Daughter’s diagnosis inspires mum to take up learning course
Amelia Allan knew she was different from other kids in her class.
The 10-year-old would come home from school in tears, saying she was “dumb and stupid”.
But after a diagnosis of dyslexia, auditory processing disorder, neurological delayed disorder and mild Asperger’s syndrome in 2022, her life changed drastically.
Daily therapy had helped with her handeye co-ordination, and a three-month integrated listening programme had allowed her to catch up with reading.
An average of two meltdowns a day had also reduced to once every fortnight – “if that”, her mum, Marsha Allan, said.
It was the journey with her daughter’s neurodiversity that inspired Allan to apply for a new NZMA course addressing the demand for educators with specialised knowledge in neurodivergent children.
The level 4 certificate in Supporting Diverse Learners was launched this year, and aims to “bridge the gap” of educators trained to cater to the diverse spectrum of neurodivergent learners, Kirstin Brown of NZMA says.
It was important for educators to understand the complexity of neurodiversity and how it presented itself, Brown said. “The key is to recognise the signs, talk to the student, and intervene from a point of understanding.”
One of the most disappointing aspects of the education system was teachers telling Amelia to try harder and questioning why she was struggling, Allan said.
“If we’re negative to them, they’re going to be negative on themselves and negative to other people around them – and it’s that follow-on effect.”
She believed there was a lack of understanding in general about neurodiversity, and it could be detrimental to mental health.
It had not been easy to get a diagnosis for Amelia. The Christchurch family travelled to Tauranga to be able to have a range of tests done in one place.
It was the simple things Amelia struggled with, but learning support and therapy had helped her feel like she could fit in.
Recently, when she realised that another boy in her class also had auditory processing disorder, she decided to take him under her wing and help him to communicate with teachers who struggled to understand him.
“She’s always engaged with kids who seem left out, because she was there at some point,” her mother said.
“She’s sort of like to me to a certain point, where I think she can see the difference in kids and just wants to help them be better, because she knows that she got that far.”
It had been a struggle to find resources and information about neurodiversity, and Allan was “stoked” when she came across the course.
“Knowing that it’s just changing a little way they learn or finding the thing that works best for them is what I want to help with. I feel like after everything we’ve done with Amelia, this is my calling.”
For Kim Davies, who is also on the course, a nephew in her care was her encouragement to apply. The 5-year-old was diagnosed this year after a three-year struggle.
The family moved to Tauranga from Rotorua in the hope they would come across better support for a diagnosis.
Davies said her nephew, who she did not wish to be named, had global developmental delay, and she hoped the course would help her learn about different learning styles. “My nephew has taught me so much, and I just love working with him.”
She had had many people tell her that her nephew did not “look autistic”, or teachers who did not understand that neurodivergence could bring social anxiety and difficulty communicating, which could lead to behavioural problems.
It had been heartbreaking when she would get calls every day to pick him up from kindergarten because he was overwhelmed.
Davies said she felt passionate about creating more awareness around neurodiversity, and encouraged others to take up the course. “If you understand him better, you’ll have this really cool, calm kid.”
The Ministry of Education does not have data on how many autistic or neurodiverse children are in schools but, according to studies, on average, one in five children is neurodiverse.
A purpose-built “scenario village” that allows police to practise how they would handle potentially dangerous situations is now being used to train frontline officers.
The village – a collection of five houses at the Police College in Porirua - was opened on March 8. Police spent $10 million to build it over the course of a year, close to a decade after the plans were first commissioned.
“The purpose of this facility is to provide really realistic and practical training for our people,” said Superintendent Kelly Ryan, a frontline safety improvement programme director.
“They can come and immerse themselves in an environment that reflects what it is that they are going to be facing.”
The scenario village has a single-storey house, a two-storey house, and three townhouses.
The townhouses with different levels also can stand in for a commercial building. One of the other houses is a large four-bedroom home and the other a smaller three-bedroom house.
All the homes are fully furnished, with couches, coffee tables, and even mugs set out to add to their realism.
The technology in the buildings can also play sounds that officers could expect to hear in such a situation. The doors have been reinforced for officers to practise breaching them, but the walls are painted plywood.
Ryan said the training facility had been extremely well received by frontline staff, who valued the realistic training opportunities. “They really love it.”
The scenario village was part of a programme put in place to improve safety for officers on the front line after the murder of Constable Matthew Hunt in 2020 at a routine traffic stop.
Previously, football clubs and abandoned warehouses had been used for tactical exercises, with walls being used in place of pretend doors, and chairs standing in for people.
As well, under police’s tactical response model for dealing with potentially violent or hostile situations, training for frontline officers has doubled from 3.5 to 7.5 days a year.
Ryan said the buildings had been fitted with cameras, so the officers’ coaches did not need to stand in the buildings during training, making the scenarios seem more realistic. The coaches could watch and hear what was going on through the recording devices.
“It’s been the voices of our front line that have created and designed what we’ve got, so we are very lucky and feeling really privileged to have this as a really good start point.”
Most of the Government’s already announced vaping restrictions won’t be enforced until October, leaving parents concerned and angry.
The delayed regulations include vapes requiring removable batteries as well as child-safety mechanisms, meaning disposable vapes can continue to be sold for the next six months without restriction.
Associate Health Minister Casey Costello said the reason for the extension was to ensure quitting smokers had access to disposable vapes, as well as having time to make sure regulations could not be worked around by manufacturers.
“For that reason, we wanted to ensure that there is still an adequate supply of reusable vapes available for over-18s,” she explained.
“Other countries are addressing this problem too, so we want to align our efforts and ensure regulations align with international standards.”
Costello stated the government had not had any consultation or lobbying from the industry before the decision. However, now decisions have been made, “I will be talking to the vaping industry and to other groups to make sure that we get the right regulations in place.”
Anna Stewart, co-founder of Vape Free Kids NZ, has been fighting to get vapes off the shelves after her son became addicted. On Wednesday, she and four other founders met privately with Costello, regarding the key regulations that were pushed back.
The outcome, Stewart said, was nothing short of disappointing.
“The key takeaway that we got loud and clear from Casey Costello today was that she would much rather prioritise the convenience of smokers over the preservation of health for young people,” she said.
“She’s not proposing anything that we can see is ever likely to reduce the availability.”
According to the New Zealand Health Survey, daily vaping rates between ages 15 and 17 were shown to have increased from 8.3% in 2022 to 15.4% in 2023 - an estimated 32,000 teenagers.
Stewart is arguing that numbers like these show the harm vaping has done, especially in youth.
However, Costello said that vaping has also been an important tool in stopping New Zealanders from smoking.
“Vaping is far safer than smoking tobacco and it's a key reason that 230,000 people stopped smoking over the last three years,” she said.
An estimated 550,000 New Zealanders vape daily.
Stewart, like many other parents, wants stronger action in future.
She is calling for a reduction of vape stores that currently operate in New Zealand, more Smokefree Enforcement Officers and the delayed regulations to be put into place immediately.
According to Stewart, her meeting with Costello made it clear that reducing vape stores “isn’t something she is entertaining anytime at the moment”.
As for Smokefree enforcement officers, the Ministry of Health confirmed 35 are currently active, with 16 set to be hired. They are tasked with regulating almost 100 New Zealand vape stores, as well as thousands of dairies, gas stations and supermarkets.
The Government and Costello are standing by their decision to delay regulations, stating that the legislation to make changes will go to a select committee to ensure the public have their say.
“As a government, we’re clear we want to continue to reduce smoking and stop young people smoking and vaping and that’s why we’ve made these decisions,” Costello said.