Parent to Parent NZ

Lifelong support for Kiwi families raising a child with a disability.

Nationwide

It can happen to any family at any time – suddenly faced with rethinking their world when a medical professional delivers news that their child has an intellectual disability or behavioural issue, a health condition or physical impairment.

The nationwide not-for-profit was started in New Zealand 33 years ago by parents of children with disabilities and health professionals to help families feel empowered through knowledge, understood and enabled.

There are many organisations that support the disability, but the point of difference at Parent to Parent is that it supports the people around that person with a disability – the parents, step-parents, brothers and sisters, grandparents, carers, and wider whanau.

With 11 branches nationwide, it provides free, confidential, tailor-made information on a child’s condition and related issues, from birth and lifelong; up-to-date information on over 3600 conditions in plain language and in most languages.

Workshops for parents new to disability aim to give them hope; to not allow the disability block a great future and life for their child and family. It then connects them with one of its 650+ trained support parents nationwide – someone who has a child with the same condition/s. Support parents are further enough along the journey to feel confident to give back to new parents. Their lived experience offers invaluable support.

Its camps and programmes for siblings of kids with disabilities acknowledge the extra effort their home life demands, and give them the chance to talk about issues such as feeling left out or bullying.

Its Second Generation course helps aged parents pass the baton of care/advocacy on to younger family members or alternate carers.

Other services include Altogether Autism (which covers Asperger syndrome), and Care Matters which focuses on the wellbeing of the family carers of people with disabilities.

More about us

Parent to Parent provides free and confidential services to families and whānau raising a baby, child, teen, person with a disability or health impairment.

Use of funds

Funds raised enable more nationwide workshops for parents new to the world of disability, support parent training, SibCamps or SibShops (for the siblings of kids with disabilities) and IEP seminars (Individual Education Plan) to help parents ensure their child receives all they are entitled to at school. Funding also helps promote Parent to Parent's free services via its magazine and brochures, so its team can reach more families struggling with disability.