DJ Mills/Waikato Times
Ten-year-old Oxy Chisnall, who was excluded from a school camping trip because of his disability, enjoyed a day of adventure activities at Totara Springs Christian Centre on Sunday.
A disabled child who was excluded from a school camping trip is a “whole different person” after spending a day at an adventure camp.
Te Poi Primary School student Oxy Chisnall, 10, enjoyed the hydroslide, flying fox and other activities at Totara Springs Christian Centre, near Matamata, on Sunday. The centre reached out to Aroha Chisnall, Oxy’s mum, after hearing his story.
Chrisnall has autism, ADHD and developmental delay and was told he couldn’t attend a school camping trip last week due to planning and funding issues related to his disability.
“He’s like a whole different person. I think it’s just the whole experience of being included, like he’s not going to get judged because of his disability,” Chisnall said.
MARK TAYLOR
Ten-year-old Oxy Chisnall not allowed on school camp because of his disability. He has autism, ADHD and developmental delay.
Oxy’s adventure camp experience began with fish and chips for lunch, followed by rock climbing, a flying fox, mini golf and a hydroslide.
His mum, dad and younger brother accompanied him on the trip, and the camp ensured Oxy was supported by trained staff.
Totara Springs Christian Centre spokesman Phil Caffyn said he was sad to hear about Oxy’s exclusion from the school camp.
”We’re really thrilled to be able to help out and bring Oxy and the family in,” he said.
“It’s not undoable, and we certainly want to make Totara Springs available for people who have various challenges.”
DJ Mills/Waikato Times
Oxy, right, and his brother, DJ, enjoyed a hydroslide and other camping activities, and Totara Springs spokesman Phil Caffyn says involving children with disabilities is “not undoable”.
Chisnall said the experience proves that it’s not too difficult to involve children with disabilities on camping trips.
Principal Linda Larsen said Te Poi School wasn’t able to safely provide a camping experience for Oxy because he enrolled at the school after planning for the trip had already begun.
She said if the school had the funding to be able to provide a supervisor to be on camp to support Oxy, it would’ve been easier for him to attend.
Chisnall tried to get funding support for Oxy’s education through the Ministry of Education’s Ongoing Resourcing Scheme (ORS).
DJ Mills/Waikato Times
Aroha Chisnall says Oxy is a “whole different person” after Sunday’s camping experience, which he shared with his brother, DJ.
ORS provides specialist support for students with high needs, enabling them to attend school and participate alongside other students.
Her application was denied because Oxy’s needs weren’t considered high enough.
Ministry of Education spokesman Sean Teddy said despite Oxy’s complexities, he had skills and abilities that put him above the abilities of students who qualify for ORS.
“When the verifiers see the beginnings of intentional communication, evidence of language use, or engagement in play and learning, it can imply that there is potential for future learning and the presenting need at the time of the application may not be ongoing at the high level,” he said.
Teddy said ORS is intended to provide support for a very small number of students with the highest level of need, and Oxy is entitled to several other forms of support.
DJ Mills/Waikato Times
Oxy’s mum wants more funding for his education, and says having the money for a support person would have allowed him to attend school camp.
“The ministry spends around $1.3 billion each year on learning support. Each school will have its own learning support systems,” he said.
“We provide schools with funding they can use to support students. This funding can be used for resources, teacher and teacher aide supports, specific interventions or programmes.”
Chisnall said that if they had that support, along with allowing Oxy to attend school camping trips, the ORS funding would also support his overall education.
“He’ll have that one-on-one time with the teacher that will teach him to learn, whereas that’s just not happening,” she said.
“My son will be able to be whatever he wants to be when he gets older, he will be able to achieve that. But at this stage, with no funding, he won’t.”
