I’m glad to have another opportunity to talk about the unique situation disabled people face as we tackle climate change. I’ll be speaking at this event as part of the Greater Dandenong Sustainability Festival and Libraries After Dark at Springvale Library.

Climate change is happening now, and it affects everyone, including people with disabilities. Join us and several special guests as we discuss this topic and hear your views and thoughts. You will also learn how people with a disability can prepare for and stay comfortable during extreme weather events.

Thursday 7 April 2022, 7:30pm -9:00pm

Springvale Library 5 Hillcrest Grove, Springvale

Register to attend via this link

If you’re local I’d love to see you at the Springvale Library in the Springvale Community Hub, but for those not able to make it in person the session will be recorded and available to watch after it has taken place.

To celebrate the launch of We’ve Got This – the first major anthology of writing by parents with disabilities – a panel of the book’s contributors will discuss the complexities of parenting from this often overlooked perspective.

In We’ve Got This, twenty-five parents who identify as Deaf, disabled or chronically ill discuss the highs and lows of their parenting journeys. The result is a moving and empowering collection that captures all the joy, anxiety and love that comes with being a disabled parent – and reveals that often, the greatest obstacle is other people’s attitudes.

The anthology’s editor, musician Eliza Hull, will be joined by writer and academic Shakira Hussein, activist and educator Jax Jacki Brown, and speaker and creator of the ABC podcast Look Mum, No Hands Mandy McCracken for an inclusive and expansive discussion about their experiences of parenting while living with disability.

I’ve got an article up on ABC Everyday about my experience of the pandemic as a disabled parent. I’d love for you to pop over to the site and read the whole article. Here’s an excerpt for you.

The supports I and my family have built into our lives to support my disability have proven to be some of the most useful factors in finding our way through these challenging times.

My disability has made me resilient. It has taught me to be flexible, ready to adapt and refocus on any given day depending on what life throws at us.

I know that even on the worst day it’s the little things that will get you through. These skills happen to be exactly what is needed during our current circumstances.

ABC Everyday

I wanted to reframe the misconception that having a disability means only having a list of deficits. My own experience is that as much as my disability can limit me, it has also given me valuable skills. Some of which I’m drawing on right now.

From fine amnesties, to boosting the prominence of digital offerings, to simply putting books in the post, libraries have drastically changed the way they operate to accommodate the massive social changes imposed by governments during the pandemic, often with heartwarming results.

Today The Guardian published When Covid closed the library: staff call every member of Victorian library to say hello, an article about what some Victorian libraries have been doing during the pandemic. It’s wonderful to have this testament to the work library staff have been doing.

While some people are facing reduced employment or unemployment right now, this pandemic has meant a significant increase in my work. Under the leadership of my manager, Lisa Dempster, who is quoted in the article, our team have worked hard to shift programming online and think creatively about how to help our community transition to lockdown.

From ensuring people are aware of our already existing digital offerings such as ebooks and audiobooks, to shifting in-person programs like Storytime online (three times per day, five days a week!), to entirely new programs like Caring Calls… it’s been quite a time.

Our staff have had to learn new skills, adapt to constantly changing work priorities and communicate constantly with our community. As soon as we find solutions to suit the current lockdown level and limitations, it all changes again and we readjust what we can do, trying to keep our patrons and their needs at the forefront the whole time.

When so many vulnerable members of our community find themselves even more marginalised by current circumstances, it feels good to be working in a community-orientated organisation that makes a tangible difference in people’s lives. Seeing feedback flood in through social media and our email inbox telling us what a difference it has made for people to feel less alone, or be able to access reading material, or have a familiar face for their kids to see every day during our Storytime videos has made the hard work worthwhile.

It’s worth reminding you that anyone in Victoria is welcome to join Yarra Plenty Regional Library as a digital member, which offers immediate access to our eLibrary. That means instant downloads of ebooks, audiobooks and streaming of films/television. We’ve got a bunch of exciting programs coming up soon, so now is a great time to become a member.