Speaker 0 00:00:02 Yeah.
Speaker 0 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 on today's episode, I'm lucky enough to be chatting to Adam Shepherd and to detach a price. I dynamic geo from the gold coast who are joining me to chat about their experiences in wheelchair sport. I also talked to Adam and Tasha about some of the work they've been doing to make the gold coast a more inclusive place for people with disabilities I Adam, and a treasure. And thank you so much for taking the time this afternoon.
Speaker 1 00:01:00 Yeah, no worries. It's uh, it's good to be on.
Speaker 0 00:01:02 It's going to be absolutely awesome. So Adam and Tash, you two have been training together for a while now. Can you tell me how everything got started for you as a partnership?
Speaker 1 00:01:12 Yeah, it's so good story. Actually, I, um, I went to a development camp at the Australian Institute of sport when I was pretty new to racing, um, about for coming up two years ago now. And somebody, everybody knew I was looking for a coach because there's really not many in Queensland and a mutual friend of ours suggested that I get hold of Adam and see if, um, if he was willing to give it a go. So it's exactly what I did. And, uh, I guess the rest is history.
Speaker 0 00:01:52 Yeah, very much. Um, yeah, I, I literally just, I, I was, um, a wheelchair racer, um, and for about 10 or 12 years and I stopped in the early two thousands. Um, and I'm sort of, I've always kept an interest in the sport and, um, I became a qualified personal trainer and I sort of always kept one hand in the fitness industry. Um, so thing, and then, um, yeah, I wonder I just got this Facebook message off Tash and she's like, Hey, I'm looking for a coach. And I was like, awesome. Let's split through these things. So that's basically the Ryan so far. Awesome. So Adam, as you mentioned, you were an athlete in the past and predominantly a coach and personal trainer. Now, can you tell me a little bit about your career in sport and then some of the work that you've, you've gone on to do in the years since? Yeah, sure, absolutely. So I was, I was involved in sport at a very, very early age. Um, I was born with my disability fund, so, um, I was involved, I think I started swimming competitively, um, in, so it
Speaker 2 00:03:00 Sort of disability competitions and things, um, at like seven or eight years old. And so it was just from a, for quite a long time. Um, and, um, then got sick of staring at a black line, the pool. So, um, we went, um, then I started sort of dabbled in a bit of wheelchair basketball and, um, yeah, that was a lot of fun, but that was just sort of a thing. And then one day a guy had an old racing chair that, um, uh, he was getting rid of, cause he'd got a new one and, um, somehow we, the idea was struck off that I'd jump in and have a go and, um, acid, I loved it and never looked back basically from that point. So, um, I started racing. I did, um, I joined the local runners club. I was the only wheelchair <inaudible>, um, in the, uh, in the runners club, but yeah, I did all their fun runs and all that.
Speaker 2 00:03:54 And then, um, I got, I was involved with sporting wheelies in Brisbane already, so I started going to their competitions and going away on their teams and that sort of thing. Um, and yeah, basically I started, I decided I'd had enough about, um, probably 2001, 2002, I think. Um, I I'd sort of been toying with the idea of quitting racing for a while and, um, yeah, and it was about them that I decided it was time for Utash you've had a pretty rapid rise in terms of wheelchair sport over the last couple of years. Can you tell me a little bit about that journey?
Speaker 1 00:04:32 Yeah. So for me, I've got a, a rare disease which left me paralyzed and blind pretty much overnight. So I, uh, after lots of treatment and lots of relapses and then, you know, and everything else, I, um, I ended up being unable to get out of bed for pretty much eight or nine years. Um, I just kind of got to a point with my life and the way it was that I couldn't live like that anymore. I couldn't, I couldn't continue on just literally night in bed all day, every day, watching TV and just having no goals, their dreams, their prospects of the future. And I, um, I literally stopped that one day and, and said to my mum, I I'm going to do a marathon. She kind of looked at me and laughed and was like, yeah. Okay.
Speaker 1 00:05:30 How do you think you're going to do that? You can't even transfer off the bed into a wheelchair at this point. And I like, no, no, I'll, I'll do it. Um, I literally would have been three months later. I did my first bridge to Brisbane in my wheel, in my day chair, which was just 5k. Um, and I did a lot of, um, Brode racism in my day chair right up to half marathon. So that was 21 K um, doing that in a day. Chair is not fun. It's not an ideal way to go about things, but I did that for maybe, um, coming up maybe 18 months or so, um, just gradually increasing distances and got to a point where somebody said to me, you need to get racing chair, but it took me a really, really long time to get the funds in order to actually be able to take that up as a sport.
Speaker 1 00:06:32 Um, and finally managed to get my race chair, um, would have been three weeks out from the gold coast marathon in 2018. And, um, I went and did the race when not only have the chair three weeks. So did this fall full 42 K that I had no idea what I was doing. The chair broke down, uh, the front tire burst. Just everything you can imagine that could go wrong, went wrong for me on that race. But the one thing is I will never forget some of the lessons I learned through it. And they kind of, because I was in a race against them for me at that point, it was just supposed to be a bit of fun. I was going to do this marathon once or, you know, just as, just as a bit of a hobby. And, um, I met some, some of the Paralympians there and they said to me, you really need to start thinking about taking this up seriously.
Speaker 1 00:07:29 They told me about the camp that the Australian Institute of sport, and I was like, okay, I'll go along to a development camp. See what it's like, and yeah, the rest is history. You know, I, I, um, I just fell in love with the sport and I fell in love with the people that it draws into it. So I just run with that or, you know, pushed with that. Yeah. So, um, from that point on all on the, I have, um, I went on to win, um, Auckland marathon, um, last November, and, um, when my first Queensland state championships, um, in March and I was supposed to go to nationals in Sydney, um, at the end of March, but obviously with the COVID stuff that being postponed for now. But yeah, I'll, I'll, I'll see what happens with all of that stuff. I'm, I'm hoping one day to represent Australia. So we'll see what happens.
Speaker 0 00:08:31 No, it really is a meteoric rise in, in such a short time. And I'm really interested in terms of, from a coaching perspective, how does training work, what sort of exercises and activities are required to get you in that sort of shape to complete a wheelchair marathon?
Speaker 1 00:08:48 Yeah, I mean, it's, it's, it's a lot of work I'm, I'm training in total about three hours day, but that includes stretching and, and, you know, all the preparation work, activating muscles and all that kind of stuff. And then we do, um, we do a, um, distance session. I did my race chair twice a week and we do a interval track session twice a week. Um, and then we do, um, then Wednesday, we generally treat Wednesdays as a bit of a recovery day, sort of funny in the middle of the week, but, um, it's more of a recovery day. We do a core session, um, and, uh, when polls are open, we guys, we swim as well. So, um, I couldn't, I couldn't swim. Um, certainly not as a, as a, as a paraplegic, um, until meeting this guy, I was absolutely petrified of water and now you can't get me out of it.
Speaker 1 00:09:46 I love it. It's yeah, I got a real kick out of swimming, a puddle and we, um, we do strength training. Um, I do that five times a week, um, cause I do the extra day on the weekend, but, um, can we try, we try and separate it so that we concentrate on certain muscle groups on certain days because you're doing all upper body. Um, you've got to try and isolate those muscles because you can't do one day upper body and one day lower body life able body people might do. And the important thing, particularly for a wheelchair user, what Tasha, what myself, um, whether you're in wheelchair racer or not looking after your shoulders and your upper body joints is absolutely imperative. Um, cause you know, you can do things like rotator cuff injuries and, um, which can be really, really detrimental to somebody who has no use of their legs at all. Come we'll consolidate relies on, on the upper body to get around. So, um, we have a really strong focus on injury prevention and things like that and training as well.
Speaker 0 00:11:01 Awesome. And obviously the gyms have been shut in Queensland then for a couple of months now, how have you been able to sort of adapt to those circumstances?
Speaker 1 00:11:11 Tough. It's been tough. I mean, we've, we have still managed to train, um, certainly the same amount of number of hours the same, um, days per week, but we thought this, he had to very much adapt what we were doing. Um, both of us had equipment at home, um, that we've kind of pulled together and, and use this as best we can. And we've tried to maintain a cardio elements, um, from home as well, but it's, I've definitely lost fitness, not, not a huge amount, but so much that I'm noticing it in the speeds I'm able to do. My insurance is about the same, but, um, and, and I guess the thing is we have had to do a lot of road sessions while stating the, in my racing chair and whilst that's great to get the distance and you're not getting, not getting the same intensity of training because you're always stopping at lights.
Speaker 1 00:12:10 You're having to be careful with traffic around you. There's always obstacles, which means your heart rate doesn't really get up for any, you know, good, decent amount of time. So that's had had, you know, a little bit of an effect on things for me, but you know, the great thing is we we've gotten back into the gym and to the track this last week or so, and things are already starting to improve. So I think when you've got that base level there, it's not quite so hard to get back to where you were as long as you're willing to put a few, you know, few hours a weekend. Yeah.
Speaker 0 00:12:50 Obviously, as you mentioned before, COVID-19 is forced a couple of events and, um, different, uh, events through our training for, to be, to be canceled or postponed. Um, is there still any big competitions or anything that you're training specifically for at the minute or is it all being put off for a couple of years?
Speaker 1 00:13:07 So it's so frustrating. Um, for me, all of, all of my events have been counseled at this point. Um, certain things they've rescheduled, like I was supposed to the week that everything got canceled. Um, I was supposed to be doing, sorry that we were all went into lockdown. Um, I was supposed to be doing Manchester marathon in the UK. Um, yeah, it will. The problem is they've rescheduled for October and if the borders don't know, I won't be able to do that either so well, we'll see. We'll see what happens there. They're talking about still rescheduling, um, the national athletics championships, but I just, I don't know when, when that will happen. Um, you know, that's short distance racing is complete B I, you know, I'm state champion, but it's not really, my event is not, it's not what I've specifically trained for. Um, I want to get back to marathons, but I just don't know how long that's going to be whilst I'm no, there's not a huge number of great events in Australia to, um, to do a marathon with. Yeah, it's a little bit different for vulnerable. Um, you know, wheelchair races after there's a lot of focus on what the course is like, um, what the road services and that sort of thing, and, and consideration needs to be taken into all the spending the money going to those events, if they, if the, um, if the track or if, if the course is, is not great for really benefit versus no benefit at all in going and just taking race off of
Speaker 2 00:14:52 Sort of thing.
Speaker 1 00:14:52 Yeah. The only one that's looking like it probably will go ahead that we can get to is Oakland marathon again, which is a first week of November with the New Zealand travel global goes ahead. That that will be all right. But unfortunately it is a tough, tough course with them, you know, with the chance of getting a decent time on just really, um, makes it, makes it very, very difficult. It wouldn't be able to be used for a qualifying time for anything. However, it may be the only race I can do that here. So I will go to it regardless
Speaker 0 00:15:32 That, that we'll go ahead. And we sort of mentioned this sort of in your previous answer, but in terms of the opportunities then for young athletes, with disability in Australia, in particular in wheelchair racing, how's the pathway in Queensland.
Speaker 1 00:15:48 Yeah, it's, it's, it's a difficult one, I think based in Queensland specifically, it's, um, there's not a huge amount of support for wheelchair racing. It's getting better. Um, there's, there's certain people that are doing great things to advocate for the schools in this area, but unfortunately all our, um, local sports wheelchair sports association, um, doesn't really push wheelchair racing, um, as, as a, as a school that matters all that much. So, um, you go quite alone in Queensland, if you're dying in Victoria or new South Wales, it's, it's, uh, it's better. Um, wheelchair sports, new South Wales is a fantastic organization. They, they put on a lot of, um, races and training and events and stuff. So yeah,
Speaker 2 00:16:44 That, they're very good with, um, being inclusive of, um, interstate athletes as well, Queensland was and whatnot. They do. They, they keep us in the loop and yeah,
Speaker 1 00:16:55 Every good new South Wales Institute of sport is Luis of ours. Who's, um, you know, clearly one of Australia's best ever wheelchair racers has, um, as a big hand in, in, in the way that program has been developed there. So, um, you know, they've got a great mentor and a great source of information there, so, and she's, you know, she's been fantastic with us as well.
Speaker 0 00:17:20 You probably speak to this. You mentioned, um, your experiences as a younger person doing swimming and the variety of sports that you're involved in. How important do you think those really strong athletic pathways are for young people with disability?
Speaker 2 00:17:33 Extremely important, extremely important. I don't want to say more important than, um, than for any other child, without a disability, but all person without disability, but in all, in a lot of ways, it is. Um, because you know,
Speaker 1 00:17:50 Myself as a wheelchair user example, um, my opportunities for, for health and fitness and exercise, um, honors, you know, I can't just go and join a basketball team or a football team or soccer team, or, um, so, you know, the, the pathways are, there are really important because there's less of them, um, for, for people with disabilities. And, and, and we're certainly trying to change that. And, um, and you know, the future is looking bright, but, um, absolutely, but that those pathways are great and, you know, it's all about it. It's taught me. I was lucky. I grew up with parents that will like, you know, you give everything a go and, um, I wasn't sort of wrapped up in Commonweal and, um, they're like, you go out and, you know, if I sat down in my chair or whatever, you know, so be it dust myself off and go again.
Speaker 1 00:18:38 So they kept like it's taught me resilience and, um, you know, it's a massive, massive part of my lifestyle. Very important, I think as well, the, the, um, and, and certainly something I learned with becoming involved in sport is that sense of identity and feeling, feeling like you, um, have somebody that you, that you're similar to and who understands you. And that, that's the great thing about having other wheelies and that kind of involvement. There's such a camaraderie around it. And there's, I think because you, because there aren't that many wheelchair users around that you tend to meet just in everyday life, it just gives you a bond with other people, um, that, that you need somebody that you can talk to that understands it's important.
Speaker 0 00:19:36 You were recently nominated as one of the gold coast women of the year. You must be tremendously proud of that achievement. And a couple of years ago, you were presenting to thousands of people during the 2018 Commonwealth games. It just seems like it's been an absolutely huge couple of years for you.
Speaker 1 00:19:53 It really has. It's. Um, I it's so surreal. I honestly, three, three, just over three years ago, I couldn't be about a bed. And then here I am not that long after, um, as you said, presenting at the Commonwealth games, charity gala, and metal and veil in front of your size and Olympic athletes, and, you know, VIP were politicians and all sorts. They, it was a crazy experience. Then I went on to do the Queen's Baton relay, which was just mind-blowingly nuts when I was, um, I, I did it up in tambourine and they had over 5,000 people there. It was just, wow. It was just crazy. Um, and then obviously coming on to this year where, um, where I got nominated for and where I got to the, to be a finalist for the gold coast women of the year. Um, so I'm, I'm in the top three for the champion of school category.
Speaker 1 00:20:59 Um, and we find out who, who the winner is in, um, on the 26th of June, I believe. I just, yeah, it's, it's crazy. I mean, to me, I'm just a person getting on with my life and making the most of every moment and loving it. And if, um, if people see inspiration in that, then I'm very, very honored. Um, and I just, just hope that I can always do what I can to, um, show how wonderful life can be in spite of challenges, you know, it's, um, it's a wonderful world. You just got to grab life by the horns and go with it.
Speaker 0 00:21:45 And you're both accessing support through the national disability insurance game. Can you talk to me a little bit about how that NDA support helps you achieve your personal and your sporting goals?
Speaker 1 00:21:56 So, um, I guess in, in a lot of ways it's given independence, um, for me specifically, because obviously I have a visual impairment, as well as the mobility issues, um, being able to pay for support, um, that I just wouldn't otherwise be able to afford some, somebody that can drive me around and help me out with my day to day tasks or whether that be, um, acting as my eyes when we're writing, when we're writing a bio or, um, or just how can me with, um, you know, day to day tasks, it's made a huge difference to my life. It really, really has. I feel much more independent with the health and school, um, yeah, on, on, on fortunate than I I drive. And what sort of thing that, um, for me in the ice has certainly made life a lot less stressful. Um, I live with my, my wife and my three year old son in a two story, two bedroom townhouse.
Speaker 1 00:23:04 Um, so I've got to stay loose that gets me up and downstairs and that sort of thing, but, um, the basic things that you would do as a house owner, um, or as a property owner, you know, cleaning the house and things like that in that kind of environment, um, uh, tenfold harder, um, as a wheelchair user and, and in that con kind of confined space. So, um, I've been lucky through NDOs. I've been able to, um, get some assistance with cleaning the house and, um, things like that. Um, being a wheelchair user for nearly 38 years as well. Um, I'm pretty young, I'm a bit of a go getter. I like to go out and I go out camping and I go fishing and all that sort of stuff. And, um, so yeah, my mobility equipment from time to time can take a bit of a, a bit of a beating. So it's good to have the phones data, you know, just, um, you know, things like bearings and, you know, just general maintenance, um, uh, because I am so active do me doing, um, you know, fairly often, um, yeah, that's, it's been great for that as well.
Speaker 0 00:24:12 That's awesome to hear. And so apart from sport, and obviously you're both incredibly passionate about sport and training and keeping fit, but both also very passionate about accessibility and inclusion in terms of distance wheelchair racing in Queensland, how inclusive of an environment is it, do all the marathons and distance races have options for the participation of people with disability, or is it only a limited few?
Speaker 1 00:24:38 Yeah, so, um, we're very, very lucky in Queensland that, um, we have gold coast marathon that runs a fantastic event for wheelchair races. Um, in fact, it's the best one in the country. Um, they, they, they do it so well. It's a great course. And it's an, you know, it's an established wheelchair race that takes off ahead of the general marathon. Um, outside of that, unfortunately there's not that much inclusion when it comes to road racing. The, the track athletic side of things is really, really good. Um, you know, any athletics Australia event can, um, have right wheelchair races involved, um, road racing is different because they they're often concerned about wheelchair races getting caught up with the able bodied runners and usually able body to always take precedence, which, which is a real shame, because I think that they're missing, I don't know, a lot by not being more inclusive of what they do, that being said, it could be a lot worse.
Speaker 1 00:25:50 Um, often the, you know, the issues we've mentioned before can make road racing more difficult. You know, if they're, if they're, um, the road surface is a bad, um, if there's, you know, hairpin turns and lots of things like that, there are, there are many different considerations that you have to take into account when you're, uh, when you're racing in a wheelchair, um, being somebody that's already crashed, burned, broken my qualified collarbone and given myself, um, post traumatic amnesia for six months. Um, I, I can, I can definitely say that, um, he really needs to pick and choose your races. These are great. It is, but you, you have to do your research on the courses you decide to participate in. Um, and that's probably my
Speaker 2 00:26:44 Being the kind of person that tends to wing things a little bit.
Speaker 0 00:26:51 You haven't noticed that Adam,
Speaker 2 00:26:53 No, not at all, not at all. Um, Tasha is extreme as a coach. She is extremely as her coach. She is extremely determined. Um, and, um, and, and yes, <inaudible> as her coach and, um, you know, I like to try and keep her in one piece where possible. Um, yeah, I just have to sort of, um, try and slow it down a little bit of this. I'm not slowing down, but you know, only the odd occasion, like once a week or three times a week, doesn't seem too bad
Speaker 0 00:27:41 In terms of inclusion and accessibility, then more generally I'm talking outside of sport. You've also been doing a fair bit of work in the community at trying to make society in general, a bit more inclusive for people with disabilities. Can you tell me a little bit about that, that body of work?
Speaker 2 00:27:56 Yeah. So, um, where you touched and I both have a huge passion for, um, making the world a better place for people with disabilities. And so we, you know, sort of, um, putting our minds together and, um, came up with this, um, this business idea that, um, that was put into practice, um, where we, we basically work with businesses around accessibility and inclusion. Um, we talk to them about, um, uh, you know, what specifically about working with different people with disabilities, um, you know, how to get what they can do to get people with disabilities into their businesses. Um, cause it's really an untapped. No, I wouldn't say untapped, but it's a, it's a demographic that a lot of businesses, um, on realizing and there's a lot of people out there, um, with different disabilities and, um, with some small changes, there's a lot of business out there that can become really, really good at being accessible and inclusive. So, um, Tasha, I've been, we've been doing some great stuff with, um, uh, Queensland surf, lifesaving, and, um, uh, we've also been doing some consultancy work, um, looking for some businesses that are building accessible accommodation, things like that.
Speaker 2 00:29:15 Um, disability, housing solutions. Yeah. So I'm working with them volunteering gold coast as well. We, um, we, um, we've recently been involved with helping to get the, um, the beach, um, access the, um, yeah, the mats, the motion that's on the, on the beach is, so the pilot program was surface paradise with the surface paradise, um, surf life saving clubs. So we did that in conjunction with obviously surf, lifesaving Queensland and, um, volunteering gold coast. Um, you know, the, the Monday Mattson a great, they're a really good step towards having our, all our beaches accessible, um, for people with disability. Um, and that the main thing that has been around for a little while, but I think that was sort of given to the surf clubs to use, but then surf clubs will, I'm not what to do with this. So we've been working with them and through volunteering gold coast as well to, um, you know, just put some practices in place and, and, and get a program happening with that.
Speaker 2 00:30:26 Um, and so they utilize, which is great. And obviously we've been working with, um, the CC big group, never remember what that stands for something community capacity, building inclusion group, but it takes me about 10 minutes to remember each one's done. Obviously we've been working with those guys to try and implement as many ideas as possible to make, make the gold coast a fantastic place for people with disabilities to live. Yeah, they've, there's a phenomenal group of people from, uh, a massive demographic, um, in that group. And we're really lucky to be involved with that and, um, well, you know, or need well made a lot of time to, to get all the ideas. Cause everyone just comes to the group with new ideas all the time. And, um, just, uh, there's a lot of thought that goes into it. So yeah, it's really great. Yeah.
Speaker 0 00:31:38 Well, it's also to say people being, having so much passion in terms of improving their own community and the place they live and, you know, something like in, in terms of the Moby mats, you know, you're in the gold coast, the beaches is such a big part of that culture and it's so awesome that people can, um, you know, everyone can go and enjoy that, that beautiful natural resource that's there on the gold coast. So, yeah,
Speaker 2 00:32:00 That's really awesome. We, you know, I, you know, as I say, I've always been a wheelchair user and I've got a three year old son and, um, you know, you can't live on the gold coast and not go to the date like that. Just you can't do that. Um, and my, my biggest thing for, for my, for Fletcher, my son was being, I want to take him to the beach, you know, that's what kids on the gold coast too. So, um, you know, the introduction to the movie mat and the program, we've been lucky enough to be involved within means that, you know, I can do that now. I can take him down the beach myself, um, and you know him and I can go down the beach together and have some fun. And it's really great
Speaker 3 00:32:44 Ask, um, you guys, did I ever thank you so much for taking the time to have a chat with
Speaker 2 00:32:48 No worries. Great. Thank you. Wonderful.
Speaker 3 00:32:59 Thank you. Once again, for tuning into choice and control a carers Queensland podcast, for more information about carers Queensland, the national disability insurance game, or the local area coordination program, please connect with us online at Kara's queensland.com today. You or you can catch up with us on Facebook at facebook.com/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.
