| Description |
x, 250 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm |
|
regular print |
| Summary |
A few months after her arrival in Australia, eighteen year old Chris Baxter reads a letter addressed to her boyfriend's mother that sets the course for the rest of her life. She becomes a teacher of children with disability and fights for their inclusion in the community, and in the education system from which they have been barred. Together with Rosemary Crossley and Anne McDonald she becomes embroiled in the infamous St Nicholas hospital controversy and takes up the cause of Ethel Temby, the mother of a tiny baby with Down syndrome she'd seen in the nursery at Kew Cottages. Chris is angered by the injustice of what she sees. She knows Kenny would be able to walk, if he had the opportunity to do so, and that Annie and her friends would be able to learn, if allowed to go to school. She wages a struggle with bureaucrats and politicians but falls back into frustrated despondency when successive governments fail to act. The media comes to the rescue, and with a bit of help from Ethel, pushes the local campaign along. When the battle to close the institutions goes global, Chris continues her work; pushing for inclusion in Australia and abroad |
| Analysis |
Australian |
| Notes |
"A warm and entertaining account of the long struggle to get children out of institutions and into the education system"--Cover |
| Subject |
Children with disabilities -- Education -- Australia.
|
|
Children with mental disabilities -- Education -- Australia.
|
|
Disability awareness -- Australia.
|
|
Inclusive education -- Australia.
|
|
People with disabilities.
|
| ISBN |
9781922086846 (paperback) |
|
