AEIOU Brighton
Opening Soon!
adults working successfully in a range of industries and
businesses.
I discover more about their work experience at
lunchtime when I head to the Tradeblock Café. This is
staffed by teachers and students from the school and
offers a delicious menu. Several office workers from the
neighbourhood are tucking into their soup, sandwich, cake
and coffee.
During the lunch break, the senior students (60 of the
total 80 enrolments) play table tennis in their courtyard,
football on their extensive playing field, or sit in huddles to
chat with their hands.
I spend the afternoon in the primary school where a class
of six (Grade 5/6) students make cat mummies as part of an
Egyptian project. There are three adults in the room today
– Art teacher (Ricketson), trainee teacher and educational
support person (both Deaf). The Department of Education
funds these small classes with high teacher-to-student ratios
as well as the taxi services. Apparently there are countries
such as Sweden that do it better, but it’s all a question of
money.
Throughout the day there is a tangible sense of
camaraderie between students and teachers and I feel as
though I’m observing one big happy family rather than a
disparate group of children from all parts of the world. In
some cases, a child might be the only Deaf member of his/
her family and if they are the only one who speaks Auslan,
they feel more isolated at home than at this school.
Melbourne is a big city and when the taxis arrive at
the end of the day (3pm) some will have a long journey to
deliver their passengers home. From what I observed, if the
typical parental question of “Did you have a good day at
school?” is asked, the answer will a resounding “Yes”.
More information at http://www.vcd.vic.edu.au/
Enrolments are now
open for the new
AEIOU centre for
children with autism,
opening in Brighton
in November.
Visit
aeiou.org.au
for more
information,
or phone
1300 273 435
With purpose-built facilities, and a program
that meets the Guidelines for Good
Practice (2012), AEIOU creates a lifetime of
opportunities for children with autism.
Our program includes a minimum 20 hours
therapy per week, fundable through the NDIS.
As a family-focused service, we provide training
and support to parents and carers to achieve
goals in the home and community setting.