Have The Nerve: A Podcast About Disability

Send us Fan Mail On this episode, Susan is joined by former Australian Disability Discrimination Commissioner, and disability advocate, Professor Alastair McEwin AM.  He shares his story of lived experience growing up with a disability, his work as a Royal Commissioner with the Disability Royal Commission, helping form the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRP...

Send us Fan Mail What would you do if your car broke down on the side of the road and there were no available options for transport assistance to get you somewhere safe? To get you home?  This year, Sarah-Jane (SJ) Staszak was stranded on the side of the M4 in New South Wales for four hours after her car broke down, because there wasn't an alternative option for her to be transported safely i...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode meet Luke Spencer and Kat Yee. At age 12, Luke was diagnosed with Fredrich’s Ataxia, and in May 2024, after a series of complications at the age of 25, he had a pacemaker put in that both Kat and Luke lovingly refer to C-3PO. This is the story of how Luke wanted to snorkelling in Fiji after his pacemaker was put in at the age of 25, and how Kat supported Luke as an...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, meet 20-year-old Nioka Bush who lives with Cerebral Palsy and is on the autistic spectrum.  Nioka shares her experience growing up with her disability, going through the schooling system, the women who have helped shaped her and her advice for the next generation of women growing up with disabilities.  This episode has been made in celebration of International Wom...

Send us Fan Mail Meet Melbourne-based podcaster and disability advocate Peta Hooke. She is the host of 'The I Can’t Stand Podcast', and in 2025, she released a short podcast series called 'Eggs', where she chronicles her real-life experience navigating IVF and fertility with a Cerebral Palsy.  On Have the Nerve, Susan and Peta talk a bit more about that podcast and the receptio...

Send us Fan Mail In the final episode for Have the Nerve for 2025, meet Susan's mother, Alma.  Alma came from Kabankalan, Negros Occidental in the Philippines to Australia in 1981. She shares her perspective of raising Susan, observations as she got older, advice for parents of children who have disabilities, and the switch from being the caretaker to being cared for by Susan at the age of 85...

Send us Fan Mail Today is International Day of People with Disability (IDPwD)!  On this episode, Forrest, Declan and Maz from our EmployAbility team come on the podcast to discuss equity, the importance of lived-experience led training and social progress.  This year's theme for IDPwD is 'Fostering disability inclusive societies for advancing social progress'. At SCIA, all of our se...

Send us Fan Mail On this episode Dan Holt, Ash Treseder and Rob Wynn come on the podcast to share their experiences of fatherhood at their respective stages.  Whether that's a father to be, a new father or a with grown children, they share their learnings, some of the fears and how the importance of being open and honest about their disabilities to everyone is essential.  Information in this...

Send us Fan Mail From what accessible means and even down to how thick carpet is, on this episode Susan Wood, Liberty Smith and Hayley Dean come on Have The Nerve to have a chat about what we're learnt since working at Spinal Cord Injuries Australia and how nothing compares to working alongside people with disabilities, or others who have a similar disability to open up your eyes to the disab...

Send us Fan Mail Have the Nerve is back on for 2025! This is Have The Nerve Shorts - the short episodes between the long ones where we talk about things From The Internet, you can Get To Know Your Body and there might be even Something To Think About. On this episode Laura Burling, Heidz Haydon and Susan Wood talk about about TikToker Claire Sisk (@canseecantsee), a woman who has a visual impairme...

Send us Fan Mail You're listening to episode FIFTY and the final episode of Have The Nerve for 2024. On this episode we’re going to talk about equity. Are the opportunities for people, specifically students with disabilities, fairer in 2024 than they were in, let's say, 2000? 16 year old high school student Lara Grimson comes on the podcast to share her story about trying to find work ex...

Send us Fan Mail This is Have The Nerve Shorts - the short episodes between the long ones where we talk about things From The Internet, you can Get To Know Your Body and there might be even Something To Think About. In this episode, Physiotherapist Colbey Van Leeuwen comes on to explain the three types of electrical stimulation that can aid in mobility and pain management for individuals living wi...

Send us Fan Mail In October this year Professor Shane Clifton wrote a piece for The Conversation titled, 'When even fringe festival venues exclude people with disability, cities need to act on access' after a series of accessibility issues to attend events at one of Sydney's biggest festivals on the calendar. Shane is the Associate Professor of Practice, School of Health Sciences an...

Send us Fan Mail Have The Nerve Not-So-Short this episode! You will hear the stories of three people who explain what sport means to them, because when it comes to disability and sport society may focus on physical strength or the medals, but it's so much more than that. On this episode you hear from: Tamsin Colley is an international athlete in para-athletics and cerebral palsy football stud...

Send us Fan Mail This is Have The Nerve Shorts - the short episodes between the long ones where we talk about things From The Internet, you can Get To Know Your Body and there might be even Something To Think About. In this episode Exercise Physiologist Alicia Payne answers the question "Why should I exercise in the water?". If you've ever considered getting into a pool, but don&apo...

Send us Fan Mail This is Have The Nerve Shorts - the short episodes between the long ones where we talk about things From The Internet, you can Get To Know Your Body and there might be even Something To Think About. In this episode Laura Burling, Heidi Haydon and Susan Wood discuss @uksecrettravel_'s TikTok where they recall an anonymous post made by someone on the Ultimate World Cruise forum...

Send us Fan Mail Getting research off the ground is probably more complex than you'd expect. Doctor Claire Boswell-Ruys is a physiotherapist and senior research fellow at Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA) and has worked in the area of spinal cord injuries for the past 20 years. We talk about all things research, we discuss what it takes to set up a research trial, how it's funded,...

Send us Fan Mail This is Have The Nerve Shorts - The short episodes between the longer ones. However, today isn't short at all #SorryNotSorry. Duncan Wallace, Executive Director of SpinalCure Australia is on to chat about why you should consider investing in medical research for spinal cord injury and why you should consider the next generation of medical researchers. Having a spinal cord inj...

Send us Fan Mail This is Have The Nerve Shorts - the short episodes between the long ones where we talk about things From The Internet, you can Get To Know Your Body and there might be even Something To Think About. In this episode Physiotherapist Colbey Van Leeuwen talks about falls prevention for upper limbs and lower limbs. How much do you know about the vestibular system? How can multitasking...

Send us Fan Mail This is Have The Nerve Shorts - the short episodes between the long ones where we talk about things From The Internet, you can Get To Know Your Body and there might be even Something To Think About. In this episode Laura Burling, Heidi Haydon and Susan Wood discuss Senator Jordon Steele-John's TikTok video when he shared the story of someone attempting to heal his disability...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Associate Professor Shane Clifton from the University of Sydney comes on the podcast to talk about the many lives he led before his accident, his career as a theology lecturer and his accident that led to a spinal cord injury 14 years ago. Susan and Shane talk candidly about their journeys with faith and their disabilities and how the impact of knowing the diversi...

Send us Fan Mail This is Have The Nerve Shorts - the short episodes between the long ones where we talk about things From The Internet, you can Get To Know Your Body and there might be even Something To Think About. In this episode of Have The Nerve, Forrest Campbell is back to talk about his experiences finding work after he sustained his spinal cord injury in 2015 and why the role of being inclu...

Send us Fan Mail This is Have The Nerve Shorts - the short episodes between the long ones where we talk about things From The Internet, you can Get To Know Your Body and there might be even Something To Think About. In this episode, Exercise Physiologist Alicia Payne comes on to talk about why strength training is for everyone of any ability! NeuroMoves is a specialised exercise service for people...

Send us Fan Mail This is Have The Nerve Shorts - the short episodes between the long ones where we talk about things From The Internet, you can Get To Know Your Body and there might be even Something To Think About. Hey there fellow doomscrollers! In this episode you are listening to Laura Burling, Jade Williams and Susan Wood answer the question: AITA for using a disabled stall? In what initially...

Send us Fan Mail Trigger warning, this episode speaks in detail about attempted suicide. Listener discretion is advised.  In this episode, 2023 Lifeline Ambassador and public speaker, Matthew Caruana, comes on to share his story, At 16, in an attempt to end his life Matthew jumped seven storeys from a building. He survived, sustained a spinal cord injury and began a journey that would literally ch...