My Perfect Family: Ebony Sinclair
Ebony Sinclair is a go-getter born with Achondroplasia, a form of dwarfism. Ebony and her husband Ge...
My Perfect Family:Fragile X
To discover you’re the carrier of the genetic condition Fragile X only after your children are born ...
My Perfect Family: Nash Jones
The Jones family’s life changed forever when their youngest boy Nash was diagnosed with a rare condi...
My Perfect Family
Exploring the day today lives of tight-knit families, who are managing complex or unusual conditions...
My Perfect Family: Lydia Golding
6-year-old Lydia Golding was born with her right femur bone significantly shorter than her left. In...
My Perfect Family: Hatty
Hatty Walton is a 13-year-old star on the show Mystic, who lives with a hearing impairment. Hatty ho...
My Perfect Family: Twins
For young mum Nikki Stokes being a mother of five means there's never a dull moment. With non-verbal...
My Perfect Family: Georgia Heard
Georgia Heard thought she had parenting all mapped out. But when the younger of her two boys was di...
My Perfect Family: Mahia & Tipene
Mahia and Tipene Stephens were born with a congenital eye disorder, causing their eyesight to deteri...
My Perfect Family: Harper Ahern
Since being diagnosed with Muscular Dystrophy at age four, 10-year-old surfer Harper and his family ...
My Perfect Family: Meet the Asners
They call themselves the "The Brady Bunch of Autism". Descendants of Hollywood royalty, Matt and Nav...
My Perfect Family: Kat and Ella
Kat Yearbury is a mother to two-year-old Frankie and six-year-old Ella, who has Cerebral Palsy and E...
My Perfect Family: The Priestleys
Four of the six Priestley family members live with Autism. Because they’re able to function at a hig...
My Perfect Family: No Respite
Life during a pandemic is a challenge for all parents with kids at home. But for parents whose child...
My Perfect Family: Kim Preston
Raising three boys is always a big task, especially when two of them have severe autism. But Kim Pre...
My Perfect Family: Zoe
Zoe Tate lives with Wolf-Hirschhorn Syndrome, a genetic disorder affecting her appearance, growth an...
My Perfect Family: Hunter
Hunter McGregor is a passionate gamer, a design school graduate, and he runs a B&B with his mum, Roi...
My Perfect Family: Jaxon Woolley
15 year old Jaxon Woolley is already blitzing through para-sprinting records. An athlete to watch, J...
My Perfect Family: Max and Grace
Siblings Max and Grace are off on a road trip to Queenstown, putting Max's independence to the test ...
My Perfect Family: Friedreich's Ataxia
Preparing for a 30th birthday is a big deal in the Boon family. Three out of five siblings live with...
My Perfect Family: Courtenay
Demar Gear was just five months old when she contracted meningitis, leaving her unable to walk or ta...
My Perfect Family: Tara Aumalesulu
Nine year old Tara is launching her very first album, Pele O Lo’u Fatu. Living with visual impairmen...
My Perfect Family: The Fergusons Part 2
Last week we met the Fergusons, a family of five who communicate using NZSL. Here, we join the Fergu...
My Perfect Family: OCD
For two teenage sisters living with OCD, the world can often be an uncertain and scary place. In the...
My Perfect Family: Grace Payne
Grace Payne is a powerlifter who has competed in the Special Olympics as an autistic athlete. Now, 2...
Brothers and Sisters
The unique perspective of those closest to us, our brothers and sisters.
My Perfect Family: Creative Clan
Ranger Ashurst is eleven and needs regular injections to control his Chrone's disease, his eight yea...
My Perfect Family: Tri Rugby
For members of Christchurch's Tri Rugby team - who live with intellectual disabilities - rugby is mo...
My Perfect Family: Bold As Brass
As New Zealanders living in Australia, Abbi and Morgan Brass received no government support when the...
My Perfect Family: The Fergusons Part 1
The Fergusons are an average family of five; they have fun, they fight, but mostly they get along. ...
My Perfect Family: Jo & Leon
Young doctor Jo Scott’s career was on the rise when a brain haemorrhage changed her life. Seven year...
My Perfect Family: Perrones
Young anime artist Bee Perrone lives with the rare condition, Ivemark Syndrome. Understanding this i...
My Perfect Family: Little People
The 50th annual conference for Little People of New Zealand (LPNZ) is fast approaching, and 27-year-...
My Perfect Family: Southland Lockdown
Awards Night is the highlight of the social calendar for a vulnerable workforce at Southland Disabil...
My Perfect Family: CDKL5
Learning your new baby has a complex rare condition is life altering. Three Mums connect over their ...
My Perfect Family: Malaena Cariño
12-year-old Malaena Cariño has a rare genetic form of epilepsy. Her whānau have exhausted most treat...
My Perfect Family: Martine
Blind since birth, Martine Able-Williamson is now a global leader in the blind community. In this i...
My Perfect Family: Cystic Sisters
Kristy and Nikki are sisters and young mums who bring smiles to the faces of strangers by doing surp...
My Perfect Family: Sam and Jason
Sam lost her sight as a baby due to meningitis, and her husband Jason has limited vision due to a ge...
My Perfect Family: Alex
Performance is in the Walsh family’s DNA. When their youngest son Alex was born with Down syndrome, ...
My Perfect Family: Tiffiney Perry
Always an active person, Tiffiney Perry continued participating in sports and achieving success afte...
My Perfect Family: Family Man Graeme
When Graeme Porter was diagnosed with an intellectual disability as a child no one expected him to r...
My Perfect Family: Scruff's Bunch
Kim Preston (Scruff) reckon's she'll be caring for her three adult sons with Autism until she 'carks...
My Perfect Family: Candle Dad
Raising four children alone is a challenge - more so, when two have Down Syndrome. Tony Sykes rose t...
My Perfect Family: Southland
Southland Disability Enterprises employs over 80 people who live with a disability. For Mary-Ellen J...
My Perfect Family: Melody
Within just one year Melody entirely lost her vision, gave birth to her first child, and left her ho...
My Perfect Family: Welcome Home Stevie
Murray and Janine's son Steven was a gentle boy with autism. 18 months ago he left their house with ...
The Ferguson family of five does not use English as their main way to talk to each other. Instead, they use New Zealand Sign Language. Three of the tight-knit five are deaf which means the family has come up with unique ways to make life work.
Starting the day, Dad Oliver uses a ‘shake-awake’ alarm clock which vibrates under his pillow and if he is in the toilet too long a note will get slid under the door telling him to hurry up.
Mum Bridget comes from a hearing family. She became interested in sign language in her teenage years. She learnt the skills to become an interpreter and did so for the All Blacks. She met Oliver at a rugby function as he was playing for the New Zealand deaf rugby team.
Oliver and his family are all deaf which passed on to two of his children, Zoe and Carter. Elijah can hear and is bilingual in sign language and English.
Both Oliver and Bridget are heavily involved in the deaf community working for Deaf Aotearoa, she is the general manager of services and he the president.
When they had their eldest Zoe they did not know she was deaf until Bridget’s mother pointed it out. They took her to get tested and eventually she was confirmed to have a moderate to severe hearing impairment.
But Zoe can still hear some things, if she plays music at full volume she can hear the beats and rhythm.
Her parents decided they wanted her to have the best start to education possible. For her first two years of school they lived in Sydney, Australia so she could go to an Auslan school.
Upon returning to New Zealand Zoe had a teacher with a basic understanding of sign language and made friends easily.
In year 4 her parents self-funded an interpreter to help with her learning. Zoe has had Angela interpreting throughout her school life.
Although, Bridget explains gaining funding was not easy.
"$17 an hour for a teacher aide is not going to pay for a professional interpreter. We ended up battling through the human rights commission and got it funded."
She has noticed the impact this has had on her daughter.
"It means Zoe is just able to become this adult who is able to facilitate communication and build independence."
Zoe is proud of what her parents have achieved for her, but she laments they will have to fight for her three-year-old brother Carter.
"For all the doors that have been opened for me, why can't that just already be there for Carter."
"For all the doors that have been opened for me, why can't that just already be there for Carter."
Middle child Elijah is described by Zoe as shy but clever and prefers to use sign language over speech.
Since Zoe attended the UN youth declaration in Auckland she has become interested in advocacy. Now she is working towards uniting young deaf people to create a community.
After attending the World Federation for the Deaf in Turkey in 2015, Bridget decided the family would go to the next conference in Paris.
The Fergusons will be representing the Deaf Foundation in Paris later this year. Zoe is on an advocacy board and will be presenting about youth.
"It’ll be cool to learn more about International Sign Language."
Bridget is excited for her daughter too and believes it will be a phenomenal experience.
Until then, family dinners will keep getting cold as they are all too busy chatting with sign language.
My Perfect Family: The Fergusons Part 1
The Fergusons are an average family of five; they have fun, they fight, but mostly they get along. ...
My Perfect Family: The Fergusons Part 1
The Fergusons are an average family of five; they have fun, they fight, but mostly they get along. ...
My Deaf Parents
Parents and teenagers don't always see eye to eye, but what if they speak a different language? This...
Dean Finds His Voice
Eighteen-year-old Dean Buckley has overcome serious health issues, depression and the judgments of o...
Being Me: Heather
As Heather Lawson turns heads while walking the streets of Melbourne with her dressed-up walking can...
Parenting by Sign
Sarah is Deaf and preparing to give birth to her first child. Having been there twice before, Deaf p...
Hear Me Run
Sekou Kenneh is the fastest kid in Queensland. At 14 he's got his eye on the 2020 Olympics. But bein...
Marcia: Two Sides Of Me
On the Roller Derby court she's the revered 'Meat Train', but Marcia is starting to lose her hearing...
My Perfect Family: The Fergusons Part 2
Last week we met the Fergusons, a family of five who communicate using NZSL. Here, we join the Fergu...
My Perfect Family: The Fergusons Part 2
Last week we met the Fergusons, a family of five who communicate using NZSL. Here, we join the Fergu...
Being Me: Sarah
Though born with CHARGE syndrome, 22-year-old Sarah Dalton doesn’t let it define her. She’s an avid ...
Amanda Cameron
Twenty-year-old Architectural Technology student Amanda Cameron can't help but smile since she's lea...
Brothers and Sisters
The unique perspective of those closest to us, our brothers and sisters.
Lip Service: The Third Language
Why should you learn sign language? Getting to know a dynamic young guy like Mark Berry is one reaso...
Inside Outside: Rachel Berry
Rachel Berry lives with her flatmates in Christchurch, where they’re often out exploring. Three out ...
Being Me: Jared Flitcroft
Jared Flitcroft is a filmmaker, businessman, family man, and he is Deaf. Overcoming barriers to achi...
