Send us a Text Message.We're back!Welcome to Season 2 of Enabled - the podcast where we talk about, normalise and celebrate disability and mental health. We are very excited for you to hear this episode with Mel Harrison, from Sitting Low, Reaching High. Mel is a disability advocate who was born with severe kyphosis, scoliosis and arachnoid cysts, and has been a wheelchair user from the age of 14. Despite this, she only received an official diagnosis for her disability last year in ...

Send us a Text Message.What would you do if you lost your child in a crowded, public place? Would you immediately make a scene and ask for help from the people around you? Or is your impulse to try to find them yourself, and avoid asking for help?In this episode with Di Bannister (Lifeline Trainer extraordinaire) and Kelly Saidey (Suicide Prevention and Postvention Manager) we talk about why asking for help is so hard, including the lack of modeling to children of how to ask for help, as well...

Send us a Text Message.Happy International Day of People with Disability!!This year we are partnering with Port Macquarie-Hastings Council to celebrate the day, and to create this episode. We interview young Port Mac local Nate Castelli, our youngest ever guest at 14 years old. Nate is non-verbal, and uses his "talker" - an assistive device that allows him to communicate through pushing buttons - to share his thoughts with us. Nate and his Dad Hugh talk to us about what it's like to...

Send us a Text Message.Special bonus episode!The day we have been dreading (and predicting) has arrived. Bill Shorten, Federal Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme, has this week announced that NDIS funding will be restricted for people with autism. Which is a huge blow for autistic Australians who have benefited from receiving funding that enables them to live the ordinary lives that other Australians take for granted. In this episode Kirsty raises her concerns that au...

Send us a Text Message.In this episode we talk Men's Mental Health with Luke Taylor. Luke spent 14 years as a Detective in the NSW Police Force, including stints as a Homicide Detective and in the Child Protection Squad. He then spent several years as a Highschool teacher, and now is the founder of Crime Story, an experiential learning venture. Listen in as we talk about why it's harder to talk about men's mental health, what's broken in the way that the Police Force responds to the...

Send us a Text Message.In this episode we talk trauma-informed therapy with Simone, a neurodivergent speech pathologist who owns and operates a multi-disciplinary clinic in Port Macquarie, staffed almost entirely by neurodivergent clinicians. Simone discusses the relativity of trauma for children, from a stubbed toe to a scary interaction, that can have varying impacts on children and others. Does a trauma informed approach results in raising a generation of victims? Or does it empower c...

Send us a Text Message.Diagnosed with Autism and ADHD later in life, Simone Fitzgerald owns and operates a multi-disciplinary clinic, staffed almost entirely by neurodivergent therapists. Diagnosed with severe combined-type Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) at 34, and then Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) a few years later, Simone says that she never felt more validated than when she was being diagnosed. In this episode we discuss what it feels like to have unmedicated A...

Send us a Text Message.Stella Young was a prolific disability advocate with a disability called osteogenesis imperfecta. She died in 2014 at the age of 32. Stella coined the term "inspiration porn", which she discusses in her viral TEDx Talk (link below). She also championed the social model of disability, which promotes the view that people with disability are disadvantaged by the inaccessibility and ableism of the world around them, rather than by their disability itself. In this episode we...

Send us a Text Message.When Vanessa lost her husband of 19 years, she questioned whether the right spouse had died.As a person with disability (Spina Bifida), Vanessa struggled with the question of whether she was as valuable to her children as her able-bodied husband had been, because she was unable to play sport with her children, or physically support them in the ways that he had.In Part Two of our chat with Vanessa she talks about her grief journey, why the second year is harder, her expe...

Send us a Text Message.When Vanessa lost her husband of 19 years, she questioned whether the right spouse had died.As a person with disability (Spina Bifida), Vanessa struggled with the question of whether she was as valuable to her children as her able-bodied husband had been, because she was unable to play sport with her children, or physically support them in the ways that he had. Join us in Part One of this two-part episode, as we discuss internalised ableism, whether it's important to un...

Send us a Text Message.Jerusha Mather is a Neuroscientist and disability advocate with cerebral palsy.In this episode we talk to Jerusha about her campaign to be the first disabled Australian Bachelorette, why the producers turned her down, as well as the work that she is doing with dating apps like Tinder to make them more safe and inclusive spaces for people with disability. We also discuss Jerusha's long-held dream to become a Doctor, and the barriers that she faces in that quest that have...

Send us a Text Message.Barbie has been a much beloved and popular doll since her creation, and has spawned many offshoots, including the current Barbie movie, which is hugely popular and making cinema history. But is Barbie good for us? Or are there mental health impacts to Barbie that we should think about?In this episode Colin and Kirsty discuss this very question. Kirsty explains why she does not let her kids play with Barbie, as well as the impact that unrealistic beauty standards have ha...

Send us a Text Message.In Part Two of our chat with Dawn Bayly, we talk education, homeschooling, and flexible learning. Dawn was a teacher for over 20 years, and is a Mum to seven children, including two children on the autism spectrum. In this episode Dawn talks us through why she pulled her children out of mainstream schooling after COVID lockdowns, and left her job as an employed teacher to homeschool her children. We also talk about when and how some of her children returned to...

Send us a Text Message.Meet Port Mac local Jasmine Ferguson (Jas), future ParaMatilda. When she was born, Doctors said that Jas would never walk or talk. Now she's training with the CommBank ParaMatildas, the national women's football team for athletes with cerebral palsy, acquired brain injury, or symptoms resulting from stroke. She's also a role model for girls in sport, people with disability, and indigenous athletes. In today's episode we talk about cerebral palsy, low vision, f...

Send us a Text Message.Imagine going through life not wanting children, and then ending up with seven? That's Dawn Bayly's story. As a result of her own challenging upbringing, Dawn did not want to have any children, or to even get married. Now she has been married for over 20 years, and has seven children through a mix of biology, kinship and fostering. Two of her children are neurodiverse, with autism spectrum disorder and ADHD. In this episode we talk what it takes to break a cyc...

Send us a Text Message.In the episode Kirsty would prefer you to skip (or only listen to the first 4 minutes!), hear about the pattern of media coverage for autism, and Kirsty's concerns about the future of supports for autistic Australians under the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). Tune in as Kirsty discusses why it's unhelpful for autism to be consistently linked to the apparent "unsustainability" of the NDIS, and whether the benefit of the NDIS actually outweighs the cost (spoi...

Send us a Text Message.In this episode we interview Bron Lowe, the force behind Ability Advocators. Get some raw insight into her back story, as we discuss the importance of names, sexism in the workplace, single parenting, and her unlikely love story. This is part one, of a two-part feature with Bron. Join us for part two as we discuss Bron's experience with toxic relationships, and the unexpected impact that this had on Bron's mental health. Read the transcript here:http...

Send us a Text Message.Get to know Kirsty and Colin, in this introductory episode of Enabled. Find out whether Colin is a fan of The Bachelor, the gelato controversy, and whether or not they should even be hosting this podcast. Listen in as Kirsty and Colin discuss the discomfort in the able-bodied community around disability - and why it's important to talk about it - and hear from surprise guest Dennis Owen (Mid North Coast Community College) about opportunities for Port Macquarie...