Flying Solo. Nana's plea for help for FASD Grandson's Teacher Aid Hours

I have been raising one of my Grandsons since he was 3.5 months old. He is 12 and a 1/2 now. He is my sons boy. He has multiple diagnosis due to his Mothers drug and alcohol consumption during his pregnancy which include FASD (Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder) ODD (Oppositional Defiance Disorder) GDD (Global Developmental Delay) ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) and Features of AS (Autism Spectrum) Mother is known IV drug user (on his anti natal records) He was born a Drug Baby.

He requires 24/7 Supervision which means he has to be in my line of sight all the time or he's getting into things.

I need help. I need some time for my brain to rest. I need some hands on Help.

He has high anxiety so doesn't manage well with change so needs the same people around him and likes to stay at home a lot where he feels secure.

If you could donate even a gold coin to our cause we would really appreciate it.

Thousands of Grandparents raising Grandchildren are raising children damaged by alcohol and drugs, neglect and abuse so our charges struggle in many areas socially and intellectually and they are more difficult to raise and manage than neuro-typical children.

I have had to home school him right from the start/New entrants and Te Kura doesnt have enough funding to provide a Teacher Aide (TA) for him this year.

I have struggled to get enough school work done with him without a TA, to appease TeKura and we need a TA because I cant wear all the hats. I don't have the energy to battle him every day to do the school work required and have found he works really well for the TA's we have had here. I don't want him to miss out due to lack of funding. TA's cost around $20 an hour.

The funding I applied for outside Givealittle last year covered one day (5 hours) a week for 20 weeks of the school year, and this year they reduced our grant by $500 in the first funding round, so I have shortened the school day to 4 hours and I need to fund-raise for the hours for the rest of the year.

We have hired a TA who comes twice a week for 4 hours each time.

I use the Supervisor Payment that comes in twice a year to supplement the hours as well.

Im a registered Host for FHINZ and HelpX and hope to find an au pair type helper to come stay and help us out, maybe to teach him music, or go outside with him to play ball and do PE etc so that I can take a break or be able to tend to normal household tasks without having to abandon them part way through, or to tend my over grown garden etc. My 9 yr old Grandson told me during the holidays that my place looks abandoned :( Update on this. I have been able to get some yard work done with the help of friends and family but have had to pay them for this. No one does anything for love any more it seems.

The FASD paper called FASD Strategies not Solutions advises that children with FASD have little to no computer or tv time as this upsets their brain wiring and after trialling it, I have discovered this is true so we don't have technology/Computer/ Gaming machine or TV on tap here for him to plug into any more (12+ months now) and our lives are better without it but not having that as a focus for him means he needs more of my one on one time and I cant get anything done around here and I refuse to plug him into a machine so I can get some time off knowing it is detrimental to his brain.

If this page creates more funds than we need to cover his TA hours for the year, I know another GRG/Nana locally raising twin Grandchildren with FASD, who gets no TA support for them and the boy is struggling at school and badly needs some TA time.

I will support a TA for them from this page as well. This Nana is struggling to get TA hours allocated at the local school but we can hire an independent TA locally whom I have already spoken to in regards to this and she is keen and has worked with these kids before so they already know her.

Being able to hire a TA is a win win for the children as well as giving the Nanas some much needed time out. We need your help because there is nothing currently available to us for us or our kiddies. I asked WINZ for support and they told me that I need to ask the charity organisations in the community.

FASD is not currently supported as a disability for which funding is allocated but this is being looked into and we are hopeful that the Govt will be able to allocate funding for our kids in the future.