was 22 months. ... continue
Adam
My name is Margaret, I am 58 and my husband Bill is 69. We are the parents and carers for our son, Adam who turned 35 in October. We have a 37 year old daughter, son-in-law and 2 granddaughters aged 7and 10 who live at Carlingford and also assist us to support Adam. ... continue
Roslyn
My daughter Roslyn was diagnosed with a moderate intellectual disability at the age of 2. She was the second of my three daughters.
Roslyn attended Macquarie Hospital for Physiotherapy and Speech Therapy and when it was time for her to go to school she went firstly to Epping West public school ... continue
Rachel
Rachel is 39. She is our much-loved daughter whom we adopted along with her twin brother when she was nine weeks of age. Later, we adopted a third disabled child, making our family complete with five children. ... continue
Grace
My name is Maria I have a daughter, Grace, who has an intellectual disability. Grace was born with no disability at all but when she was 17 months old she had a Febrile Convulsion and then had a lot more, which caused a lesion on her brain. At that time ... continue
Bruce
Bruce was diagnosed with Down’s Syndrome at a very early age. As a young child, Bruce lived a relatively normal life up till the time of school. A decision then had to be made as where he would go for schooling. Crowle home was the choice and he stayed there until he was 18 years old. ... continue
Jessica
Jessica was born 28 years ago. Because Down Syndrome is identified at birth, I knew our future was going to be bleak. All the same, Jessica was much loved from that moment and I knew, no matter what, she was always going to be part of my family. ... continue
Julie
My name is Susan and my sister Julie, who is 37 years old, lives with my mother Lois, who is 64 years old. My father died 13 years ago and during that time my mother has provided and cared for Julie on her own. There is no confirmed diagnosis for Julie but she is intellectually disabled with a mental age of about 7. ... continue