Humanity Platform

 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

 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

 Australia let’s keep this referendum vote simple. All we have to do is write yes or no to one question: “A Proposed Law: to alter the Constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.   Do you approve this proposed alteration?”  The Voice proposal does not give Indigenous people a separate power over the country only the power to work with the Government and Parliament on matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.  It also gives Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people recognition and a place of honour in our constitution as the original custodians of this land.  I have been campaigning for Yes and voting yes for three reasons.  First I am voting yes out of respect for my family and friends who come from an indigenous background.  Second I am voting yes because as a person who lives with a disability, I don’t believe it is fair that people from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander backgr

As people transition through the milestones of life, sexuality shifts and flows with them and it is important to allied health professionals and other support workers to include sexuality in their discussions with their clients as part of the kaleidoscope of life.  My sexual journey, or beginning of my sexuality, reached its first milestone when I was thirteen. The only problem was that the sex education I received at the time didn’t take into account my disability and how that might impact my sexuality.  What I needed at the time was not so much practical support to engage in sexual activity but verbal and emotional support where I could safely talk about my experiences and what the support could look like in the future.  As I got older my desire to safely express my sexuality grew but unfortunately the support and knowledge around sexuality did not grow with me. For example, I engaged both a psychologist and occupational therapist to help me come up with strategies to engage in intim

 When it comes to mental health many people still struggle to have the conversations. RU OK Day 2023 gives everyone the perfect opportunity to let someone know that you are here to hear.  RU OK Day gives everyone the opportunity to ask if you’re okay, listen to the answer, encourage someone struggling with mental health to take action, and to check in.  In my personal mental health journey people have sometimes been reluctant to ask if I was okay because they saw my disability as an obvious sign that I’m not okay. Even medical professionals dismiss my mental health and depression for far too long because ‘of course my cerebral palsy must make me depressed’.  It is important when working in the disability space to treat mental health and physical disability separately.  Anecdotal evidence does suggest that 1 in 2 people with a physical disability will experience mental health struggles in their lifetime but it is important to not make an assumption and never be afraid to ask are you oka

 People with disabilities will of course be aware of International Day of People with Disabilities. What they might be less aware of is Disability Pride Month. Although Disability Pride Month started to celebrate the signing of the Americans' with Disabilities Act it is slowly being adopted by disabled people around the world as a sign of disabled pride.  For too long in human history having a disability has been something to be hidden away from in the community.  Disabled Pride Month allows people with disabilities to take back our power. Taking inspiration from the LGBTQIA+ flag, disabled pride has our own flag. A flag designed by writer Ann Magill. The flag's design represents different types of disability by individual coloured lines sitting parallel to each other to indicate solidarity.  The colour scheme is as follows: white represents people with invisible disabilities, red represents those of us with physical disabilities, blue represents individuals with mental illness

 In life the universe or God sends us down certain paths if we pay attention and lately for me that path has lead me to speak up about accessibility. First of all with Global Accessibility Day in May and now with an invitation to speak at my local art gallery about disability awareness and accessibility.  If you live with a disability in this world some of the biggest challenges you have to overcome are accessibility related.  I have to live my life planning everything like a military operation. The first thing I have to figure out is are the places I want to go accessible and even though in the modern world by law things have to be accessible in practice that is not always possible.  I have missed out on attending many events with friends and family because the venue simply was not accessible.  So how can we start making things accessible?  First of all, we need to start getting people with disabilities involved at the start of projects and have accessibility at the forefront of our m

 I was fortunate enough to be invited as a panellist for GenU's inaugural webinar for the Global Accessibility Awareness Day.  The GAAD aims to raise awareness and promote global accessibility for people with disabilities in the digital space. We are all aware that in the developed world physical access to the community is a human right but we now live in an increasingly digital space with most of us living a big chunk of our lives online.  This can either be more empowering for the disability community or sometimes disempowering depending on how much thought the technology companies put into accessibility to their digital products.  I personally have used the digital world to increase my independence since the early nineties. I was the youngest person in the southern hemisphere to use Dragon Naturally Speaking, the voice dictation software, that first came out. I still use the software to this day and supplement it with other voice recognition programs such as Apple's Siri and

 TRIGGER/CONTENT WARNING: The following content may include triggers for sexual assault survivors and is only suitable for people over 15 years of age.  It is a disturbing fact that 85% of people with disabilities experience abuse in their lifetime. So when I was sent an article about a sexual assault counsellor accused of sexual misconduct with a client, who then was able to get a position with NDIS participants I was outraged.  When the Geelong Sexual Assault & Family Violence (SAFV) Centre counsellor was suspended from counselling because of sexual misconduct with a client he went on to work with NDIS participants.  According to the news.com.au article the man at the centre of the story groomed a client from 2018 to 2020. So I ask you how does this man get a position where he then has responsibilities for people with disabilities? Many people with disabilities are already vulnerable with most cases of abuse happening with the perpetrators being the primary carers.  When you are

 Every Lent and Easter period I rededicate and affirm my Catholic faith.  This year during my period of reflection a strange amalgamation occurred which I hope will not seem as blasphemous if I can explain it properly.  Some truths were revealed to me through the simplicity of the Lord's Prayer and Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist.   I, through baptism and profession of the Creed, am a follower of Christ.  I know it is my mission to become like Christ, to be granted admission into heaven. Part of my role as a Catholic is to create a better world on Earth until I meet God in Heaven.  This Lent and Easter period I have had the thought that the world would be a better place if everyone followed the Lord's Prayer. “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven.” There was a time in world history where eighty to ninety percent of the population professed to be followers of Christ. Now that number is at thirty percent and dropping in the Western world.  I ask you is

 For years now I have entered into an annual conversation about the benefits and pitfalls of assistive technology and how it helps me overcome my disability.  I have used many different types of accessible assistive technology over the years but when the first Iron Man movie came out, I saw my assistive technology dream and not just because I wanted to be a "genius billionaire, play boy, philanthropist" like Tony Stark.  When I looked at Tony Stark's fictional system JARVIS I saw a path to independence.  My cerebral palsy means I am very physically limited as to what I can and can't do. So when I saw Tony Stark's house being operated with voice commands I got very excited.  This level of environmental control is still sadly out of reach for me mostly because of funding barriers and sometimes because the technology does not yet exist.  To me the best approach towards assistive technology is is a combination of low tech and high tech equipment. For example, I litera

 People that know me, know I am a poet, public speaker, political activist, professional actor, and most importantly, a husband.  What most people don’t know is that none of that would be possible for me without the active support of my family, and my disability support workers.  Many people including some health professionals put too much focus on my Cerebral Palsy.  My first rule is to treat each person as an individual, just because I have Cerebral Palsy doesn’t mean I am the same as everyone else with Cerebral Palsy.  My second rule is take a holistic view of my life, yes, CP is a part of me but I have a family life, a social life, a working life, a spiritual life, and a sexual life.  Of course it is important for support staff to be aware of the physical and social attitude barriers my disability creates.  Lack of access to my community is the number one physical barrier I have faced in my forty years, because of this I have to plan my life like a military operation.  Negative soc

 In 2022 my first blog post was called Day One. This year it’s time to go to the next level!  Over the Christmas break I did some of my most deep thinking and realised that I have only had little drops of success. It’s time for me to commit to a five year surge.  A five year surge where I’m only focussing on becoming the best artistic version of myself I can be because I have come to the conclusion that everything else I want to achieve can be achieved as a flow on effect of becoming the best poet and actor possible.  Going to the next level is about using everything I have in a concentrated form. It’s about never giving up and never being finished.  In a stroke of perfect timing I was given the opportunity to get David Goggins’ book Never Finish. In my opinion Never Finish is even better than his first book You Can’t Hurt Me. It has the ability to put anyone who reads it into the savage mindset.  I will never be a Navy SEAL or an ultra athlete but I can, and do, use the same mindset