walking . is . overrated

Some things really baffle me. One of those things is when a teenager with Down’s Syndrome is prevented from participating in a mainstream schooling environment because he isn’t allocated sufficient support funding, and, by mere virtue of the fact that he’s disabled, is seen as “a potential danger to themselves and others”. I’ve just been […]

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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, […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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Now these are exciting times. The fact that it is now being acknowledged that there is a real need for disability focus and representation around legal issues, and not just letting us ‘fall through the cracks’ is great to see. Leading that charge is the newly-launched Auckland Disability Law community law service, which aims to […]

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Gosh I love my readers. Thanks to Rachel I’ve discovered the Kiwiable card! Not that it’s of any particular use to me considering I live in Auckland hehe, but it’s great to know these sort of local initiatives exist! Basically, the ‘Kiwiable card’ gives people with disabilities and their support person discounted entry to various […]

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I stumbled across an interesting article on CNN.com the other day which discussed how yoga classes can benefit disabled people. Specifically, the yoga teacher mentioned multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s, and arthritis as impairments yoga can especially help, but added “”Pretty much if you name a health condition, yoga can help with it”.
I can vouch for this […]

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“Don’t worry, we won’t be removing your support, it’ll just take 3 weeks for you to get your notes from your notetakers from now on.”
That’s the message that disabled students are getting from the Manukau Institute of Technology, as they look to make budget cuts. As it is, the disability support office has had one […]

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Well in case you were worried that we were still living in a country where disabled people weren’t expected to go to Uni until they were 21, you can now rest easy again. Thanks to a hasty Cabinet meeting to correct an archaic funding anomaly which prevented Ryan Leitch going to Uni, Ryan can now […]

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I’ve written about Ryan Leitch before, but for those of you who don’t recognise the name, he’s the 18 year-old Auckland boy who topped the world in the Cambridge Geography exam last year. He’s also got muscular atrophy, and I reckon he’s a real inspiration for young disabled people in this country. Yet despite this, […]

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