Invis-Ability is a new podcast by Wallara exploring the experiences and stories of people living with an intellectual disability (ID).
The ID community is the National Disability Insurance Scheme’s largest group, accounting for roughly 30% of recipients, but their voices are often unheard or misunderstood.
To try and change that, Wallara CEO Phil Hayes-Brown and Paralympian Don Elgin will speak to people living with an ID, carers, and families, as well as business and community leaders.
Drawing on their own experiences and the experiences of their guests, Phil and Don will ask about what it really means to have an ID, how and where inclusion falls short, the importance of language, public perceptions of disability, and much more.
OUR HOSTS
Phil Hayes-Brown is the CEO of Wallara, which has more than 500 clients with an ID. His 18-year-old daughter, Phoebe, also has a moderate ID.
Don Elgin is head of Wallara Online, and a Paralympic medallist with lived experience as an amputee. He knows a bit about the ID community through sport but is embarking on a journey to learn more.
Invis-Ability 5 – LIVE – International Day of the Disability with Stacey Edwards, a proud young woman with Downs Syndrome, & Jeff Kennett
Join Us on Zoom for this one LIVE
You are invited to a Zoom webinar.
When: Dec 3, 2020 11:00 AM Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney
Topic: Wallara Podcast Launch Webinar
Register in advance for this webinar:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Pj3oz1J3RLOQwPCzGyKjlg
** After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
INVIS-ABILITY EPISODES
Invis-Ability 1 – Where to begin? Starting out in the ID space
In our opening episode, Phil and Don set the agenda for Invis-Ability, laying out what they want to cover and discover.
Don recounts his own lived experience as an amputee. Then, he discusses what he knows about the ID community, mostly from his experiences as a teammate of ID athletes at the Sydney 2000 Paralympics.
Our hosts pause to consider the language we use in the disability space, before Phil talks about his lived experiences with his daughter, Phoebe, who has an ID. He shares what that has meant for Phoebe, and the journey they’ve been on together.
Phil and Don work through perceptions and misconceptions about intellectual disability, before finishing with a discussion about representation and visibility.
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Invis-Ability 2 – Lived experience and advocacy with Colin Hiscoe
Phil and Don are joined by Colin Hiscoe, a powerful advocate who lives with a mild ID, for an emotional episode about the struggle the ID community has faced to be included and accepted.
Colin was a founding member of Reinforce, a Melbourne-based ID advocacy group. He talks at length about his own lived experience, including the discrimination he has faced in his life.
Colin discusses how that affected him and the people close to him, and what has changed in the inclusion space in recent years.
To finish, the trio discusses whether institutions designed to support the ID community, like group homes, special schools and supported employment, are a help or a hindrance.
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Invis-Ability 3 – ID on the screen with Tracey Corbin-Matchett
Tracey Corbin-Matchett has a daughter with an acquired brain injury and is also the CEO of Bus Stop Films, which provides film studies course for students with ID.
She joins Phil and Don to discuss representations of disability on screen, how adequate they are when it comes to including the ID community, and what storytellers can do to broaden public perspectives on ID.
Phil and Don then ask Tracey about her own experiences. She discusses her life with a hearing impairment, caring for her daughter, and working at Bus Stop Films with the ID community.
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Invis-Ability 4 – ID inclusion in our sporting theatres with Peter Willoughby & Robyn Smith
Don competed alongside ID athletes at the Sydney Paralympics, but then had to vote on the ongoing participation of the ID community in the Games. The reason? Spain’s ID basketball team blatantly cheated their way to gold by fielding ineligible athletes. It ultimately led to a long hiatus for ID athletes from the Games. Don and Phil recall that story and the controversial vote that followed. Then, they’re joined by Peter Willoughby, who played ID basketball for Australia at the 2000 Games.
Peter talks about his own experience in ID sport, especially what transpired in Sydney. He delves into how he felt about Spain’s cheating, how the events hurt the inclusion of the ID community, and how they affected his life and career. To round out the episode, Robyn Smith joins the show. She was a Paralympic team leader in Sydney and is now the CEO of Sport Inclusion Australia.
Robyn talks through her memories from Sydney, her work in inclusive sport, and the broader battle for inclusion in a space Australians like to believe is more inclusive than most.
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