Schedule of Events
2009
Keith Horner radio presenter, “The Disability Shop” Each Monday 10-11.00am  
The Disability Shop first went to air on May 19th, 2008. It was conceived because there did not appear to be a regular information show about disability anywhere in the radio. The program aims to be understood by all ages, and socio economic levels. It tries to provide information on many aspects of disability including service delivery, education, discussion and simply news. Listeners are encouraged to e-mail comments and questions to the presenter. 

If a man hasn't discovered something he will die for, he isn't fit to live. Martin Luther King

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. Martin Luther King

You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. Plato

The human race has one really effective weapon, and that is laughter. Mark Twain

Diversity and Disability

It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that they are difficult. Seneca

Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen. Albert Einstein

We have discussed many topics and aspects of disability. We provide weekly media highlights about events for people with disabilities. Our guests have included people with disabilities as well service providers, carers, and government. For more information email thedisabilityshop@hotmail.com
Quotes of the day:

Welcome to the fifth issue of the DnD Newsletter. In the last 3 months we have been very successful in running the Comedy Support Group, where we have been having a very enthusiastic audience enjoying themselves and building up their confidence and self esteem. We have two more sessions to go, on the 27th of May and the 24th of June. Both sessions are going to be at 10.30am to 12.30pm at the Migrant Resource Centre, 45 Main Rd West in St Albans. If you are interested in attending, please RSVP the latest by the day before the session.

Also, we are starting to run another support group which is about developing independence skills for people with a disability to live their life the way they want, overcome barriers and hurdles and achieve their goals. Do you want to take control of your life? Would you like to know how to deal with service providers and how to overcome inaccessible shops and buildings because of lack of ramps or other issues? If the answer is yes, then email us dnd@mrcnorthwest.org.au or call us on 9367 6044 to find out about our next session in self advocacy skills development. 

We are always interested in your feedback about this newsletter and our program. Let us know how we are doing. Also, for more information, please contact us by: 

Phone: (03) 9367 6044

Email: dnd@mrcnorthwest.org.au

Below is our logo:

PERSONAL PROFILE
Walt Disney 
He was slow in school work and did not have a successful school experience, but later became a well- known movie producer and cartoonist. 

Winston Churchill 
This noted Englishman had much difficulty in school. He later became a national leader and an English Prime Minister. 

Christian Anderson 
This young boy had difficulty reading but was able to write some of the world's best loved stories. 

Albert Einstein 
This boy could not talk until the age of four. He did not learn to read until he was nine. His teachers considered him to be mentally slow, unsociable and a dreamer. He failed the entrance examination for college. Ultimately, he developed the theory of relativity. 

Tom Cruise 
He is a famous movie star. He learns his lines by listening to a tape. He suffers from dyslexia. 

Nelson Rockefeller This young man had much difficulty reading and throughout his life was unable to read well. However, he was the governor of the state of New York for four terms and later won congressional approval to be appointed vice president of the United States. 

F.W. Woolworth
As a child he was labeled as slow. He clerked in a village grocery store. He suggested putting slow- moving merchandise on a counter and selling it for five cents. This venture was so successful that it was continued with new goods. He became the principal founder of a chain of five and ten cent stores.
FOREIGN NEWS - Cerebral palsy man 'barred from pub because bouncers mistook disability for drunkenness then asked for medical card' (Mail online)
A cerebral palsy man claims he was refused entry to a pub and verbally abused when bouncers mistook his disability for drunkenness.
Matty Thompson, 18, was enjoying a night out in Whitley Bay, County Durham, with his sister and friends when a doorman allegedly barred him from entering Breeze because of the way he was walking.
When his sister Katie, 20, objected to the bouncer's complaint that 'He can't walk, he's drunk', the teenager was apparently asked to produce a medical card as proof of his disability.
Due to his condition, Mr Thompson has problems keeping his balance and suffers from shaky hand movements. 
His mother Jenette Thompson said: 'I'm absolutely outraged. They just can't treat people with disabilities and learning difficulties like  that and call him names. 
'He was very upset about it. He told me he was called names. It's sheer ignorance on their part.'
Mr Thompson said he had only had a couple of pints by the time he arrived at Breeze.
He said that because of the way he was walking, bouncers there immediately refused him entry.
'My daughter said: "He's got cerebral palsy,"' claimed Mrs Thompson. 'And the bouncer said: "I don't believe that. I want a medical card."
'Katie said: "That's the way he usually walks."' 
Mr Thompson said one of the bouncers then got on his radio to tell other nearby pubs  not to let him in. 
She said her son has been 'upset and very withdrawn' since the incident.
Newcastle United fan Mr Thompson, who attends a residential Mencap college in Dilston, Northumberland, recently got picked to play football for England on behalf of Mencap.
He suffers from a form of cerebral palsy called ataxia, which causes balance  problems, shaky hand movements and irregular speech.
A spokesman for Scope, the national disability charity which focuses on cerebal  palsy, said: 'A disabled person should not be denied access to any premises or  facilities because they are disabled.
'Disabled people have the same right to go into pubs and clubs as anyone else.
'More needs to be done to get the public, and especially those who work in customer service, to truly understand and appreciate difference so that  discrimination against disabled people becomes a thing of the past.'
A spokesman for Dukedom Leisure, which owns Breeze, had no comment. 

Pioneering Disability Advocate Unable to Gain Residency in Australia (From NEDA)

chairs in a vastly more efficient way. Originally conceived of as a new approach to the design of folding bikes, the Crossbreed wheel has immediate applications in the area of mobility. 

Duncan says "There are many occasions when a wheelchair is not in use, and at these times it becomes a large and bulky item; hard to move around, difficult to store and a pain to use with other forms of transport. Cars, taxis trains, planes”. A folding wheel could even allow a whole new type of wheelchair to be designed: one that can fold up into a small package similar to a golf bag in shape and size. 

This wheelchair could be as high performance as any other, yet fold up small enough to fit into an overhead locker on an airplane, wheels and all.

………………………………………………….

Mobile phone emergency call button (From MSN News)

A new software application called MySpot for mobile phones could direct emergency services to your location at the push of a button. 

It can be loaded onto a global positioning system (GPS) enabled mobile phone to send out an alert when a pre-defined "panic button" is pressed. 

It can call up to 20 phones, send email, SMS and instant messages with the current or last location of the user," said Phantom Eye chairman, Ken Stokes. For more info, www.phantomeye.com/gps/track/index.php 

Re-inventing the Wheel[chair](From E-Bility.com website) 
According to designer Duncan Fitzsimons, the Crossbreed folding wheel, originally designed for the cycle market, could revolutionise the everyday use of wheelchairs, enabling users to handle, transport and store their 

Kenyan Dr Siyat Hillow Abdi is fighting a battle to stay in Australia in order to continue to build a life in Australia.

In 2007 Dr Siyat Hillow Abdi overcame extraordinary barriers to become one of the first blind people to be registered as a teacher in South Australia. This was recognised throughout the disability sector as a significant victory for people with disability in Australia in achieving rights and participation. 

Dr Abdi has completed a PhD at Flinders University, South Australia and has published a book (with Brian Mathews) entitled, The Journey of Somali Refugees with Disabilities in Kenya: Voices of Refugees with Disabilities in the Dadaab Camps.
Dr Abdi continues to make a strong day to day contribution to the Australian community, through his work supporting newly arrived members of the Ogaden / Somali community.  Dr Abdi currently works as a relief teacher for recent migrants and refugees, and acts as a role model for many young people in South Australia. 

It is disappointing that Dr Abdi appears to be facing discrimination in seeking to stay in Australia, merely because of his disability, despite his valuable contributions to making Australia a fairer place .

Dr Abdi has been given a deadline of the 18th May by the Australian Government before he must leave Australia. 

The National Ethnic Disability Alliance (NEDA) and Blind Citizens Australia (BCA)  believe this  case  highlights the barriers faced by people with disability in gaining residency  as a result of Australia's unfair migration laws. 

NEDA  and BCA are calling on individuals and organizations to write to the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Senator Chris Evans, Parliament House, Canberra ACT 2600, to urge him to use his public interest power under Section 417 of the Migration Act 1958 to allow Dr Abdi to stay in Australia.