MEET FLEUR Mc DONALD

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Fleur owns a farm and works on the land. Fleur grew up in the South Australian town of
Orroroo. In 2004, the family moved into a newly built farmhouse, but although they had toilets, water and power, life wasn’t easy. As well as working on the farm, Fleur looked after her two young
children, both with disabilities, but was particularly challenged by her son’s behaviours,
which she later discovered were due to him having autism. Because of this, and her
daughter’s dyspraxia (she didn’t speak until she was four), Fleur taught both her children
Makaton sign language to communicate. When her children were still little and not
sleeping through the night, Fleur rediscovered her passion for writing. She wrote snippets on
pieces of paper in between late night feeds, shifting sheep in the ute, while on the tractor
during harvest, and in rare moments of peace under a tree in a paddock. To this day, Fleur still
prefers to write out in the back yard under a gum tree.

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