Labelling The Disabling

On this episode Carol and Ed meet the incredible Jerome Etteridge.  Jerome is a vibrant young man on a mission to succeed at whatever he turns his mind to.  At a young age he already has an impressive resume in education, sports, work and entrepreneurial pursuits.  Jerome has a goal to become the “face of autism” in Australia by normalising autism and the experience of being on the spectrum.  Thro...

In this episode Carol and Ed talk with the talented and accomplished Nick Taylor.  Nick is an athlete (in basketball and golf), Executive at the Yajillara Trust, Chair of Wheelchair Sports NSW & ACT and now Director at The Disability Trust.  Nick represented South Africa and Australia at the Paralympics and World Championships in basketball. A serious car accident at the age of 18 resulted in...

In this episode Carol and Ed meet with the Australian Disability Discrimination Commissioner, Dr Ben Gauntlett. Ben talks about his life journey having experienced a spinal cord injury as a teenager and how that shaped who he is and informed his life choices and decisions (including his decision to swim 22km from Perth to Rottnest Island!). Ben has had a huge impact on human rights for people with...

In this episode we meet Wollongong resident and avid cyclist Matt McMaugh. We speak to Matt and his mother and father, Tessa and Ian, and hear about how cycling has literally opened a world of opportunity to Matt. As his father Ian says: "Learning to ride a bike is the single most important thing for Matty's independence and since he's been able to ride independently the whole world has opened up...

In this episode Siobhan tells us her story of acquiring disability - vision loss and mobility impairment - as a result of having ovarian cancer. She explains the impact of navigating the changes that came about because of her disability and complex health challenges and how these were amplified by the added challenges of ascertaining who may be able to help her with her new support needs. The ofte...

In this episode Carol and Ed meet with the amazingly interesting and entrepreneurial Max Bergmann. Max, a former Paralympic athlete, is a German Australian who is now living outside of Perth and founding operator of an ethical camel dairy farm, the DromeDairy, producing skin care products and taking care of hundreds of camels! Max tells us about his fascinating life as a Paralympic athlete, becomi...

Founding employees at The Plant Room Café in Wollongong, Mark and Amy join Carol and Ed in this conversation to talk about the huge benefits of workplace inclusion, the development of job skills and being gainfully employed. As well as great food and coffee The Plant Room Café provides jobs and support to people with disability to work and gain the skills they need to succeed and lead a career in...

In this episode we meet Ken Wynn who shares his life story with us. It's a story of perseverance and passion that illustrates some of the many changes that Australia has gone through in relation to the understanding, experience and expectations of disability. Following a workplace accident as a 15 year old Ken became a quadriplegic and we hear how he adapted to his injury and has lead a full and i...

In this episode we meet with the high achieving sisters Moana and Lavinia Hope. Mo and Vinny grew up as part of a big family of 14 kids and Mo quit school in the early stages of High School to take care of her sick father. At 26, Moana became the carer for her sister Vinny who lives with Moebius Syndrome a rare neurological condition affecting facial muscle and eye movement. Moana is well known fo...

Ed and Carol meet with Andrew and Lud Kerec. Andrew and Lud are the father and son owners of Renaissance Homes, winners of the ACT Chief Ministers Award for Access and Inclusion for their work on designing and building accessible homes. Following a cycling accident in 2010 Lud became a quadriplegic which lead to the need to adapt Andrew's family home to accommodate Lud starting Renaissance Homes o...

Here we meet the amazing Yenn Purkiss. Yenn is the author of a stack of books including the bestsellers, "The Awesome Autistic Go To Guide" and The Guide to Good Mental Health on the Autism Spectrum". An incredible advocate and mentor, Yenn speaks openly about the issues that are facing people with autism in the times of COVID with impacts on people's mental health and wellbeing due to our present...

In this episode we hear from Professor Yerbury how a lived experience of disease and disability can strongly inform and benefit the progression of research into treatments and therapies. Justin explains some of the latest research and theories about the causes and treatments for the disease that he himself has, Motor Neuron Disease (MND). MND is actually the name for a group of debilitating and pr...

Ethan Green, Anne-Louise Rentell and Ethan Arnold are representing the Strangeways Ensemble, a Wollongong based group of performers, writers and artists with disability who have been working to successfully bring a whole new range of stories that need to be told into the professional mainstream drama space with sold out performances. We hear about the passion, effort, commitment and collaboration...

On this episode we hear from the fascinating and talented Craig Anderson. Craig is a DJ hosting the popular drive time "Afternoons with Ando" on radio 2MCR 100.3 in Sydney. Craig has also worked as a journalist, written Star Trek scripts and was formerly a filmmaker. Craig is getting the support he needs to achieve his goal of being more independent and here he gives great advice as to how to make...

Susan Wallis is a parent to Gracie Wallis who passed away in 2018 at the age of 13. Susan shares her incredibly personal experiences of raising a child with a significant disability and Gracie's many achievements and contributions including lobbying and campaigning for the NDIS to make it better. Susan talks about how "disabled isn't lesser, it's just different", and how people with disability can...

In this episode we talk to story-teller, author and journalist, Tim Rushby-Smith. Tim tells us about becoming paraplegic after a fall in 2005, just as he was about to become a dad for the first time, and about being in a hurry to get back to "normal life" after his injury. Tim educates Ed and Carol on the dangers of Lego and wheelchairs, techniques for keeping fast moving toddlers in check in a bu...

In this episode, we get to meet Carol Heijo. Carol is the self-described legally blind, non-binary, pan-sexual, Marxist, feminist and just awesome co-host of "Labelling the Disabling" who challenges us to "go beyond the obvious". Everything is on the table - gender roles, generational differences, sexual identity, you name it - as Ed talks to Carol about her personal experience of Stargardt's Dise...

Meet Andrew Radford who is passionate about speaking up to ensure people's rights are respected. Andrew is a high achiever and is now internationally recognized for sharing his experiences at the Thriving with Autism 2019 Asia Pacific Autism Conference in Singapore and is the Asia Pacific Autism Advocate. Hear how Andrew has become better connected socially through his advocacy work, how he suppor...

Hear from Dane about his mind blowing story of running over 4000km across Australia in 2017 in memory of his late father Rod, to raise awareness about the rights and abilities of people with disability as well as money for worthy causes. He talks about his love of running, his passion for helping others and his commitment to achieving his goals and also announces his plans to run around the countr...

Meet young Alex who has managed to pack a lot in to his 13 years. He shares his story as a young person with a disability, his incredible NDIS expertise, the importance of getting the right supports that work for him, the benefits he has experienced from working on drama, his passion for photography projects and setting and achieving his goals.

Katie is the mother of Chelsea, a young woman with Prader Willi Syndrome. Katie talks about her parenting experience, what Chelsea has taught her, and how literally everyone benefits from the learnings that disability brings. Katie has an infectious enthusiasm and energy and focuses on the positives of disability and the developments that the NDIS has brought to her life and provides many tips reg...

Vote for Paul! In this episode Paul talks about his journey from Merimbula to Macquarie Street, his work with the Disability of Council of NSW, his perspectives on the challenges for people with disability in regional Australia and his passion for politics and world affairs.

In this episode Dee talks about her journey to becoming a mum with disability, defying her own and others expectations, attitudes and judgements of what she could achieve to start a family and raise a child. Dee is focused on achieving her dreams of a great family life and is open to the opportunities that come her way. No spoilers here, but we can assure you that she has quite a story to tell!

Sam Maloney the sit down comedian talks with Ed about his upcoming gig as MC of the Your Voice Your Choice Self Advocacy Conference and talks about the great outcomes as well as the hurdles he has experienced on his NDIS journey.

Carol and Ed meet Dr Shooshi Dreyfus who explains how words are not needed to communicate, introduces us to signs, symbols and semiotics and details how her non-verbal son, Bodhi, communicates and how this inspired her own research.