"We know there is a need, but we need to formalise that knowledge. If we can establish how many children would benefit from this, then we can make a stronger case for it."
For the past two-and-a-half years, single dad Craig Nielsen has been travelling to Hamilton with his son Zak for two or three days a week. There, the friendly and happy four-year-old undergoes conductive education, a type of therapy that helps improve the quality of life for children with neuromotor disorders.
Conductive education was developed in Hungary by Dr. Andras Peto, who established a centre for people with motor disorders in the Hungarian capital in 1945. In the 1990s, centres offering conductive education started to open in New Zealand, mainly started up by parents who had come across this style of therapy in their own research when trying to help their children. Craig says conductive education has made a dramatic difference to Zak's life.
"Zak has global development delay. In some areas he has a developmental age of a 12-month-old baby, and in other areas maybe a two-year-old. The therapy he gets in Hamilton has made a huge difference to his progress which is why I take him, but it is a long way to travel every week."
It's not just a long trip; Craig has also had to give up full-time work, as he spends up to three days every week in Hamilton with Zak. "Plus of course, travelling with a child can be tricky at times, some of the children who make this trip have seizures as part of their condition. Imagine being on the road with no cell phone reception somewhere and your child having a seizure."