For those of you that are total adrenaline junkies, have I got news for you! You might not have realised this, but Auckland’s iconic SkyTower has this little ledge around the outside of it called the ‘SkyWalk’, where people who are crazy enough can go for a walk around the outside of the tallest building in the southern hemisphere. And now, they’ve built this neat little harness contraption which means that people with physical impairments can join in the fun

I’m sure you all know it’s election year. On second thoughts, it seems a few of you don’t, but I digress. On Thursday the 14th of August, there will be a pre-election forum with all of the political leaders who will shape the future of the disability sector in Auckland. Representatives from Labour, National, NZ First, United Future, and the Maori party will be in attendance, all there to discuss the topic: What support will Auckland Disability Providers receive from

More research coming your way (this is a good thing, IMO!), this time focussing on the experiences of disabled fathers. So if you’re a Dad and you have some sort of impairment and wouldn’t mind sharing your stories and experiences, have a read of the following! The experiences of disabled fathers in New Zealand remain invisible, yet they are essential to influence policy changes which will improve the wellbeing of disabled men and their families. To explore this area, researchers

Okay team, I’ll keep this brief – if you live in Auckland and are passionate about access issues, then a research team want to hear from you! Prepare yourself for the pitch blurb, it reads like this: The Disability Resource Centre (DRC) is working in partnership with independent research company Bennett and Bijoux Ltd to conduct research about what it is like living with disability in Auckland City. The research is being conducted on behalf of the Local Government Centre

Over at InterDependence, a group of 3rd-year Otago University design students have come up with an illustration for Otago’s Disability Support Services, featuring an image of a man in a ‘wire-frame’ wheelchair, with the caption “see me for me, not my wheels”. They say: We tend to see someone in a wheelchair, for example, and allow their disability to colour our perception of them as a person. It is presented in a way that creates empathy instead of avoidance of

Want to get on the internet? Email? Well, you’re already here, but maybe you know someone with a disability who wants to learn more about these new technologies but is a bit nervous, or can’t afford the set up costs? Then have a listen to this! The Get Connected programme is a fantastic initiative set up by the Cerebral Palsy Society in Auckland, and it aims to empower people with cerebral palsy to use the internet to communicate, discover, and

I see these cleaning folk parking in mobility spots regularly, so the other day I decided to take a picture, and “name and shame” them. So here I go (Click on the image for a bigger and more emphatic illustration of what they’re doing). Got any similar pictures yourself? Send them to me!

Competition is now open! Want to win a brand new 4GB iPod Nano? Enter walkingisoverrated.com’s first ever competition and it could be yours! All you have to do is email me an accessible review of somewhere in your local area. It could be a cafe, your local movie theatre, a museum, anything at all! I’ll publish them all on the site, and at the end of the month, everyone who sent me a review will go into the draw to