Speaker 1 00:00:06 Hello, and welcome to choice and control a podcast, celebrating the contribution that people with disabilities make to our communities. In this series, we are talking all things, disability, social inclusion, and the national disability insurance game. Throughout this series, you will also be hearing some great practical advice for making the most of your NDA S plan from local people. Accessing the scheme. This podcast series is brought to you by the team at carers Queensland, NDRs local area coordination partner in the community. I'm your host Douglas Connor. Thank you for tuning in our guest. Today is Bella Bazin. And today we're talking all things accessibility and social inclusion, as well as a little bit about accessible indoor skydiving and adaptive dance. We're also talking about the range of exciting projects that Bella and her best friend Brianna have currently got going on. All of which are aimed at making Brisbane a more accepting, inclusive and accessible place to live. Hi Bella, welcome to choice and control making, having me. Yeah. Thank you so much for taking the time to have a chat with me today. So your best friend, Brianna is nonverbal, but you're able to communicate really well together. Can you explain to me how that communication style works?
Speaker 0 00:01:17 Yeah, for sure. So Bree is nonverbal, but she's understanding everything I say. So I just talked to her the way I'm talking to you right now, and she's able to understand that she responds using a range of communication methods. So I'm a bit more specifically, she uses her head and her eyes. So different cues of her head, her eyes mean different things. And as you get to know her better, you understand what they are. So a general example is when she looks up with her eyes, she's saying yes, or when she looks down to the side, she's saying, no, she also uses a pod. Now a pod stands for a pragmatic, organized, dynamic display. Some people have a pod book, but Brie uses a pod app. Um, so when we're using it, I read down the words of the columns in the book or the app. And she'll tell me yes or no. So then she can get her meaning across really effectively. So she could say what she wants or share her opinions on some things like, for example, like on a Sunday morning, she'll often use her pod to come up with ideas of where we should go or what we should do for that day. And she can really get her mini across very well.
Speaker 1 00:02:28 Awesome. And the pair of you have run a Facebook page called Brianna and Bella accessible Brisbane for some time now, and you review the city's amenities, accommodation and activities in terms of their accessibility, it's clear to say the passion that you guys have for building more accessible communities. Where did that passion come from and how did your project get started?
Speaker 0 00:02:48 I think that it originally came from frustration. Um, it came from a frustration of a lack of, um, awareness and information around accessibility. Yeah. So, um, if we wanted to go somewhere, there was very little information online, often about the places where we were going in terms of accessibility, or even if we would find a number to call to call someone, we still would not always get the right information. So someone might speak to us on the other end, but they don't necessarily understand what an accessible location contains. So a really good example of this was once we were, um, going to one of the local pools, one of the Brisbane city council pools. And we called ahead because we'd read on the website that it was wheelchair accessible, but we didn't know whether that meant there was a hoist or a ramp or what that really meant.
Speaker 0 00:03:51 And, um, we got told by the person on the other end that it was accessible and that there wasn't a hoist, but there was a ramp and that all sounded really good. And we turned up, but the disabled toilets, you couldn't actually open the door the whole way and break wouldn't actually fit in. And so therefore it's not an accessible location, a rant isn't equaling accessibility. So frustration really came from it. Um, another thing that inspired us to start it was seeing friends of ours who have similar disabilities to Brie and seeing them maybe not accessing all that was there in Brisbane because they just didn't know about it. So they would stick to things that they knew were accessible, which I fully understand. Um, but this was just, you know, a way to be able to, um, show more things that are out there and be able to help others live their life fully, which means a lot to us.
Speaker 1 00:04:47 Yeah. It's a really amazing awareness tool. And you post a lot of videos and posts up on the Facebook page there. And one particular post I saw online was a video of you and Brianna going indoor skydiving together. And the footage was absolutely awesome. Can you describe that experience for me?
Speaker 0 00:05:05 Yeah, absolutely. Um, indoor skydiving was one of the coolest things that we've ever been able to do together. Um, it was so we met, uh, Mike from, I fly at source kids expo in 2018 and they were advertising how their indoor skydiving was, you know, um, accessible or disability friendly or some words like that. And I said to Brie, as we were walking around, I said, look, we really need to find out what that means because we've, we've come to this before to things like this before, where they advertise as being accessible or inclusive, but they are probably not thinking of, um, you know, needs that are as complex as breeze. They're may be thinking of people with ASD or, um, people with a little bit higher level of mobility and great that there's, that they're being inclusive of, of other needs, but they weren't really always targeting her needs.
Speaker 0 00:06:04 So, and I didn't really think that indoor skydiving was going to be one of those ones. And so we went out and we spoke to Mike and I sort of said, you know, breeze interested because she was, will she be able to do it? And he said, absolutely. And I still really didn't believe him. And he invited us to come down and try it. And he was a hundred percent correct. We were both able to do it. We both loved it. We both, you know, I thought it was an amazing adrenaline rush. Brie actually found her whole body felt really relaxed afterwards. Um, and absolutely we were able to do it and she just loved it. It was one of the most inclusive experiences we've ever had.
Speaker 1 00:06:52 Yeah, it's really amazing because even when I was watching the video and I saw the title of indoor skydiving, and I saw the staff describing the sport as one of the most accessible in the world, that, that just seemed like a really unlikely sort of statement, but you really did find that it was super accessible for, for bridesmaids and your own.
Speaker 0 00:07:12 Absolutely. I completely agree with you indoor skydiving. Like, it sounds like an extreme sport and in some ways it is, and it's definitely not one that you would pair with someone who does have complex needs or disabilities or things like that. It just sounds like it would be a litigious disaster, but it wasn't, and they were so accessible and inclusive. So, you know, when we talk about accessibility, we might talk about a building. So first of all, we could actually get into the building. So that's always a really good start. And then the attitude around Mike and the rest of the I fly team was amazing. They wanted to get to know Bree as much as they could in the short time that they had so that she would be comfortable when she was flying. And, um, they also, you know, they want to be able to include people and that makes a huge difference.
Speaker 0 00:08:05 They, they just genuinely want everyone to be able to do it. So one of the things that we found was, um, so when you go indoor skydiving, it's in the video, um, you have to wear sort of these cover all kinds of things, and they're not easy to put on. And they, the team helped Brie as she was comfortable, um, to get them on. But they're also open to, if you need to take them to duck back home or to one of the changing places in the gold coast, they're happy for you to do that. They want you to be able to, um, to fly. And that was, that was honestly, um, just a bizarre experience, but one of the best ones as well.
Speaker 1 00:08:47 Yeah. That flexibility makes a huge difference. Doesn't it. And has there been any other, has there been any other experiences on this journey the last couple of years of reviewing the experiences and locations, which have really stood out for you?
Speaker 0 00:09:01 I fly was definitely a standout one. Um, we've had some other great experiences I found, um, flying. So we flew on an airplane for the first time together last year in 2019, we flew down to Sydney and we had a wonderful experience at both Brisbane, domestic airport and Sydney, domestic airport and Quantas were so fantastic. So that was an incredibly, um, incredibly helpful and amazing experience. We also Bri specifically has really enjoyed, um, and had a great experience when we went to the Triffids. So we think to the trip a couple of times for live music, including, um, the charity event, Brisbane res also really enjoyed going out to Eagle street pier at, um, in the evenings. So there have been ones that she's loved going to interviewing English straight peer can be challenging. You need to know your way around for accessibility. Um, but the thing that can make the biggest difference on our journeys and experiences, it's the people that we come across. So for me, the standout experiences, uh, when we meet someone and we talk to someone and we make a social connection, so I find that to be a huge standout.
Speaker 1 00:10:12 And when you're reviewing these locations, is there a set of requirements that you guys follow up?
Speaker 0 00:10:17 Yeah, so we, um, we follow kind of the idea that we have is we sort of follow accessibility, so physical accessibility, can we get there? So the sort of idea that we like to think about is we do it as an analogy to the party. Like, you know, can we get to the party that's accessibility inclusion is getting the invitation to the party. So we kind of try to think of that when we go to places like, can we actually make it into the building? So some places including, so we stayed somewhere in Sydney, which was advertised as being wheelchair accessible, but to actually get into the building. And this is on our Instagram and our Facebook, there was this massive step. We call it the step of death. So our brother and our sister-in-law, um, had to help to get Bree into it. So that's, you know, that's not accessible so already you can't consider that place to be accessible.
Speaker 0 00:11:10 So we, we examine, can we get into the building once we get into the building, can we, can we get around? So like a lot of cafes are really challenging at the moment with COVID, it's actually a lot easier, but, um, cafes can be hugely challenging to get in and out of, um, you know, the, the tables or getting around closed shops can be incredibly challenging. So can we move around in the building? And then lastly, um, are we welcome? Do people want us up? Are they kind, are they talking to us? Or, you know, if it's an activity, are they finding ways or working alongside us so that we can both be included in it?
Speaker 1 00:11:48 Yeah. And in your travels then around Brisbane and Southeast Queensland and the travels that you've taken into into state, how accessible have you generally found the communities that you've visited
Speaker 0 00:11:59 In general? Brisbane can be pretty good. So one of the more difficult parts of Brisbane is actually Brisbane city. We find Brisbane city and queen street mall to be quite difficult. Um, a lot of the places can have one or two steps to get into the shops and that in itself is suddenly not accessible. So one of the shops that Springs to mind is lush, um, in the city. So that's one of the bath cosmetics shops, it's breeze, favorite shop, but in the city, she can actually get into it because of the two steps out the front. So Brisbane city itself can be quite challenging. Um, some of the places have like, you know, back alley sort of elevators and things like that. Um, which ones, you know, is helpful, but it's also, it's not the same as just being able to go into a shop.
Speaker 0 00:12:47 So Brisbane city itself can be quite challenging as a general rule of thumb, the older, the places, the more challenging it is. That's not always the case, but it's just like sort of a general rule of thumb that we go by. Um, gold coast can be gold coast. We love, we do love the gold coast, partly because it's flat. So naturally it's been, you've got to contend with terrain anyway, like there's Hills, we love the gold coast because it's flat and, um, Sydney and other places that we've traveled. I mean, again, it just depends on the area and it's, it's also so based on the organization that you're visiting or the activity that you're going to, and, you know, the physical accessibility, but also the social mindset of where you are
Speaker 1 00:13:31 And you and Brandon are also big supporters of the changing places movement. Can you tell our audience what that is and why that's so important?
Speaker 0 00:13:40 Changing places is just critically important into our society. So what a changing place is, it's a fully accessible bathroom. So when people think about accessible amenities, they may think of, you know, a slightly larger bathroom with a grab bar, but these, these amenities are not actually accessible for everyone in our population. There's a lot of people who need more support when they're using a bathroom or they may wear in continents say, so there's a lot of, um, children and adults once they can't use, um, infant changing areas that they are really stuck when they go out to the community. So the changing place has a hoist. It has an adult size change table as a minimum, some have more, some have showers, some have, um, a few more things. Um, it also has, you know, a toilet and a wheel instead, a sink with wheels with space.
Speaker 0 00:14:35 So we'll end up. Um, these are critically important because without changing places, our entire life becomes dictated around when we need to get home to get to the bathroom. And I just want like you to take a second, if you've never had to plan your entire day around having to get to a bathroom, I want you to take a second to imagine how exhausting that is and how taxing that is, or planning events to places where, you know, there is a changing place, you know, there's, there's, uh, there's getting more, there are more popping up in Brisbane, but there's still not enough. There still isn't enough. We thanked them most of them. And when we get to go places which have a changing place, it's life changing, it changes everything. It changes, it changes also our mental space because suddenly we just like everyone else.
Speaker 0 00:15:29 Um, you know, and we can just say to our mates somewhere out, like, Oh, I just gotta, just gotta go to the bathroom, be right back. You know, not like, Oh, we've got to go home now. Cause got to go to the bathroom is complete game changer. Can you mentioned if there were only like 10 public bathrooms in Brisbane, like society couldn't function, but this is a reality for people who have higher level of needs or who wearing continents AIDS and need an adult sized change table. This is, this is their reality and our reality as well. So, you know, we're huge supporters of it because it's a life changing. It's a life changing thing. Changing place is life changing.
Speaker 1 00:16:04 Yeah. It really, really, really vital work. And one of your other big passions for you and Brianna is dancing. Can you tell us a little bit about your latest projects, all abilities Australia?
Speaker 0 00:16:16 Yeah, absolutely. Uh, all abilities Australia was born out of, um, passion for dance. So I have been a dancer for basically my whole life and two of my very good friends, Catherine propter and George McKella have also been dancers for their whole life, but the three of us also have a connection with, um, someone in the disability community in some way, shape or form. And we have a passion for everyone being able to access dance, you know, everyone can dance and we want to be able to help people to do that. So Brie started dancing with, um, she saw dancing five years ago. She's made huge strides, um, with the performance skills and a confidence. And she is a valued member of our team. She is one of our, um, student teachers as well. And we just, we want everyone to know that they can dance.
Speaker 0 00:17:10 So our dance programs, they run very much like a typical, um, recreational dance classroom, but we take the time to know our dances individually and we want to teach everyone in the way they can learn. And we want to be able to help people to reach their individual goals in however we can help them with that. Um, so we now run programs all around Brisbane, so on the North side, West side and South side and some out at Ipswich as well. So if anyone's interested, um, you can find us at all abilities, australia.com or find us on Facebook or Instagram. Awesome. When I saw that
Speaker 1 00:17:50 I was following online and when the social distancing laws came into place due to COVID-19 as an organization, you were really able to quickly adapt to the situation and take care of classes online and to offer Oz LAN video classes as well. It was really awesome to see.
Speaker 0 00:18:07 Yeah, I think, um, when COVID-19 and social distancing hit everyone, I think everyone's had a brand new education into, um, innovative ways to reach their audience or their participants or how to work. It's been interesting for everyone having to get school. And for us, we were no different in that. We had to try to find a way to be able to reach people. And I think alcohol throughout all of this has been to keep our community connected and to keep them motivated because for a lot of people mentally, this time has been quite difficult. So we've offered all of our classes for free. So we've done Facebook live classes, which have just been open to everyone. We've done some zoom classes as well to keep people moving, um, and to keep them connected because exercise is great for your mental health as well. And connections also really important. So that was our goal. And we're really excited that we are soon going to be able to return to the classroom and with social distancing in place, be able to dance together. But it's been important as well to keep this up during this time. And I'm so glad that we've been able to stay connected with our community and keep on dancing.
Speaker 1 00:19:18 That's awesome. And your work really all comes back to creating a more inclusive and accessible world. Why do you think at its core inclusive communities are so important
Speaker 0 00:19:31 At its core inclusive communities are important because everyone is equal. Everyone is a member of this community and has, and society and has the right to be a participant in it. They have the right to live a life fully, and everyone has the responsibility to welcome, to welcome everyone to welcome diversity. We've seen horrendous things happening over in the States, as well as a result of people not being inclusive and, um, not being accepting. We need to, we need to headway in inclusion. Everyone has a right to be here and has a right to live fully, but everyone also has the right to feel welcome. It's like I said before, it's, you know, even if you can get to the party, you still need an invitation to it. And so we need to invite everyone.
Speaker 1 00:20:19 And one last question, Bello, what's next for Brianna and Bella? Any big plans on the horizon?
Speaker 0 00:20:26 It sounds cliche, but the sky is definitely the limit for us. Um, we have, we always have plans. We've been doing a lot of planning during, uh, this time of social distancing, a lot of dreaming. We want to keep being tourists in our, in town and finding more accessible locations, um, and letting everyone know about them. And we have more plans to travel. Interstate. We keep tossing up where we should go. It's difficult. We want to go everywhere. Basically last year, we were able to sit on social inclusion panel at carers Queensland and Bray absolutely loved that. So we'd love to do more things like that in the future, which is open for everything and excited.
Speaker 1 00:21:04 Well, certainly here at Kara's Queensland, we'll be offering some more of those forums and panels as soon as we can get back up and on Friday operating after COVID-19, um, sort of loosens its grip a little bit on the community. So that's awesome that you guys had a good time. That's all for today. Thank you so much for taking the time to have a chat with me.
Speaker 0 00:21:23 I thank you very much.
Speaker 1 00:21:27 Gelatin, a little more about Bella and Brianna and the work that they've been doing in the community headlong to facebook.com forward slash accessible Brisbane while you're there. Make sure to check out the video we mentioned earlier of Brianna and Bella trying out indoor skydiving. It really, really is worth the watch. If you're interested in learning a little bit more about some of the accessible locations near you and some of those locations that might be a little less accessible, you can also check out their video reviews on the page as well. Thank you once again, for tuning into choice and control the carers Queensland podcast, learn information about carers Queensland, the national disability insurance game, or the local area coordination program. Please connect with us
[email protected] today. You or you can catch up with us on Facebook at facebook.com/carers Queensland Endis. We hope this podcast can become a place for people with disability to share their experiences and their stories. So if you have a story that you think we should know about, please contact us via the carers Queensland inquiries line at one 300 triple nine, six three six of our
[email protected] until next time. Thanks for listening.
