H2H: Sick as a Dog

Thanks for visiting my Fundraising Page for Oscars100 Hut 2 Hut 2020!
Event page: http://www.hut2hut.oscars100.com.au/
You can sponsor me and leave a message by selecting the donate button above.
Mark Doel and I (Tim Bowman) will be completing H2H 100kms in two days.

By donating you’re helping us to make a difference for kids living with Autism. Oscars100 has partnered with Irabina Childhood Services and Mansfield Autism Statewide Services who deliver essential early intervention programs in both metro and regional Victoria.

Team: Sick as a Dog
Mark and I (Tim) meet on a train in Hong Kong in 2005. We were going to a race and randomly got chatting. A few months later we did our first race together as team "Sick as a Dog"...named because I had a cold in the lead-up. The race went well so we decided to keep going. We, along with a bunch of other misfits (Frew, Power, Streun, Holmes, Frauenfelder, Faarbaek and Team Green), did a lot of adventure and ultra races together in Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore and Borneo. In most of those races Mark towed me. He's a bit of beast...and I'm a little tubby from eating too many brownies. Since leaving HK back in 2010 we've been looking to catch up together for a race...or more of an adventure. H2H is that adventure. We're inspired by:
1) The course. It looks challenging and beautiful.
2) The organisers/cause. Andy and Chris are clearly unique people. They are passionate about putting on a great event, but more so they are driven by their cause to raise money to support kids and families with their Autism journey. H2H is certainly much more than just a race, it is an experience with a higher purpose.

Hut 2 Hut Course
Beautiful she may be, the Hut 2 Hut course is, quite simply, a bit of a brute. Over 100km various GPS units will come up with different results, but our instruments recorded in the vicinity of 5700 metres of gain. Ten peaks will be bagged. Not big by world standards – indeed Buller itself is the highest at 1805m – but try knocking off ten of them in a row, with plenty of diving down to the valley floor before climbing back up and you will know you’ve worked hard.


Irabina Childhood Services
Irabina is Australia’s only Autism specific service provider for children and young people and has the only severe behaviour program in the Asia Pacific Region. They do not turn anybody away and provide every Autism specific service. They deliver services to homes, schools, kindergartens and at three sites across Melbourne.

Mansfield Autism Statewide Services
Mansfield Autism Statewide Service (MASS) is an independent not for profit organisation, which supports young people living with Autism, and their families.
They offer a wide range of services for individuals and families living with autism. Their services have been designed as a ‘wrap around’ model – each service complements and enhances the quality of care we provide our clients.

Oscar's Family Story and Hut 2 Hut's History
Our son Oscar was diagnosed with Autism in early 2011 thanks to the bravery of his kindergarten teacher Sue who suggested to us that it would be in Oscars best interest to have him evaluated.
While Sue never inferred Oscar showed signs of typical behaviour of kids living with autism she did notice traits that differentiated him from other kids in his group. We will never be able to thank Sue enough for having the courage in her convictions to make us aware of her concerns. Without Sue, Oscars Autism may have gone undiagnosed for years.

While shocked at Oscar's initial diagnosis of Autism, both my wife and I decided to act straight away and enrol Oscar into private therapy to begin to understand what we were dealing with and how we can best manage it to give Oscar every opportunity in the world. Luckily for us we had money saved for home renovations that we could use to pay for this therapy.

Oscar was enrolled in speech and occupational therapy first. This therapy continued for four months along with a succession of pediatrician and psychology sessions until we received the final diagnosis that Oscar was a child living with Autism. Over this period of time we had racked up bills in excess of $5000.

Unfortunately not every family is in a financial position to be able to put their child through private therapy. While the Government Funded System is fantastic and full of some of the most caring and helpful people, they are extremely overworked and under-resourced. Financial assistance from the Government is provided, and is substantial, but can take upwards of 18 months to receive and as early intervention is the key to living with Autism this delay in funding can be crucial to the child’s development.

Since the initial Oscar diagnosis, he has come a long way and his younger brother Archie has also been diagnosed on the spectrum. While they may face challenges through life, they already have a loving network of friends and family who are always there to get them through. What they have been able to learn since the initial diagnosis has been inspiring and as a result, we wanted to use this inspiration to help other families with children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder.