Here’s the submission I made to the relevant committee of the Senate of the Australian Parliament regarding Senator Richard Di Natale’s private member’s Exposure draft of the Medical Services (Dying with Dignity) Bill 2014. (more…)
Category Archives: Disabilities
The gospel and autism
Life, Sola Panel
Today is the United Nations World Autism Awareness Day. According to the Light It Up Blue awareness- and fund-raising campaign:
Proposed lighting from Autism Awareness Australia
In my weakness, your growth
Life, Sola Panel
None of us wants to be the cause of another person’s sanctification – at least, not unintentionally – and yet, so often, that is what we are.
Is this one of the reasons that God allows us to become weak, dependent and forgetful as we grow older? Is it so we can place a necessary burden on those who were once dependent on us: a burden of forbearance and loving care? (more…)
Then shall the lame man leap like a deer: God and the Disabled
Life
28 years ago, my wife Gaye gave birth to our second daughter. After a very long labour and a breach birth, Leah was born four weeks early. We suspected that something was wrong with her quite early on. She was misdiagnosed at 18 months with cerebral palsy, but Leah never seemed to be like other children with that condition. At the age of 15, Leah was correctly diagnosed with Angelman Syndrome, a fairly rare genetic condition where there’s a small deletion in the 15th chromosome. Having a 28-year-old severely disabled daughter who doesn’t speak and who has the understanding of a three-year-old has brought many difficulties, frustrations and disappointments. But she has also brought our family a tremendous amount of fun and laughter.