Inspirational Virginia foundation changing lives

Doctors told Megan and Anthony Elliott not to expect their son would reach milestones most people took for granted. What they did about it is a story of love, devotion and heartwarming success

Max with his sister Lara. Photo. Andrea Macleod

To watch Max Elliott’s sister throwing a ball to him the pair look like any other siblings except for Max, tossing a football is a milestone.

So is scoring a goal and he’s scored two of them this rugby season which means it’s hard to get the smile off his face.

Finally having a friend of his own to talk to after school and hang out with on weekends is another first for the 16-year-old who has Autism and significant learning and perceptual disability.

For Max loud noises can be crippling, lights blinding and touch excruciating.

But it is because of Max’s challenges that his parents Megan and Anthony Elliott founded the award-winning Virginia based GingerCloud - the Elliott’s vision to create the change they want to see in the world for Max.

“We lived forever with him where his communication was grunting and screaming (age 2-11),” said Megan.

“I had to leave my job. Our whole world shrank and we lived, as many families do with kids with complex disabilities, like a horse with blinkers on just getting from one hour to the next.”

Max Elliott kicking goals. Photo Andrea Macleod

There were no family outings, no community barbecues, no family camping trips, no kindergartens or even school events.

“We didn’t have any of those connections that come from being in community because we couldn’t go to things people normally go to with their kids,” Megan said.

“It wasn’t until a light sort of came on when Max was 11 and we got to a point where we thought if we don’t do it, it’s never going to happen for Max.”

Looking around to find what they needed most, the Elliott’s decided on football.

“Sport is not just sport … the community that happens around sporting clubs that’s where the power of it happens and we realised that whatever happened (to help Max) it had to be a collaboration between us and the community,” Megan said.

“We didn’t know anything about autism and complex learning disabilities before we were gifted with Max but the big thing that helped us was we were never ashamed of how bad it was. We were always open with how bad it was and we always found someone to talk to and that’s how we found key people to create GingerCloud.”

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The GingerCloud Foundation, which began in 2014, created a Modified Rugby Program in conjunction with Rugby Australia, Queensland Rugby Union and the Queensland Reds and piloted it at Brothers Rugby Club.

As part of the program each child with a learning or perceptual disability is paired with their own PlayerMentor on the field supporting them.

The program, now moving towards a national rollout, has been a resounding success changing hundreds of children’s lives and their families and creating a network of PlayerMentors driven by a guiding principal of inclusion, a mission to create a world “where disability is normalised”.

“Our children deserve a place where they belong just like everyone else,” Megan said.

“To achieve this, we need to work together to modify things a bit so that our communities have the capacity to create true belonging.”

“In that way, our communities can authentically ‘do inclusion’. Not say it, not ‘policy’ for it but live it.”

“Because what I’ve realised recently, is that belonging is a human right - it’s not a privilege nor a lifestyle decision.”

GingerCloud’s MRP is changing lives and creating new communities for those with disabilities. Photo. Supplied.

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Megan said GingerCloud grew out of wanting to share with the world “how amazing young people like Max are and simultaneously we help communities experience the value that inclusion brings”.

“If we believed what we were told when Max was seven that he would never speak, never read and never write then his whole life would have been totally different,” Megan said.

“We always say to ourselves every problem has a solution and we just haven’t found it yet and if we can’t find it we just have to make it.”

And make it they did. They undertook a global search to find a model that would meet Max’s needs. When they couldn’t find anything they decided to create it. The rest as they say is history.

“You never know what you are capable of until you are put in that situation … you just do stuff because you have no other choices, you just have to,” Anthony said.

“We would have continued to be isolated, to have less opportunities to meet other people and less opportunities for Max to meet other people and less opportunities for him to learn valuable life lessons … and that wasn’t what we wanted for Max.”

Now the family watch as he laughs with players, mentors and his new community.

“GingerCloud demonstrates to everyone what their kids can do because we are always being told what they can’t do,” Anthony said.

“Before this we had no outlet, everything was therapy and challenging. Now it’s less about him talking or kicking the ball and more about us just observing the things he is doing … he’s just smiling and having fun.”

The GingerCloud MRP is changing lives of young people with disabilities. Photo: Supplied.

For Max’s sister Lara being an intrinsic part of GingerCloud (as a Mentor) is not just a lot of fun but an opportunity she hopes to share with others.

“It’s fun and I understand a lot of the kids now and I like spending time with them,” she said.

“I’d definitely recommend it.”

GingerCloud will hold their Annual Fundraising Lunch next month in support of the MRP.

Wallaby legend and MRP ambassador Tim Horan is master of ceremonies for the event to be held on September 6 from 12pm at the Crosby Park Events Centre.

Tickets available through GingerCloud Foundation.

The Modified Rugby Program is preparing for a national roll out. Photo. Supplied.

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GingerCloud Foundation

• Empower, engage and equip parents whose children have learning and perceptual disabilities to take ownership of their child’s developmental pathway.
• Help families build their own road map to enable their children to grow, access opportunities and become everything they can be.
• Provide the tools, questions and lists of potential specialists families will partner with as they step out to take the first steps in their journey to help their children reach their full potential in life.
• Reach out to families just like ours in their darkest hour, when all hope seems gone and when each minute is as unpredictable as the next.
• Create a community in which our children and our families can grow and thrive.

Source. GingerCloud.