'These kids can achieve a lot of things': Sydney mum's hopes for her disabled son
Carinne Watson noticed her firstborn child wasn't meeting his milestones pretty early on.
"His birth was normal, but he had a really low Apgar score at birth, but he soon came around," Carinne, 58, tells 9Honey of her son Thomas (Thom).
At first his development didn't ring any alarm bells, until he struggled to sit and crawl.
She and her husband Jason were concerned enough to take Thom to a doctor, who dismissed their concerns.
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Carinne Watson noticed Thom, her firstborn child, wasn't meeting his milestones pretty early on. Supplied
"If it's [an] intellectual [disability], it's really hard to get anybody to listen to you, and he didn't look obviously disabled," she says.
"He was doing the basics of all reflexes, but he didn't vocalise. We didn't know if he'd ever talk.
"He didn't really start talking until he was about six.
Carinne had a background in nursing so was able to find medical experts to help diagnose her son.
"I opened the back doors and I went to a doctor who was running rehab at the children's hospital, and I was able to do an assessment of Thom and from that point forward, when they all agreed that he was significantly delayed," she says.
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At first his development didn't ring any alarm bells for Carinna, until he struggled to sit and crawl. Supplied
Thom's official diagnosis is Global Developmental Delay (GDD), a general term used to describe any delay in the developmental period of a child between birth and 18 years.
The cause isn't known and GDD is a life-long disability.
After Thom's diagnosis, Carinne says "all of the things started to fall into place."
"I could get assistance through the government and all those kind of things, which are what helps when they're in early childhood, and then that just follows through right through into adulthood," she says.
While both Carinne and Jason were shocked at their son's diagnosis, they simply got along with life, organising whatever Thom needed along the was and welcoming their daughter Laura four years later.
Thom with his dad Jason. Supplied
"We've lived like this for so many years but we love him so much, it wouldn't matter," she says of her son.
Thom and his sister Laura, now aged 28 and 24 respectively, adore each other.
"We taught her from a very young age that Thom was different," Carinne says.
"So she's grown up knowing that, and she's really good with him and he adores her."
Thom now attends a day program at Afford, the Australian Foundation for Disability. It provides disability services and community connection for people living with disability.
Thom, now 28, with his sister Laura: "She's really good with him and he adores her." Supplied
Carinne is forever grateful to Afford.
"My husband and I both work full-time. My daughter works as well. So if it wasn't for Afford, he'd be sitting at home on his own all the time. It would be horrible," she says.
Thom is "pretty happy, most of the time", his mum says.
"He's got a very strange sense of humour. He loves crazy things. He's obsessed with military things, absolutely obsessed," she continues.
"It's funny, if I said to Thom, 'Here's a dollar, it's going to cost 60 cents, how much change do you get?' he can't answer.
Thom attends a day program at Afford, the Australian Foundation for Disability. Supplied
"But if you ask him about an F-111, where it was made, what sort of engines it's got, what sort of payload it has, he'll just rattle it off like encyclopedia. It's just phenomenal."
Thom recently filmed some fun videos via Afford's Pocket Cinema project released this week for International Day of People With Disabilities (December 3).
One is about sport and is called More Than a Game and the other is about race cars and is called Crash Course.
More Than a Game is an uplifting look at how sports create community and camaraderie, showing it's about more than just winning.
Crash Course is a playful mockumentary that hilariously explores why the most exciting crashes make the best race car drivers, featuring an interview with V8 supercars icon Brad Jones.
Thom is the star of two videos for Afford's Pocket Cinema project. Supplied
"He just embraced it," Carinne says of the process of creating the videos.
"You know, the opportunity for him to do something a little bit differently."
She says her son "loves the limelight."
"He sees this as something different, something he can do that speaks to him and hopefully will speak to other people, that these kids can actually achieve a lot of things."
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