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, NBIS local area coordination partner in the community. I'm your host Douglas Connor. Thank you for tuning in today. I'm super excited to welcome Dean Clifford to the podcast. Dean is a motivational speaker and disability employment advocate who has taken his remarkable story of survival and success around the globe. Dean grew up in Kingaroy in country Queensland and has been defying the odds and changing perceptions ever since. Dean, welcome to choice in control and thank you very much for taking the time to catch up with me today. It's my pleasure guys. Dean, you were born with a skin condition called epidermolysis bullosa or Eby. Can you explain what that is and the impacts that that condition has had on your day to day life?
Speaker 0 00:01:13 Yeah, so EDB is, it's more commonly known as it's a very, very rare genetic skin condition. The easiest way I explain to people is my skin doesn't have the same glue actors that the average healthy person would have. So I've still got the same skied layers as everybody else, but I described it as like a life of Gregg that doesn't have any butter to hold the pieces of bread to get this. My skin just sits together on top of each other without any of the kids biking property to keep it together. So my skin is medically regarded as having the strength and consistency of tissue paper. Basically, I've got to be super careful, anything walking back, you're not seeing a little eckline and, or a little step, or if I brush up against something, there's no scrap to my skin. So the way I explain it as if you were to trip over and into something, you might get a little bruise on your arm or your leg, which made the skin will just peel straight off that aggressive way.
Speaker 0 00:02:29 Or I also will ball, it's an incredibly difficult condition, something that I've had my entire life now, something that you've got to think, think about and work with. Literally every single thing that you do for, I think a packet of biscuits, you know, what your, whatever your day to day activity may bring about those obstacles with every thing for, you know, outside elements, they could just be taking a step tripping over a step or gripping a door too tightly, or to, Hey, Lisa. It's something that is really difficult to sort of quantify because it's an every single day, every single element, every single thing that you do you have thought about from an outside perspective.
Speaker 1 00:03:20 Thanks very much for sharing that. Dane, when you were born doctors thought it was unlikely that you would live past five, you've recently celebrated your 40th and have been surpassing all medical expectations for years. What's that journey been like from then till now
Speaker 0 00:03:35 It's been a amazing journey. It's sort of, it blows me away to even think of just celebrating my 40th. But when I was born, um, I was one of the first in Australia with one of the most severe versions. So, um, would they be, they can be so many different variations. Some people can just have it sort of have very weak skin isolated onto their feet, or there are the hats that sort of high use areas that other parts of their body can be pretty well. That did a pretty sort of strong skin consistency wise with AI. As I said, I was one of the first in Australia to have the most severe evasion site, basically every part of my body and all my skin is incredibly fragile. So the doctors gave me yet at best was a four to five life expectancy. They'd never seen anybody as severe as myself.
Speaker 0 00:04:36 And so yeah, to look back now and sorta think of overcoming all the day to day obstacles over the company, um, the sorta outside stereotypes that the community and the sort of negativity that I had to face at times to be accepted, to go to school, to be accepted to the workforce, to be accepted to all the general activities that, um, that I tried to pursue and all the goals and things that every other person tries to do it they're like it's been a huge journey and something that I'm incredibly proud of to now be one of the oldest in the world that has survived and be in a really strong and healthy position with my body. And with my general health is really, really, really healthy and really strong. So I'm sorta thrilled to now be in a position to hopefully inspire the next generation that are sort of struggling with their teenage years and, you know, struggling with what they're going to do with their life when their body is so fragile and so limited in what they can do to sort of bring about a perspective of you can't have a really positive life.
Speaker 0 00:05:50 You can add pie, you just maybe have to look at things slightly different to how they're the average person would look at things and target kind of take on challenges and target things, a different, different viewpoint, but you can still achieve phenomenal things and live a really productive life. It's really proud to sort of have gone through all those difficult times and coming out of it with a perspective of being able to share to other people, goals and dreams, and that belief that life is really worth living to its fullest.
Speaker 1 00:06:26 Then you also have a real passion for disability employment in 2018, you were inducted into the disability employment, Australia hall of fame. Can you talk us through some of the work that you've undertaken in the disability employment space and where that passion for employment really came from?
Speaker 0 00:06:43 Yeah, it's uh, when I finished school, I was really faced with, uh, sort of a crossroads in my life. I was still incredibly sick, right. The childhood I had, I still am not, I'm not a hundred percent. I I've got class myself as, um, you know, I've been a hundred percent now. My body's still was very weak and I still have to be very careful of what I can and can't do. So, um, you know, but back then I was very, very Waco was very frail. I was struggling with where I fit in the world, what my life was going to be like. I didn't think university was a, because even the medical world, you know, 15, 16, the medical world still didn't expect me to be alive, you know, to see my next spread day, let alone to sort of think of what I was going to do long track as a job or where I was going to fit into society.
Speaker 0 00:07:51 So it was around that sort of 15, 16 age bracket that I really sort of struggled to work out where I fit, where I belong, the world that I grow. I grew up, I lived in a very small country town and <inaudible> quaint in Queensland here. And so, uh, I finished school and I did not feel like university or going on to further, my education was something that I really wanted to do for me. It was all just about enjoying each week, age, Mark Penn and I living life to its fullest, rather than thinking about having a five year goal or a 10 year goal. So I was very lucky that I sort of thought, uh, I'd like to try to get a part time job and like just sort of experience that side of things at the local radio station tower offered me just a one day a week while Creek job.
Speaker 0 00:08:50 That was pretty much all my body could handle. And so I started working there. I had voluntary basis just for one day a week. And within a few weeks I was sort of enjoying that work. I felt, felt like I could contribute to the workforce and the local specialized disability employment agency that suggested that we approached my boss about getting a paid and paid work experience type role there. So I could make a little bit of money on, you know, start doing anything. They were receptive to that idea. So they, they made up a Triny sort of position for me for about three days a week, if I could handle that for about two hours per day. And, uh, at the end of that sort of paid work experience, I was driving under the different roles that they asked me to do. And so that, that became a full time part time job that the work experience finished and they wanted to keep me on that, that grew to three days a week with three hours a day.
Speaker 0 00:10:00 Jump ahead to the end of my time at the radio station, I was working 13 days out of 14. I got one day off. I bought nine. Um, I was driving on Dogwood conditions. I work for very basic admin, you know, stamping letters, putting, putting postage stamps on envelopes through to the end of my time at the radio station, I was in one of the more high profile positions. Co-hosting the breakfast show that that just led to the community, learning all about my disability and what I, what I was. So I became a person that wasn't just the sick disabled kid kind of thing for want of a better phrase on the dang that had a pretty sharp sense of <inaudible> sports statistics. So I became somebody that the community got to know more than just put my disability that that just led to getting established into the community, fitting in to the workforce.
Speaker 0 00:11:10 And it just highlighted that that made the feeling, feeling like you belong to the workforce and to the community that led to being, being, uh, dusted at the disability employment Australia early 2000, um, which was changed to be able to meet with politicians, meet with high profile business people and just sort of break down some of those comments, misconceptions about employing a disabled person. A lot of businesses sort of think it's going to be very impressive, very difficult to employ a disabled person. I think that somebody like, Hey with a severe disability will need a lot of time off or we'll need a lot of workplace modification. So an eight or big just cost a lot of money to sort of get set up, but they don't realize that the government is there to help with workplace modifications if it's required. And most of the time a disabled person will be a long term employee there once they get once they're sort of matched up with the correct job that they're in the right workplace, every person that I've met over the sort of 15, probably closer to 20 years now, and sort of traveling around and meeting people, the disabled people at my opinion, are the most passionate employees that our business will ever get.
Speaker 0 00:12:42 They take fewer sick days because they love going to work. And it's a, it's such a thrill to be working and be contributing so many disabled people are just thrilled to be working and contributing that they all productive. They work harder, they stay in the business longer. They can preview it my opinion far more than a lot of, uh, average people. And so once businesses lack that side of things, they that coming out to say the possibilities rather than sort of seeing the potential hurdles that they have to jump through. And so it becomes a real win, win situation. So important for a disabled person to get out into the real world, be contributing. It's not a tokenistic job. That's not what anyone wants. We want to be contributing workforce fit it, feeling like we belong. And I think that's something that everybody deserves, whether you're disabled or able, buddy,
Speaker 1 00:13:44 That's a really incredible contribution. Dean, you mentioned working against some of the common misconceptions that are still quite prevalent in society today in regards to disability employment, for example, that hiring a person with a disability might cost more money or present different challenges for a business. What advice do you give to businesses and organizations who are considering hiring people with disability?
Speaker 0 00:14:07 Um, I think of benefits are here each. I think there's a lot of, uh, specialized disability employment agencies at works out there now that businesses can tap into. So it isn't, it isn't all on the boots has to you research what, what they can tap into, whether it's workplace modification or whether it's, you know, finding the right staff. I think there's a lot of, um, support there through, as I said, specialized disability employment agencies, and also through the MBIs, there's so many different avenues there for a business to be matched up with the, you know, per se that it's not going to take anything away. It's coming to a value add if you paid somebody to decal a car yard or the garden that it's somebody that he's drank club, he needs to do exactly that if you paid somebody to do computer marketing admin or whatever it might be, that is somebody whose dream job it is to do that.
Speaker 0 00:15:14 They're not necessarily, like I said, looking to climb the ladder and become the CEO. They're more than happy to do their job and do their job really well. I take great pride and pride at what they do say it's the, there's so many different Skypes and different avenues there. I would ex businesses in general just to, to approach it with a January. I picked my whatever role you ate. I had no doubt then somebody, he is more than qualified that I have a severe disability may not even have a severe disability, but it's just looking for that great at that opportunity for a business, willing to think outside the square and give them a chance.
Speaker 1 00:16:00 And then on the flip side of that, what advice would you offer young people with disability looking to kickstart their careers or to find employment?
Speaker 0 00:16:07 I think our young people, it is very, very daunting. I can still remember when I was first trying to get a job. So there's a lot of doubts that they're capable of or that they fit in to the community. And they even at the circles that I say shading with it, a B meeting with, with young kids, with Eby, my skin condition. There's a lot of doubt as to if they're capable of working at a lot of, sort of, uh, outside of T about how their life is, whether they'll be able to do a job or whether, whether they'll have to, you know, leave the job because they get sick or whatever. I was just trying to say, like, think of what you're passionate about, think about what good dream job would be. And I'm sure there's a way to work it, to fit your, what your capabilities are.
Speaker 0 00:17:04 You can find your passion and find a way to turn that into a job and stick to a social, our team that is improving the quality of your life. There's so many opportunities for disabled people these days. If you're willing to think outside the square, you willing to seek the help, the guidance, that's your suddenly different opportunities to think outside the square and come up with that, you know, that dream role that you may have thought I'm. So just did not limit yourself, not sort of be closed off to the idea of just being willing to, to put yourself out there and seek and look that guidance and that, that professional help. And I'm sure the boundaries would go, the rules would just come falling down and I'm sure you'll have a fantastic experience in the long run
Speaker 1 00:18:04 Dean, you started your motivational speaking company, DMC motivational in 2004. And I've since traveled the world, telling your story to a range of diverse audiences from primary school children to prime ministers. What's that experience been like?
Speaker 0 00:18:19 It's been an amazing journey. It definitely wasn't something that I thought I would ever would do at that time. I thought nobody really wanted to listen to a country, kid country going slang that sort of actually grew up at LinkedIn this whole country down. What sort of worldly experience wouldn't people want to land for? Maybe I do want to inspire people to think big because I never thought I'd been working and I never thought I'd be contributing to the community. Like I said, so I sort of thought, yeah, I guess sharing my story and giving my views on how important it is to work and to feel a sense of belonging and accomplishment. So I sort of started to come up with the idea of what parts of my story people might be interested in how I deliver a speech and then put that first presentation.
Speaker 0 00:19:15 Within 12 months, I was traveling all around Australia. Then the payback was just so amazing. And then it just continued to evolve to 2005. Like I said, I'd been invited to become a ambassador for disability, employment, Australia, traveling to Cambridge, to meet with the federal ministers and prime ministers and shared my story and within I E. And so starting to try and get international inquiries and probably to angular DEC to Zealand and America. And it's been such an amazing journey to just, you know, as I said, because the small, tiny country kid that just had a passion to share my story and try to inspire people.
Speaker 1 00:20:01 Well, it really is a remarkable story. Dean one, that's taken you from Kingaroy to Canberra and beyond. And it's obviously a story that has really resonated with so many people around the country and globally as well. Now, outside your work life for a moment, you've actually pursued another passion to a highly competitive level. And that's powerlifting. Can you tell us how you got started with the sport? And also if you ever imagined the kind of success that you ended up having?
Speaker 0 00:20:28 Yeah. It's, it's a guy, one of those crazy moments of, uh, uh, it was never something they could, my wildest dreams. I did that. They called them. I still get emails that people sort of say, how can you do this when escape isn't spread? Joel is what it is. I was scared. He was incredibly fragile that I was just hanging out at a friend's place almost 15 years ago. I think just said, like, I used a wheelchair for a lot of my childhood pushing myself through the wheelchair. And he said, look, you've obviously got a fair bit of upper body strength. It's just such a shame that we couldn't have it, that I could add the capping to that. And he said like, if I couldn't exercise, imagine what we could achieve. And I said, well, I don't know if I can have context because it's, and it's something that I've ever tried to do and say, just sitting in his lap tray, he was like, well, what if we got there?
Speaker 0 00:21:25 We did push ups. How would you do that? My hands handled that pretty quickly on that. So they said, well, let's try. Right? So by the end of that first day, I was lifting my body right down on the bench I sign. And I just stood back in a nice grip quick, pretty quickly after that my night. And I sat down and we consulted medical experts and some medical advice. And again, they just said, flat out what you, what you walked in today, won't be possible that not made. And I sort of sat down and he mushed in my lot. And he said, look, I think he could do it. And I said, I feel like I could as well. So we went by the bed by the advice of let's try it. Let's see if we, if we have a major complication, then we'll stop it. We'll reassess things. Then we decided to just trial and error. Just possess, then jump ahead now. Yeah, I recorded their champions bench pressing 150 kilos. Um, we'll either double my buddy, like
Speaker 1 00:22:31 Impressive by absolutely anyone's standards, 150 kilograms.
Speaker 0 00:22:34 It puts me in the Levant. I believe according to some of the coaches and some of the people that I have with it puts me in the top 5% of your not able body or disabled people in the world is one of the strongest people, whether it's physical, physically disabled or disabled buddy, I like that. Um, it's absolutely amazing a guy. And that's something that I talk about when I take yourself not thinking, okay, this is going to be two doctors said, it's not worth it. If that's something you really want to do, you can usually find ways to achieve it. And you can usually think outside the square and push yourself and you'd be amazed what your body's capable of achieving. So the next crisis just didn't have the example of something that everybody said I wouldn't be able to do, but my mate, and I thought let's give it a go
Speaker 1 00:23:28 Dang. That really is a truly amazing progression within the sport and an awesome personal achievement. Then the national disability insurance game rolled out in Queensland in 2016 and came to your hometown of Brisbane in 2018. Can you talk to me a little bit about the supports you've accessed and the impact those supports have made in your life?
Speaker 0 00:23:47 Yeah, the impact has been cage it's given, uh, myself, so I'm not, uh, prayed. So I now have, uh, three, three people that come to assist me with my, um, my morning skate grading to get, make sure that my body stays in the best possible condition. So I no longer have to, um, consult specialists till you go check into a hospital to, um, to manage my scan. I've got the support now, the support workers that comp to the hats and assist me every single day to get the best out of my, these, my general health check, my body, as I said, I will to live independently now for, uh, for quite a few years because of the EIS support. I've not required any major hospitalization or not required any, any centered medical advice on not able to KP myself independently. And look, I've given myself basically almost the same and on the same level as any other person would expect out of their life.
Speaker 0 00:24:53 And I've got the independents to leave. Um, and I think it definitely is possible and seek the help that I made and seek the equipment, whether it's, um, the hydrolyzed wheelchair. So when my feet, my legs are playing off of the eye, that idolized skater to sorta jump in and get it, get add, and adapt to change my daily activities. I've got the sorta support with the equipment that I need at my house to, I lock up to lie about damaging my skin, it's pain with the, the harm support that I've gotten, the higher, the, the high modification, so that I've had the equipment that I'm unable to access. As I said, the support workers there to help him so that I can just get on and achieve my dreams and my goals. It's been such a huge relief that he think to have the MBIs that in support we had, we think that I'm trying to achieve.
Speaker 1 00:25:57 Thanks, Dean. It's fantastic to hear the freedom that the engineering support has afforded you or Dean that's all for today. Thank you so much for taking the time to share your incredible story with us. I've had a great time hearing it and I'm sure all the listeners at home would feel the same way.
Speaker 0 00:26:13 So it's been good. Fun
Speaker 1 00:26:14 To learn more about Dean. You can visit his
[email protected] on there. There are some great photos and videos of his incredible powerlifting successes, which are well worth checking out. I think he wants 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
Speaker 3 00:26:44 Program. Please connect with us
[email protected]. Did I, you
Speaker 4 00:26:49 Or you can catch up with us on
[email protected].
Speaker 3 00:26:52 Oh, it's slash carers Queensland indice. 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, or via
[email protected] until next time. Thanks for listening.
