Humanity Platform

 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 men...

 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 accessibil...

 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...

 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 car...

 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 wor...

 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...

 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...