Bendigo girl Macy, 5, was watching cartoons one day when she called out to her mum, Kate Rawnsley, in the kitchen.
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"Mum look, they've got what I am going to have," she said.
The child in the cartoon was sick at home and had a telepresence robot, technology that will soon become indispensable for Macy.
Macy is one of two children in Victoria diagnosed with generalised arterial calcification of infancy (GACI), a lifelong disease which causes an abnormal build-up of calcium in the walls of arteries.
She goes into her foundation year of school in Bendigo next year, something her mum said was a "miracle" after she was told her daughter might not make it through the night of her diagnosis in 2018.
"We still have a lot of medical challenges, a lot of hospital admissions," Ms Rawnsley said.
"And she does need a lot of time off from kinder, which is really hard, now that she is getting older and more aware of what she misses out on."
To curb those disappointments, Macy's school kit will include a telepresence robot, beaming her, via video, into the classroom when medical appointments get in the way.
'Social connection is so critical': non-profit CEO
The technology, provided by non-profit MissingSchool, works to continue a student's learning and social connection when they might not be able to attend the classroom.
"Social connection is so critical, but the [robot] also provides a normalising experience in what is a very tough time," MissingSchool CEO and co-founder, Megan Gilmour, said.
"And we want to enable learning from anywhere to continue their learning, to connect [children] to their peers and friends to reduce their anxiety, and sure up their future prospects."
Technology means Macy doesn't miss out
For Macy, already going through the tribulations of medication and needles, the technology would mean she did not have to pair that discomfort with the disappointment of missing formative, childhood experiences.
"She had an event that landed her in hospital and she missed the book week parade," Ms Rawnsley said.
"In that scenario, if we had the robot at that point in time, she could have virtually attended from the hospital room and, and at least see what her friends had dressed up as."
As much as the telepresence robot would bring access to Macy, there was something else the technology represented for the young girl.
"It is about giving an extra element of control to children that unfortunately do not have a lot of control over so many things in their lives," Ms Rawnsley said.
They had tried Facetime and other video technology to access the classroom, but this would be different, she said.
"If she does not want to look at the teacher and she wants to see what her friends doing or have a sneaky look to the side, she can."
Ms Rawnsley said in her reality where there was "not much we can control for our kiddos that have medical needs", the telepresence robot represented something solid.
"This is something that can go one step to to improve things for them," she said.
"So they can stay connected and access school like every child should have the right to."
Kate expects Macy to take delivery of her telepresence robot in the coming months.
