Dan Goes to the Dentist

Do you like going to the dentist? If we’re honest, many of us will say no, but we go anyway because we know it is important for our oral health. Having instruments poked in your mouth and a bright light in your eyes is not very comfortable, but we know that prevention is better than …

2021 – A Reading Year in Review

The first days of the New Year are a time for reflection. We look back on the year that has been and look towards the year that has opened. We might take stock of the state of our health, family life and working prospects. We might identify some new life or career goals. Or perhaps …

Accessible Housing Benefits Everyone

Image by Anastasiia Chepinska - Unsplash “We all aspire to have our own homes, we all aspire to be independent, and we all aspire to live in a safe environment.” (David Blower, Endeavour Foundation) Today is the International Day of People with Disabilities, one of the most important days of the year for the disability …

Carers Week 2021 – Millions of Reasons to Care

“Carers are an essential part of our health system. They are the foundation of our aged, disability, palliative, and community care systems.” Every year 2.65 million Australian carers perform 2.2 billion hours of unpaid care. There are many reasons why a person may become a carer - disability, mental illness, chronic conditions, terminal illness and …

Capability Before Disability

Since early last year the news headlines have mostly consisted of Covid…Covid….and more Covid. There hasn’t been a lot of good news for quite some time, so when the Olympic Games started a few months ago I was quite relieved to have something else garner my attention. My poor covid fatigued brain really enjoyed having …

Migraine and Headache Awareness Week

Headaches are one of those annoying things in life. Often caused by stress or noise or sometimes even a little too much to drink, they are irritating but usually quickly treated with a couple of pills or a good lie down. Migraines, on the other hand, are a serious and debilitating condition that can rob …

Australian Women’s History – Memoirs of Tilly Aston

Although we have not seen a million things we understand quite well, we have seen something else with which we can compare new impressions; something which makes it possible for us to SEE, perhaps more vividly than many unseeing sighted people, the gifts of beauty or grandeur strewn around us. Tilly Aston If you are …

Understanding the NDIS Plan

For many Australians living with a disability the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) has become such a regular part of life that it can be difficult to remember how life was before. For our son Dan, who has autism and an intellectual impairment, the NDIS is the way in which he receives the supports that …

Living with Dignity

Today, December 3rd, is the International Day of People with Disability. It is an annual event designed to “increase public awareness, understanding and acceptance of people with disability and celebrate their achievements and contributions.” Each year there is a specific theme, and this year, quite appropriately, it is “Building Back Better: toward a disability-inclusive, accessible …

NDIS: No Choice, No Control

The final months of the year are always a busy time. The school year comes to a close and we start preparations for Christmas and the Summer holidays. It is an even busier time for us as it coincides with the time of Dan’s NDIS plan review. For people with disabilities and their families the …