It's official....the 'Procedural Fairness' letter's arrived and we're an 'Excessive Demand'

Having been 5-months since we had our medicals we were beginning to feel optimistic that things might actually be going to plan and that our Passport Request (PPR) letter may just be around the corner. That all went for a bag of spanners this morning when another brown envelope from CHC dropped through the door. There it was in black and white………the ‘Procedural Fairness’ letter we had been dreading.

It’s fair to say that we knew this was coming, and apart from the mention of ‘Respite care for the family’ I have no real reason to contest their findings. To be honest, the ‘excessive demand’ costs they estimate for Amber ($14,000 per year compared to $5,143 for the average Canadian) are a lot less than they could have been. My aim now is therefore not to question the findings, more to mitigate them with an alternative (self-funded) solution.

I started formulating our ‘individualised plan’ a few months ago and identified and contacted a Private Christian School with a Resource Base, to form the basis. Although I’ve exchanged a few emails with the school, in which they state that they have children with Asperger’s who are doing well, they have yet to send me the exact details of the ‘other experts’ that they use. No doubt you’ve guessed the problem that comes next…….the school is now shut for summer and won’t open again until my 56-days (the letter's taken 4-days to arrive) response time has expired. In effect, I have no way of contacting the school.

According to the letter, I need to provide details of experts who can provide Psychologist Assessments and Speech & Language Therapy. I would expect that our chosen school would cover the requirement for a ‘Special Educational Programme,’ as they have a process for formulating an Individual Education Programme (IEP)?

A busy few weeks ahead methinks……

Deja Vu..........another medical request letter?

Monday 7th June was the day before my TB tests were finally due out of their 8-week gestation in the lab. Needless to say I was feeling pretty relieved that this unnecessary delay was nearly over and we could get back on track again.

So, when the postie dropped another brown letter from London through the door that morning it wasn't exactly what I was hoping or expecting. "What the hell can this be," we thought?

"IN ORDER TO CONTINUE PROCESSING YOUR APPLICATION WE REQUIRE THE ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTS MARKED BELOW: MEDICAL EXAMINATION FOR AMBER."

Now bearing in mind that Amber had her medical the same day we (the remainder of the family) had ours, which by now was a good 4-months ago, there was a lot of WTF and head scratching going on in the McFarlane household.

I won't bore you all with the details but over the next 3-days a flurry of phone calls and emails ensued between me, my DMP and the CHC. The upshot being that there had been a good old fashioned 'administrative error' on behalf of the latter.

Coincidentally, my TB results actually turned up on the Wednesday and were completely clear, as was the follow up x-ray which had nothing showing either. 'I told you so,' will be the enduring memory of these events, but despite our protests and efforts to prove these tests were an unnecessary waste of time there was no way around it. That's good old CHC for you!

Anyway, at the end of the day the status quo has been restored and we can go back to the seemingly endless waiting game. According to CHC, Amber's medical results are still 'in a queue awaiting detailed review' I'm hoping that means somebody has actually done something with them, after all they've been there for 4-months already.

In the words of Tom Cruise in 'A Few Good Men'.....................'and the hits just keep on coming.'