Name: Empowering change: a conversation on disability advocacy and support
Uploaded: 2023-08-23T05:21:28.433Z
Duration: 496.37

Mandy Edited.mp4

Mandy Edited.vtt

Subtitles

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Don't ever think that I

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can't do something just

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because I've had my hands

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and feet chopped off.

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I can do anything and I still

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have people that even who are

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in the profession of dealing

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with disability, they will

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assume that I can't do stuff

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because their experiences

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that, that they've come

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across other people that can't

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do that particular thing.

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But it's like, no,

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I can do anything.

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Today I'm with,

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Mandy McCracken.

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Is that right?

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Yes, yes.

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That's me.

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Today we are gonna talk about

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a conversation, disability

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advocacy, and support.

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So I, Mandy, can you just

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introduce yourself to our

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audience, so who you are and

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what you do in your life.

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So, I'm Mandy McCracken.

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I'm a quadruple amputee,

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for the last 10 years

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and today I'm here with

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our group Get Started,

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Disability Support Australia.

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Okay.

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So you created Get Started

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Disability Support Australia.

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And, the question that

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I have for you is that,

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what inspired you on

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creating, this, company?

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Yeah, so I became

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disabled when I was 39.

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And I had no idea about

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disability beforehand.

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I'd never met anyone disabled.

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I didn't know where

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to find a wheelchair.

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And, and the one thing

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that really got me stuck

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was I wanted to take my

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kids on a train to go to

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the city and I had no idea

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how to get my electric

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wheelchair onto a train.

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And I didn't know who to

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call and was like, just

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stop me dead in my tracks.

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And, I found that talking

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to people over the years,

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everyone's having the

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same sort of experience.

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Just understanding how this

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works is really challenging.

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So the idea is that we'll

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fix that and we'll make

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it easier for the next

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disabled person to find the

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info and feel supported.

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Once you have that experience

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and you understand that there

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are problem in this space Yep.

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It's easier to you.

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Okay.

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Maybe we should do

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something about Yeah.

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If somebody's gotta

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do something about it.

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Definitely.

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So, yeah, like, personal

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stories that effectively

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raise awareness about.

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These problems and, catalyze

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positive change for people

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with disability through

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this advocacy efforts.

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So could you share some,

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particularly impactful

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story that, made you think,

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okay, maybe we have to

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do something like this?

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Just recently actually,

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I met a young mom who has

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a disabled husband, newly

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disabled husband and she's

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just had her two kids

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diagnosed with autism and she

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lives in my local area and

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she was in tears just going,

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I just dunno what to do.

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Like I, she said, I've

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got a an NDIS plan.

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I, I don't what to do with it.

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Who, who do I call?

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How do I spend my money?

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And she was in tears and

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she just just said to

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me, please, can you tell

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me what's my first step?

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And I said to her, I

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said, just hire a, a

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cleaner for your house.

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Just do that one thing.

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Start with that,

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just a simple thing.

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And then, You know, we'll,

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we'll work on the next thing.

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So just talking to people

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out there, I know that a

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lot of people are going

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through the same situation.

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They just don't

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know where to begin.

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Yeah, yeah.

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Yeah.

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Because I think like they

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look at the big picture,

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oh, it's enormous, and

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they don't focus, sometimes

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it's just little step at

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a time that you can Yeah.

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And, and often you get an

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NDIS plan and it's huge.

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Yeah.

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Like, you know, you might get

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this massive dump of cash,

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but you don't even know what

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the first thing to do is.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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Massive.

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Yeah.

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So we try and make

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it a little simpler.

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That's why it's good to

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have people like yourself.

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People can talk to you and

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from your personal experience,

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you can give advice on what to

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do and yeah, all that stuff.

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So, another question for you

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is that, what are the most

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common misconceptions about

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people with disabilities

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and, how can education

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and how can education

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and awarenes campaigns

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effectively challenge and

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change these, perceptions?

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Biggest misconception I

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think is that we are unable

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to do things for ourselves.

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I think disabled people

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are incredibly, good at

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working around problems.

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That's what we do every day.

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Don't ever think that I

{{00:04:27}}
can't do something just

{{00:04:28}}
because I've had my hands

{{00:04:29}}
and feet chopped off.

{{00:04:30}}
I can do anything and I still

{{00:04:33}}
have people that even who are

{{00:04:35}}
in the profession of dealing

{{00:04:37}}
with disability, they will

{{00:04:40}}
assume that I can't do stuff.

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Because their experiences

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that, that they've come

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across other people that can't

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do that particular thing.

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But it's like, no,

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I can do anything.

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I just, we just have to

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work out how to get there.

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Yeah.

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But you you find a way.

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Find a way.

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Yeah.

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There's always a way.

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Yeah.

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There is.

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If there is a a will, there

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is a way that's, there

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is Will always a will.

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Yes like let's talk about,

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get started on disability.

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Mm-hmm.

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Which is the company

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you founded Get Started

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Disability Support.

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Yep.

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Yeah.

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Support Australia.

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Yeah.

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So what work to improve

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accessibility within the

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healthcare system andnd

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ensure adequate support for

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individuals with disabilities

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are you currently doing?

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So what we've found

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is,  everybody has a

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different experience and

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it, a lot of it depends

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on who is supporting you.

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So you might get a great

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support coordinator

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or you might actually

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get a really bad one.

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You might get a great local

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area coordinator, or you might

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just get a really bad one.

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So what we wanna make sure

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is that the experience is,

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is the same for everybody.

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The information's the

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same for everyone.

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The standard of

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information is the same.

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So if we can make a, a program

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out there that is going to

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introduce all the aspects of

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DI disability to the whole

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disabled community, we're all

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starting on the same level.

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Yeah.

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And then that connection

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to other peer lived

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experience, is where the

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real gems of information is.

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So again, We can break

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down this, this barrier

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of privacy, it doesn't

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really help us, disabled

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people to keep everybody

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in their little silos.

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If we can all come together

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and work together, then we

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can all, achieve together.

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Yeah.

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Perfect.

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And can you share, like to

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end the interview with, can

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you share some advice on

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successful collaboration or

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you need to see that, both

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road potential improvements

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to, to the list of people with

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disability to their lives?

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Of people with disability,

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if there is any.

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What I'm thinking at

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the moment is we have to

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break down those silos.

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A lot of disability companies

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all work, everybody's doing

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the same thing and instead

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of, instead of everybody doing

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this thing individually, we

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need to all come together

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and work for a greater cause.

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our group is very new.

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We're really just beginning.

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So, I'm sure there will be

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many stories of fantastic

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partnerships coming up

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that I, if you ask me next

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year, I hope I can rattle

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them all off for you.

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Yeah, definitely.

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I'm gonna, I'm gonna

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see if next year we

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have the ability Yeah.

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I'll reach out to you

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and we can talk even more

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about, can hold me to it.

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Yeah.

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Because in one year I more

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thing change and, you can do

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more work, help more people.

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cause that's what

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your probably goal is.

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Yeah.

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And it's already this

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morning, I've met, you

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know, three people that,

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that we can work together

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to improve the situation.

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So yeah, it's, it's gonna

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be very exciting times.

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That's why Yeah.

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That's why we have this

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type of conference.

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So you can network

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and, find more people

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that need your Yes.

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Because that's the best place

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where to go in order to find

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this, these people, you know?

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Yep.

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And, you know, we can all

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work together 'cause we're

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all trying to improve

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the same situation.

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Yeah.

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We're all like, it's, we are

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all in the same situation.

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I, we're all in it together.

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I think there's a song.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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Yeah, you look it up.

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We all two bed.

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I'll pull in the video.

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Yeah.

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It comes with

{{00:07:53}}
pompoms, I think.

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Okay.

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But, but yeah, thank

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you for your time.

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It was a pretty insightful

{{00:07:59}}
interview of like, our

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audience will take a lot of,

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insight from our discussion.

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Yep.

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And, and yeah, that's

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pretty much everything.

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Nice to meet you.

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Nice to meet you.

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Alright.

{{00:08:09}}
See ya.

Expert Insight

Join Mandy McCracken, Founder & Chair of Get Started Disability Support Australia, in a compelling conversation on disability advocacy and support. 

Discover the inspiration behind GSDSA and its unique approach to addressing challenges faced by individuals with disabilities. & Learn how personal stories drive positive change and awareness. 

Empower change through this insightful dialogue on disability advocacy.


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Mandy McCracken

Founder & Chairperson, Storyteller and Disability Advocate,

Inception of get started disability support Australia

 Personal stories for awareness and positive change in disability advocacy

Dispelling common misconceptions about people with disabilities

Get Started Disability Support Australia's approach

Collaborative initiatives impacting lives of individuals with disabilities

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Empowering change: a conversation on disability advocacy and support

Disability