Skip to main content

Community Centre


People with disabilities in 2017 still have to advocate strongly to be allowed to participate fully in the community. 
I recently was invited to a community inclusion forum which I was unable to attend but this is what I would have said. 
All my life I have desperately wanted to be taken seriously. I have wanted to be considered a leader, not just in the disability community but in the world as a whole. 
People might see my disability as a detriment and it might be a cliche, I ask people to focus on my ability not my disability. I am street performer, poet, public speaker, political activist, professional actor, and most importantly a husband. All these socially valued roles and more are how I try and give back to the community. 
The fact that when it come to people with a disability we still have the necessity for social inclusion forums inspired me to write the following poem:

Community Centre

I sit looking up, getting a sore neck while everyone else gets to look down at me. 
I want to say "Excuse me, include me, do not exclude me. How dare you be rude to me. "
When my carers put me in my wheelchair I roll down to the shops
To buy myself a knot roll, but what I'm really hungry for is a socially valued role. 
In this day and age the sight of a person with a disability 
Should not be a cause for social stress;
Our mantra should be universal access, 
For older gentlemen and ladies to mothers with their babies. 
If you've seen me on the tv screen, a psychologist would say it's  my desperate
Attempt to be seen. 
Now just to keep it moving along I hope you don't mind 
If I misappropriate a Dolly Parton song
"I'm working nine to five, I'm prepared to make a living"
Life is about give and take, people take care of me but I'm prepared to do some giving
Community means a group of people living ing in the same place or sharing a characteristic in common
People with disabilities are here, you're here, and we're all part of this human race
We all have our part to play, this is not a hyperbole that is fun to say
I would love to get in the ring and box
But the only thing I have to fight with is my voice box
But inclusion is not about fighting it's about being a part 
That is the community inclusion art. 
Exclusion leads to isolation, isolation brings frustration, frustration brings alienation
Whether it's the community or the world we're all one nation. 
So each day it is a new society we enter so let's bring community to the centre. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Defend Our NDIS

 Defend our NDIS; people have had enough of cuts and changes to the NDIS. The Every Australian Counts campaign has organised a national day of action and events across Australia to take place on 28th of April.  I have been involved in the NDIS from the initial trial phase through to today. People may remember that I was involved in an advertising campaign spruiking the benefits to come once the scheme was up and running.  ‘You’re in charge! Yes we are, aren’t we!’ For awhile this was the truth for participants like myself. I have been very lucky and received 90 percent of what I need from NDIS.  The question is would I have received the same benefits if I was not a skilled disability advocate?  People with disabilities want the original version of the scheme that was promised without having to fight for a reasonable request. It would be a more efficient scheme if the government put the millions of dollars in legal fees into service delivery instead.  According to the Australian Service
3 comments
Read more

A Vision for an Inclusive Australia (DRC Final Report)

 The final revised version of the Disability Royal Commission (DRC) into violence, abuse, neglect, and exploitation was published on 2 November 2023.  The Royal Commission ran for four years with hundreds of people with disabilities testifying at hearings and thousands more supplying the Commission with written submissions.  The final report titled Our Vision for An Inclusive Australia  made 222 recommendations to improve laws, policies, structures, and practices to ensure a more inclusive and just society. That supports the independence of people with disabilities and their right to live a life free from violence, abuse, neglect, and exploitation.  The report covers 12 volumes ranging from:  Voices of People with Disability  About the Royal Commission Nature and Extent of Violence, Abuse, and Exploitation Realising the Human Rights of People with Disability  Governing for Inclusion Inclusive Education, Employment, and Housing Enabling Autonomy and Access Criminal Justice and People wi
Post a Comment
Read more

United in Action (International Day of People with Disability 2023)

 International Day of People with Disability is here again. It is a day to celebrate the achievements of people with disabilities while at the same time reminding the world that people with disabilities need access to equality.  This year's UN theme is United in Action to rescue and achieve the sustainable development goals for, with, and by people with disability.  Around this time every year I am blown away by the giants in the world who live with a disability and I am using today's post to highlight just a few.  First let me tell you about Natalie Wade, a passionate lawyer who works in the area of disability rights law. Natalie is also the coauthor of Disability Rights in Real Life Handbook  as well as being the inaugural orator for the Disability Leadership Oration . This will air at 5pm AEDT on ABC TV and ABC iview on the 3 December 2023.  The next person I wish to highlight today is Elly Desmarchelier, a brilliant disability advocate, writer, and national spokesperson for
Post a Comment
Read more