Dear Parents – an open letter to parents of children with disability

This one goes out to all the parents and caregivers out there. 

I see you.

You’re managing one or more of your children’s NDIS plans. 

You’re getting the calls from school to come and pick up your child. 

Your child is sometimes crying, screaming or even catatonic about the thought of going to school.

Many days feel like a battle. 

There’s always another appointment to manage, a call to take, an email to follow up. 

And, of course, there’s lots of love and laughter and happiness and light. And there’s nothing you wouldn’t do for your children.

But it’s a lot. 

I get it.

And I know Paw Pause can help.

I started Paw Pause because I saw how students were struggling to return to school after COVID lockdowns. And I witnessed how quickly I could connect with students when I had my therapy dog working alongside me.

Now, I have a number of allied health professionals and their trained therapy dogs working together as Paw Pause teams. Therapy dogs are calming and reliable and they allow our therapists to quickly build a rapport with each client.

We operate with intent. We understand the student, their goals and their struggles, and we work with them and our therapy dog to achieve great things. 

We come into schools – so you don’t need to ferry your child to yet another appointment – and support your child to create new, positive associations around being at school. We practice skills and techniques to stay calm, positive and ready to learn. And we build capacity so the skills learnt with a Paw Pause team can be drawn upon and used, time and time again, without us having to be there.

So one day, your child doesn’t need their Paw Pause team anymore. Because they’ve practiced with us, keeping calm with our therapy dogs, and they’ve grown and developed so much. 

That day might feel like it’s way in the future. 

But we can start working on it sooner than you might think. 

If you’d like a Paw Pause team to work with your child at school, I make it easy for you. 

I’ll match your child with the right allied health handler and dog to suit their goals and personality. And I’ll liaise with the school and, if needed, your child’s support coordinator and plan manager, to organise access at school. 

You don’t have to do everything on your own. Paw Pause teams are here to be part of your child’s team. 

Yours in Paw Pause

Niki