The Regency Park Centre for Young Disabled was opened by the Crippled Children's Association of South Australia in 1976. It replaced the Somerton Crippled Children's Home and the Ashford House School. Children suffering from disabilities were accommodated in decentralised wards. The Centre was staffed by therapists and teachers from the State's Education Department. In the 1980s several new residential options were developed including foster care and in-home support. In 1992 the residential section of Regency Park closed.
The Regency Park Centre for Young Disabled was opened by the Crippled Children's Association of SA in 1976. Planned since 1970 and under construction from 1971 the new larger facility was designed to replace both the Somerton Crippled Children's Home and the Ashford House School - a day school for children with cerebral palsy. Children from Somerton Home moved into the new Centre in 1976. Children who stayed at the centre were accommodated in decentralised wards or 'villas'. Parents could also stay on site in motel style accommodation while learning how to help their children.
A Women's Weekly article from May 1976 reported that children at Regency Park had 'disabilities such as cerebral palsy, spina bifida, muscular dystrophy, amputations, asthma and many others.'
The new Regency Park Centre cost $6,250,000 and was opened by the then Governor of South Australia, Sir Mark Oliphant. It was staffed by therapists and teachers from the State's Education Department. The headmaster at its opening was Frank Braybon.
In the 1980s a variety of new residential options were developed for children including foster care and in-home support.
In 1992 the residential section of Regency Park was closed.
1939 - 1976 Somerton Crippled Children's Home
1976 - 1992 Regency Park Centre
Sources used to compile this entry: 'Giving Children a Chance', The Australian Women's Weekly (Sydney, NSW), 12 May 1976, pp. 10-11, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article47475008; Novita Children's Services, 'Our History', in Novita Children's Services, Novita, 2010, https://www.novita.org.au/history-of-novita/.
Prepared by: Gary George
Created: 31 January 2013, Last modified: 16 September 2013
Last updated: 7 August 2023
Cite this: https://www.findandconnect.gov.au/ref/sa/biogs/SE01188b.htm
First published by the Find & Connect Web Resource Project for the Commonwealth of Australia, 2011
Except where otherwise noted, content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License