00:00:45
S1: Hello and welcome to In Plain Sight, a program where we highlight people who are making a positive impact in the community and disability sector.
00:00:53
S2: Shining a light on those who would be otherwise hidden in plain sight.
00:00:57
S1: And it's a pleasure to bring you these stories on a weekly basis with you here on Vision Australia Radio. Well, here we are. We found ourselves in the studio again this week. How are you, Simon?
00:01:07
S2: I'm excellent. Thanks, Andrew. How are you going?
00:01:09
S1: Really well. Really good.
00:01:11
S2: It's a great time of year.
00:01:12
S1: It is.
00:01:13
S2: Andrew. People might notice that we often try to frame our programs in and around certain awareness days or certain awareness months or weeks, and I just wanted to bring attention to something that coincides with the fact that on October 6th is Cerebral Palsy Day. Now, Andrew, you've got some information there about Cerebral Palsy Day.
00:01:34
S1: Yes. World Cerebral Palsy Day is the 6th of October, as you've mentioned, and it's a recognition day focusing on celebrating and empowering people with cerebral palsy and raising awareness of rights.
00:01:47
S2: Because I also wanted to bring attention to a fundraising event that one of our friends of the program, Taylor Tasseff, who has cerebral palsy, and when we first met Taylor, she told us that she doesn't call it cerebral palsy. She says CP stands for Cool People Syndrome, and Taylor Tasseff is one of the coolest people going around, and she is a hard working, dedicated person to not only raising awareness to disability rights and disability advocacy, and she often does fundraising for telethon, and she's doing some fundraising for telethon right now. And Andrew, you got the information there that Taylor has shared with us to tell us all about her fundraising for telethon.
00:02:29
S1: That's right. And telethon, of course, is a huge fundraising event that's been running in Perth for many, many years through channel seven. And they've raised millions and millions of dollars over the years. And it's a terrific thing to encounter.
00:02:42
S2: And it is mainly to do with the Children's Hospital and Children's Health Services. And given that Taylor, as we mentioned, has cerebral palsy, she had a lot to do with the Children's Hospital. So she's one of these people that giving back to something that helped her out and has helped out families over many years. Yeah. So what's the event that she is doing?
00:03:04
S1: Well, it's a it's a telethon appeal and she's named it a really snappy title of Taylor's terrific Telethon Quest. It's quite alliterative. Mhm. And yeah, it's on now. So if you actually just Google Taylor's terrific telethon quest, it'll take you there and it takes you to a channel seven telethon website, and you just go from there to make your donations.
00:03:27
S2: Say it again for us, Andrew.
00:03:29
S1: Yeah. It's fun to say this. Taylor's terrific telethon quest.
00:03:33
S2: So this week we are going to be talking about hidden disabilities. And I was inspired to bring this program to you today because during the week of 18th to the 24th of October is Invisible Disabilities Week. Invisible disabilities is an organization based in America, and they try to help people who have this broad thing called invisible disabilities, as we like to say here in Australia. Now, Andrew, you got there's a theme for Invisible Disabilities Week.
00:04:07
S1: Yes, there is. So it's bringing awareness and education and support to your family and friends and co-workers and community around the world during the Invisible Disabilities Week.
00:04:18
S2: And one of the topics and themes that they talk about in the Invisible Disabilities organization is the theme of belief. We believe you. And it's talking about valuing people's own lived experience with whatever it is that they have, be it a disability, a chronic illness, severe pain, chronic pain, and all these different things that can come under the hidden disability or invisible disability umbrella. And it's simple things like just letting people know that you see them and you believe in them and you value them as individuals and as people and as someone that has a hidden disability. Myself, I am vision impaired. So that often comes across as a hidden disability. And for those of you who are my Facebook friends or follow me on Facebook, you might notice that I have a sunflower as part of my Facebook personal profile. And I did that for two reasons. One is because I like sunflowers and it looks pretty and looks bright, and I like to be pretty and bright. Um, I don't know how pretty I am and I'm not sure how bright I am, but that's a whole nother story. But I was also aware that the sunflower is the hidden disability symbol. And that's how here in Australia and New Zealand and other places, as we'll learn shortly, use that symbol to recognize people who have a hidden disability, just like someone like myself, who has vision impairment and uses a white cane as a form of identification to help tell people that I'm visually impaired. The sunflower is a tool, a symbol that can help generate conversations within the community to let people know in a very subtle, very unique and individual way that I have a disability and it's not quite obvious to everyone. So coming up shortly, you'll be hearing from Sandy Facey, who is the head of Hidden Disabilities Sunflower in Australia and New Zealand. And if you're listening to the podcast, I will share that link to that website to find out more about the Sunflower Organisation, um, which is a worldwide organization. And please listen to this wonderful conversation I had with Sandy coming up for you now. Sandy. Hello.
00:06:34
S3: Hello, Simon. How are you?
00:06:36
S2: Good, thanks. Can you tell us your title and the organization you work for. There, please.
00:06:40
S3: So I'm the head of the Hidden Disabilities sunflower. Australia, New Zealand. And I work for a beautiful, not for profit called Bailey House located here in Melbourne.
00:06:52
S2: And can you tell us what hidden disabilities sunflower is?
00:06:57
S3: Yeah, it's a global initiative that supports people with non-visible disabilities. And it originated in the UK and at Gatwick Airport. I can tell you a little bit about the background. So, um, yeah, in 2016 on the accessibility team at Gatwick Airport recognised that some of the passengers had non-obvious disabilities. Um, it was more of a focus for the customer experience or passenger experience team to focus on people with a visible disability or walking device, etc.. And they felt quite comfortable getting people from point A to point B. Um, however, what they soon found was that there were people with non-visible disabilities and medical conditions that might need support, assistance or a little bit of time. And so the sunflower was chosen as a symbol to reflect the idea of confidence, growth and strength shown by people with non-visible disabilities. And I think really the symbol to me is, you know, the sunflower itself follows the sun. It's joyful. It can also be used incredibly discreetly as well. So it's not loud and proud unless you want it to be. So that's where it originated from. And now it's wrapped itself around about 380 airports globally. And then it reached the shores of Australia, um, in early 2019, 2020.
00:08:20
S2: And in broad general terms, what would be some of the disabilities that we know about that would be considered to be a hidden disability?
00:08:30
S3: That's a great question. So again, let's not get too caught up on hidden invisible. ET cetera. ET cetera. It's more about what the day to day challenges are and the barriers that are out there in the environment that prevent people from living their daily lives. Um, the way that they would like to. So the disabilities or the medical conditions can be permanent, temporary or situational. There's never any proof that's needed in order to wear a sunflower. And Simon, you might be really surprised to find out that there's over 950 different non-visible disabilities and medical conditions. And this again, I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but statistically speaking, 1 in 5 Australians have a disability. And of that number, up to 90% are non-visible, are non apparent. And this big it's a big number.
00:09:24
S2: It is big. And I guess the sunflower is a shortcut to that type of conversation.
00:09:29
S3: Yeah that's exactly right. So when you're comfortable with whomever you're engaged in a conversation with and you choose as a as your own choice to share your personal story. Well, that's fine, right? But when you're in public and you're trying to navigate or even in the workplace and you're trying to navigate from point A to point B, the sunflower represents that option to identify that you might need a little bit more time or support. So it gets less and less about why you wear it and more about how can I help you. And that's where the conversation starts. And it's also indicative, Simon, in public for a pause, so I can speak on my own behalf with my own non-visible conditions. I get quite anxious in public places. I do speak publicly. I'm a singer songwriter. I'm on stage a lot. But I do find myself like, as an example, if I'm going through a checkout, say an Aldi, and I've got a lot of people around me, I get quite anxious, you know, for whatever reason. And I find that when someone identifies with the sunflower, There's a pause that's taken, and it's a pause by the staff member who has aware of the sunflower, preferably from a company that's subscribed to the initiative and has watched the awareness training. And they are ready and willing to say, how can I help you with the values of being kind, patient, not non-judgmental? And, um, yeah, just providing people with a little bit more understanding.
00:11:05
S2: How do organizations, businesses and so on get involved with this and what's the process and do they come to you? Do you ask them to. Do you want to participate?
00:11:16
S3: Yeah. Simon, what a great question. So when I first started in 20 early 2020, um, or 2021, there were a handful of, um, early on borders, um, that were members of the initiative, um, that had joined predominantly through the UK. And when Bailey House became the sole Old distributor and now franchisee of the program here in Australia. Their first objective was to ensure that there were places for people who wear the sunflower to go, because essentially the sunflower doesn't mean anything. If people go places and no one knows what it represents. So it was really, really important for businesses to get on board. So what started back then? Um, which was six years ago or so with a handful of um, really lovely members, has now grown to over a thousand members. So it's a bit of a dual approach. So where the rubber really hit the pavement for us was, um, I believe when New South Wales Transport and Sydney trains on boarded and we went from a small business being run out of a not for profit to now I've got to put my thinking cap on with my very small team and say, right, we've got to scale. We have to make sure that, you know, again, let's talk about what a wonderful, wonderful work being done in WA right now with public transport and some of your stadiums and your councils. You've got numerous councils that have on boarded as well. So it's kind of a dual approach. We work, we're very small, so we proactively try to try to reach out to businesses and speak in front of groups and conferences to share how easy it is to get involved. But also we have businesses that reach out to us no matter the size, like it could be a mom and pop shop down the road that wants to join and become sunflower friendly. Or it could be Services Australia who are a member, a corporate member of ours and have rolled out across the country. So the concept is the same regardless of the size of of the business. And yeah, it's super simple. You can just jump on our website and, and join and then we take you through a whole onboarding process and depending on what subscription level, um, that business chooses to engage with us. There's all sorts of wonderful opportunities around lunch and learns and webinars. All sorts of things that we offer programs, projects that we support, and we look at it like a partnership.
00:13:46
S2: You just mentioned the word subscription. What do you mean by that?
00:13:48
S3: So essentially it's a portal. So the company that subscribes to the initiative, um there's a fee. Um and it's an annual fee depending on the size of the company. It can range from anywhere from $100 to $2500. It just depends on the level and size of the business and how many employees will be accessing the training, etc.. But the training itself is housed in a Scorm file that sits on a learning management system. And then we direct or the organization directs its employees to watch the training. Training is less than ten minutes long. It's an awareness piece. And then there are some tools that are utilized. One is the lanyard that the green and yellow lanyard that you would have seen around or had been talked about or described. And then equally as important is the I support lanyard, which is white with sunflowers on it. And that I support is the allyship. Those are the lanyards or the pins that indicate to people that I have watched the training and or have listened to the training, and I am here as a safe person to speak to if you need support and much to what you were just saying, Simon, it's someone you wouldn't have to explain yourself to. And I think that's the crux of the sunflower, is it becomes the voice of someone who is really tired of having to share why they need to use a specific toilet. Like no one. No one really needs to have to share their personal medical information as to why they wear a stoma bag or why, you know, it gets well beyond that. And it's more about that conversation of how can I support you? 30% of the time, people are just looking for a place to sit down in public.
00:15:41
S1: On Vision Australia radio. You're listening to In Plain Sight with Simon Chong and me, Andrew Williams. Our guest this week is Sandy Facey, who is the head of Hidden Disabilities Sunflower for Australia and New Zealand. And now it's back to Simon and Sandy.
00:15:57
S2: So you mentioned a number. I can't remember what it was. How many members you said you have that these organisations.
00:16:03
S3: Oh we have yeah. We have over a thousand business members. So and they range from, you know, we have 85 councils across the country. We have a cohort of health care early on boarding hospitals in the in WA, which has been fantastic. Fiona Stanley I'm just trying to think of some of the other places out in WA. Your public transport system has come on board. And again, it's not about getting it right straight away. It's about starting that journey and it's about progress, not perfection. So it's starting somewhere. And also providing your employees and providing your colleagues with enough information that they stay curious. And that's really what the initiative wants to accomplish as far as what our aims are, is it's all around raising awareness and having people understand that everyone, we're all as different as our fingerprint, our way, you know, and unfortunately, we're not all as understanding as, as we should be. And, and, you know, the principles sound quite basic, you know, be kind, do not judge, show respect. But when you're in, in an environment that can be somewhat triggering, it's a great gentle reminder of those principles. So, you know.
00:17:22
S2: And then today we are finding it harder and harder to find generous and kind, thoughtful people who have the time and the patience to be with each other. Mhm. Mhm.
00:17:32
S3: It's sad because there are so many tools out there that are technically, you know, as as technology progresses and I'm, you know, I'm closer to retirement than I am my early stages, but I stay on top of all of, you know, the tools and, and, and for accessibility, it's, you know, universal design has been amazing. And I, I get all of that. Like, I get the, the fact that, um, we have to progress as a society, but I don't think we should get away from human connection. And there's nothing better than to have, you know, that thoughtful gesture, you know, whatever that may be. And to everyone, to everyone, it's something different, right? Like it might be someone holding my hand or it might be a gentle smile or, you know, that that's really what the symbol of the sunflower represents. And because it's a global brand, you know, that same person that leaves an airport, in some distant airport, wherever that might be. And lands here in Australia and then proceeds to visit a museum or get on public transport. I mean that that symbol never, never wavers. So it's super important to have as many businesses, um, on board and not only for their customers, but for their colleagues. And that's another shift. The biggest shift that I've seen in the six years of being affiliated with this initiative, or five and a half years, is the shift in when it first arrived, it was an airport aviation initiative. It was a passenger initiative. It was a patient initiative. It was taking care of your customer. And now what I realize and what I've seen over the course of the last 18 months to two years is there's been this shift that's equally as important. So if you extrapolate that statistic of 1 in 5 and then up to 90%. And you assess your workforce and you say, well, I didn't realize that we had so many people that potentially could have disability, perhaps need support, like need a bit more understanding in the workplace. The reason why they don't know is because people don't feel safe enough. They, they feel that if they were to share their question, you know what, where is that information going to be housed? You know, someone told me to fill out a form to me. I think that's the wrong approach. Sure. There's some policies and procedures that we have to follow. Simon, don't get me wrong. I'm not, I get it. I get that we have to. You know, we have to cover the risk of X, Y, z. But what I think the shift should be is it starts with a conversation. It starts with a manager saying to their employee, hey, I noticed that you're wearing the sunflower. Is there something I can help you with? Is there something in the job that I can help you with? That starts a much better conversation than someone getting delivered a form saying, you know, fill this out and do this and do that. Because people are apprehensive. And the fact that a business becomes sunflower friendly, that's proactively telling a talent pool that isn't even onboarded yet with your business that, hey, I can actually walk into this business and, and feel comfortable talking and sharing my story. And I think that's the most powerful thing now. Are we there yet culturally, workplace culture? No. You know, but but I think it's a shift. I don't want to go back. I mean, I've been work I've been in the workplace since 1988. Like, I don't want to go back to where we were in the 80s and the 90s where, you know, the managers keep their doors shut and there's, um, you know, egos and power and all of this sort of thing, I think or I believe that the sunflower. Normalizes human condition.
00:21:35
S2: Yep.
00:21:35
S3: And that's what I feel, I feel. And the best thing that could ever happen is have an executive become a sunflower wearer. And I've seen it time and time again in across Australia and in New Zealand, where all of a sudden, you know, you'll have someone from an executive team identify with wearing a sunflower. And better yet, even sharing their story. So powerful. Simon.
00:21:58
S2: It is. Do you have any numbers of how many people have registered individuals who have registered to be a participant of sunflower?
00:22:06
S3: No, I don't have that information. Um, but I can tell you that, you know, we have 22,000 followers on Instagram. We pack and ship what we call a B to C channel, which is business to consumer. Um, what you can jump on our website and you can purchase a lanyard and we pack and fulfill those orders. Um, twice a week. Our Bailey House clients that I spoke of earlier, that part of their work training and enhancement for what we call day programs, um, they do packing and fulfilling, which is, which is wonderful. So they pack twice a week and we could pack anywhere from 100 to 200 orders per week.
00:22:50
S2: Do you know what brings people like an individual to say, ah, I think I will participate in this. I think I want to wear the sunflower.
00:22:59
S4: I think the more.
00:23:00
S3: An individual educates themselves on what it means and what it doesn't mean, because there is some misinformation out there. Like it's not a get out of jail free card. It's not affiliated with the NDIS. We're not government funded. It is a choice to wear it and you can wear it discreetly. It only works when you're in an environment where people recognize the sunflower. So if you go, okay, I'm going to wear my lanyard and I'm going to go outside and I'm going to waltz around. You know, assuming everybody knows what it means. We're still not there yet. We haven't reached public awareness. You know the masses of that. But we will potentially one day get to that point, which is great. I also think, you know, reflecting on disability in general, I I'm sure this is talked about a lot in many different circles is the concept of, you know, am I disabled enough? AM I, you know, like if I compared myself to someone else and I think we need to really get away from that sort of self-criticism, because I think what we have to realize is that the barriers that are in society aren't just physical barriers. Those barriers can be mental. They can have to do with psychological safety. There's a lot of different barriers that if we had a tool that we could utilize to indicate, hey, today, maybe not tomorrow, but today I need a little bit more support and something as simple as I'll just give you an example. In workplace. Say there's someone who today doesn't want to turn their camera on in a meeting. Ten years ago, if you didn't have your camera on in a meeting, you would be, you know, your manager would be going, you know, why don't you have your camera on? In today's workplace culture, where we need to be moving to is an inclusive workplace where people feel that they can authentically arrive as themselves. And that may be on that particular day, not having their camera on.
00:24:56
S2: How do people get involved with the hidden disabilities sunflower and how can we reach your organization?
00:25:02
S4: Yeah. So the website.
00:25:04
S3: Is WWWHD sunflower, so H as in hidden, D as in disability, H d sunflower.com/au. And so you have a couple different options you can tick on the flag and you can see all the different countries. There's heaps of different countries that are rolling out the sunflower across the globe, which is amazing. In South America, the sunflower is now officially the symbol for non-visible disability, which I think is amazing. It sits alongside the iconic wheelchair, and I think that that is really amazing because there should be a spot for everyone that needs extra support. So if you are a consumer who simply wants to identify as a sunflower, where you can go to one of our lovely members on our sunflower map and potentially get a complimentary sunflower lanyard, like as an example. Perth airport. However, you can also go on to our website and have one shipped directly to your house and we have a wristband and a pin, etc..
00:26:11
S2: What are your thoughts about Invisible Disability Awareness Week, which is in the last week of October? What do you feel about these kinds of awareness weeks and what do you what do you think they hope to achieve and what do you want them to achieve?
00:26:24
S4: Oh, I think they're amazing.
00:26:26
S3: So although like I mentioned earlier, we are not affiliated with that particular week. We do share lots of information about it. I think anytime there is an awareness piece, it's great. I would love to find a time where, you know, it's just common conversation to be had every day, all day. Um, but if it takes an awareness day, I think it just gives people an opportunity to learn more and to understand that if you don't have challenges right now in your life or you don't know someone who potentially does, one day you will.
00:27:02
S2: That's exactly right. Right.
00:27:03
S3: So it's it's learning and staying curious, Simon.
00:27:09
S2: It is. On that note, Sandy, we have to wind the show up now. So I'd like to thank Sandy Pacey from Hidden Disabilities, Sunflower Australia and New Zealand for joining us in the studio today. And thanks for joining us, Sandy.
00:27:24
S3: Well, thank you so much for the opportunity. I really appreciate it. Have a wonderful day.
00:27:29
S2: You too. And that's all we've got time for this week, everybody. And thanks for joining us once again on In Plain Sight on Vision Australia Radio. Speak to you next time. Bye for now.
00:27:49
S1: That concludes In Plain Sight for this week. Join us at the same time next week on Vision Australia Radio. VA Radio Digital and online at VA radio.org. You can also listen on demand by searching for In Plain Sight by Vision Australia Radio. Wherever you get your podcasts, or ask your smart device to play in Plain Sight by Vision Australia Radio. Thanks for listening.
00:28:14
S2: Thank you.
S1: Hello and welcome to In Plain Sight, a program where we highlight people who are making a positive impact in the community and disability sector.
00:00:53
S2: Shining a light on those who would be otherwise hidden in plain sight.
00:00:57
S1: And it's a pleasure to bring you these stories on a weekly basis with you here on Vision Australia Radio. Well, here we are. We found ourselves in the studio again this week. How are you, Simon?
00:01:07
S2: I'm excellent. Thanks, Andrew. How are you going?
00:01:09
S1: Really well. Really good.
00:01:11
S2: It's a great time of year.
00:01:12
S1: It is.
00:01:13
S2: Andrew. People might notice that we often try to frame our programs in and around certain awareness days or certain awareness months or weeks, and I just wanted to bring attention to something that coincides with the fact that on October 6th is Cerebral Palsy Day. Now, Andrew, you've got some information there about Cerebral Palsy Day.
00:01:34
S1: Yes. World Cerebral Palsy Day is the 6th of October, as you've mentioned, and it's a recognition day focusing on celebrating and empowering people with cerebral palsy and raising awareness of rights.
00:01:47
S2: Because I also wanted to bring attention to a fundraising event that one of our friends of the program, Taylor Tasseff, who has cerebral palsy, and when we first met Taylor, she told us that she doesn't call it cerebral palsy. She says CP stands for Cool People Syndrome, and Taylor Tasseff is one of the coolest people going around, and she is a hard working, dedicated person to not only raising awareness to disability rights and disability advocacy, and she often does fundraising for telethon, and she's doing some fundraising for telethon right now. And Andrew, you got the information there that Taylor has shared with us to tell us all about her fundraising for telethon.
00:02:29
S1: That's right. And telethon, of course, is a huge fundraising event that's been running in Perth for many, many years through channel seven. And they've raised millions and millions of dollars over the years. And it's a terrific thing to encounter.
00:02:42
S2: And it is mainly to do with the Children's Hospital and Children's Health Services. And given that Taylor, as we mentioned, has cerebral palsy, she had a lot to do with the Children's Hospital. So she's one of these people that giving back to something that helped her out and has helped out families over many years. Yeah. So what's the event that she is doing?
00:03:04
S1: Well, it's a it's a telethon appeal and she's named it a really snappy title of Taylor's terrific Telethon Quest. It's quite alliterative. Mhm. And yeah, it's on now. So if you actually just Google Taylor's terrific telethon quest, it'll take you there and it takes you to a channel seven telethon website, and you just go from there to make your donations.
00:03:27
S2: Say it again for us, Andrew.
00:03:29
S1: Yeah. It's fun to say this. Taylor's terrific telethon quest.
00:03:33
S2: So this week we are going to be talking about hidden disabilities. And I was inspired to bring this program to you today because during the week of 18th to the 24th of October is Invisible Disabilities Week. Invisible disabilities is an organization based in America, and they try to help people who have this broad thing called invisible disabilities, as we like to say here in Australia. Now, Andrew, you got there's a theme for Invisible Disabilities Week.
00:04:07
S1: Yes, there is. So it's bringing awareness and education and support to your family and friends and co-workers and community around the world during the Invisible Disabilities Week.
00:04:18
S2: And one of the topics and themes that they talk about in the Invisible Disabilities organization is the theme of belief. We believe you. And it's talking about valuing people's own lived experience with whatever it is that they have, be it a disability, a chronic illness, severe pain, chronic pain, and all these different things that can come under the hidden disability or invisible disability umbrella. And it's simple things like just letting people know that you see them and you believe in them and you value them as individuals and as people and as someone that has a hidden disability. Myself, I am vision impaired. So that often comes across as a hidden disability. And for those of you who are my Facebook friends or follow me on Facebook, you might notice that I have a sunflower as part of my Facebook personal profile. And I did that for two reasons. One is because I like sunflowers and it looks pretty and looks bright, and I like to be pretty and bright. Um, I don't know how pretty I am and I'm not sure how bright I am, but that's a whole nother story. But I was also aware that the sunflower is the hidden disability symbol. And that's how here in Australia and New Zealand and other places, as we'll learn shortly, use that symbol to recognize people who have a hidden disability, just like someone like myself, who has vision impairment and uses a white cane as a form of identification to help tell people that I'm visually impaired. The sunflower is a tool, a symbol that can help generate conversations within the community to let people know in a very subtle, very unique and individual way that I have a disability and it's not quite obvious to everyone. So coming up shortly, you'll be hearing from Sandy Facey, who is the head of Hidden Disabilities Sunflower in Australia and New Zealand. And if you're listening to the podcast, I will share that link to that website to find out more about the Sunflower Organisation, um, which is a worldwide organization. And please listen to this wonderful conversation I had with Sandy coming up for you now. Sandy. Hello.
00:06:34
S3: Hello, Simon. How are you?
00:06:36
S2: Good, thanks. Can you tell us your title and the organization you work for. There, please.
00:06:40
S3: So I'm the head of the Hidden Disabilities sunflower. Australia, New Zealand. And I work for a beautiful, not for profit called Bailey House located here in Melbourne.
00:06:52
S2: And can you tell us what hidden disabilities sunflower is?
00:06:57
S3: Yeah, it's a global initiative that supports people with non-visible disabilities. And it originated in the UK and at Gatwick Airport. I can tell you a little bit about the background. So, um, yeah, in 2016 on the accessibility team at Gatwick Airport recognised that some of the passengers had non-obvious disabilities. Um, it was more of a focus for the customer experience or passenger experience team to focus on people with a visible disability or walking device, etc.. And they felt quite comfortable getting people from point A to point B. Um, however, what they soon found was that there were people with non-visible disabilities and medical conditions that might need support, assistance or a little bit of time. And so the sunflower was chosen as a symbol to reflect the idea of confidence, growth and strength shown by people with non-visible disabilities. And I think really the symbol to me is, you know, the sunflower itself follows the sun. It's joyful. It can also be used incredibly discreetly as well. So it's not loud and proud unless you want it to be. So that's where it originated from. And now it's wrapped itself around about 380 airports globally. And then it reached the shores of Australia, um, in early 2019, 2020.
00:08:20
S2: And in broad general terms, what would be some of the disabilities that we know about that would be considered to be a hidden disability?
00:08:30
S3: That's a great question. So again, let's not get too caught up on hidden invisible. ET cetera. ET cetera. It's more about what the day to day challenges are and the barriers that are out there in the environment that prevent people from living their daily lives. Um, the way that they would like to. So the disabilities or the medical conditions can be permanent, temporary or situational. There's never any proof that's needed in order to wear a sunflower. And Simon, you might be really surprised to find out that there's over 950 different non-visible disabilities and medical conditions. And this again, I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but statistically speaking, 1 in 5 Australians have a disability. And of that number, up to 90% are non-visible, are non apparent. And this big it's a big number.
00:09:24
S2: It is big. And I guess the sunflower is a shortcut to that type of conversation.
00:09:29
S3: Yeah that's exactly right. So when you're comfortable with whomever you're engaged in a conversation with and you choose as a as your own choice to share your personal story. Well, that's fine, right? But when you're in public and you're trying to navigate or even in the workplace and you're trying to navigate from point A to point B, the sunflower represents that option to identify that you might need a little bit more time or support. So it gets less and less about why you wear it and more about how can I help you. And that's where the conversation starts. And it's also indicative, Simon, in public for a pause, so I can speak on my own behalf with my own non-visible conditions. I get quite anxious in public places. I do speak publicly. I'm a singer songwriter. I'm on stage a lot. But I do find myself like, as an example, if I'm going through a checkout, say an Aldi, and I've got a lot of people around me, I get quite anxious, you know, for whatever reason. And I find that when someone identifies with the sunflower, There's a pause that's taken, and it's a pause by the staff member who has aware of the sunflower, preferably from a company that's subscribed to the initiative and has watched the awareness training. And they are ready and willing to say, how can I help you with the values of being kind, patient, not non-judgmental? And, um, yeah, just providing people with a little bit more understanding.
00:11:05
S2: How do organizations, businesses and so on get involved with this and what's the process and do they come to you? Do you ask them to. Do you want to participate?
00:11:16
S3: Yeah. Simon, what a great question. So when I first started in 20 early 2020, um, or 2021, there were a handful of, um, early on borders, um, that were members of the initiative, um, that had joined predominantly through the UK. And when Bailey House became the sole Old distributor and now franchisee of the program here in Australia. Their first objective was to ensure that there were places for people who wear the sunflower to go, because essentially the sunflower doesn't mean anything. If people go places and no one knows what it represents. So it was really, really important for businesses to get on board. So what started back then? Um, which was six years ago or so with a handful of um, really lovely members, has now grown to over a thousand members. So it's a bit of a dual approach. So where the rubber really hit the pavement for us was, um, I believe when New South Wales Transport and Sydney trains on boarded and we went from a small business being run out of a not for profit to now I've got to put my thinking cap on with my very small team and say, right, we've got to scale. We have to make sure that, you know, again, let's talk about what a wonderful, wonderful work being done in WA right now with public transport and some of your stadiums and your councils. You've got numerous councils that have on boarded as well. So it's kind of a dual approach. We work, we're very small, so we proactively try to try to reach out to businesses and speak in front of groups and conferences to share how easy it is to get involved. But also we have businesses that reach out to us no matter the size, like it could be a mom and pop shop down the road that wants to join and become sunflower friendly. Or it could be Services Australia who are a member, a corporate member of ours and have rolled out across the country. So the concept is the same regardless of the size of of the business. And yeah, it's super simple. You can just jump on our website and, and join and then we take you through a whole onboarding process and depending on what subscription level, um, that business chooses to engage with us. There's all sorts of wonderful opportunities around lunch and learns and webinars. All sorts of things that we offer programs, projects that we support, and we look at it like a partnership.
00:13:46
S2: You just mentioned the word subscription. What do you mean by that?
00:13:48
S3: So essentially it's a portal. So the company that subscribes to the initiative, um there's a fee. Um and it's an annual fee depending on the size of the company. It can range from anywhere from $100 to $2500. It just depends on the level and size of the business and how many employees will be accessing the training, etc.. But the training itself is housed in a Scorm file that sits on a learning management system. And then we direct or the organization directs its employees to watch the training. Training is less than ten minutes long. It's an awareness piece. And then there are some tools that are utilized. One is the lanyard that the green and yellow lanyard that you would have seen around or had been talked about or described. And then equally as important is the I support lanyard, which is white with sunflowers on it. And that I support is the allyship. Those are the lanyards or the pins that indicate to people that I have watched the training and or have listened to the training, and I am here as a safe person to speak to if you need support and much to what you were just saying, Simon, it's someone you wouldn't have to explain yourself to. And I think that's the crux of the sunflower, is it becomes the voice of someone who is really tired of having to share why they need to use a specific toilet. Like no one. No one really needs to have to share their personal medical information as to why they wear a stoma bag or why, you know, it gets well beyond that. And it's more about that conversation of how can I support you? 30% of the time, people are just looking for a place to sit down in public.
00:15:41
S1: On Vision Australia radio. You're listening to In Plain Sight with Simon Chong and me, Andrew Williams. Our guest this week is Sandy Facey, who is the head of Hidden Disabilities Sunflower for Australia and New Zealand. And now it's back to Simon and Sandy.
00:15:57
S2: So you mentioned a number. I can't remember what it was. How many members you said you have that these organisations.
00:16:03
S3: Oh we have yeah. We have over a thousand business members. So and they range from, you know, we have 85 councils across the country. We have a cohort of health care early on boarding hospitals in the in WA, which has been fantastic. Fiona Stanley I'm just trying to think of some of the other places out in WA. Your public transport system has come on board. And again, it's not about getting it right straight away. It's about starting that journey and it's about progress, not perfection. So it's starting somewhere. And also providing your employees and providing your colleagues with enough information that they stay curious. And that's really what the initiative wants to accomplish as far as what our aims are, is it's all around raising awareness and having people understand that everyone, we're all as different as our fingerprint, our way, you know, and unfortunately, we're not all as understanding as, as we should be. And, and, you know, the principles sound quite basic, you know, be kind, do not judge, show respect. But when you're in, in an environment that can be somewhat triggering, it's a great gentle reminder of those principles. So, you know.
00:17:22
S2: And then today we are finding it harder and harder to find generous and kind, thoughtful people who have the time and the patience to be with each other. Mhm. Mhm.
00:17:32
S3: It's sad because there are so many tools out there that are technically, you know, as as technology progresses and I'm, you know, I'm closer to retirement than I am my early stages, but I stay on top of all of, you know, the tools and, and, and for accessibility, it's, you know, universal design has been amazing. And I, I get all of that. Like, I get the, the fact that, um, we have to progress as a society, but I don't think we should get away from human connection. And there's nothing better than to have, you know, that thoughtful gesture, you know, whatever that may be. And to everyone, to everyone, it's something different, right? Like it might be someone holding my hand or it might be a gentle smile or, you know, that that's really what the symbol of the sunflower represents. And because it's a global brand, you know, that same person that leaves an airport, in some distant airport, wherever that might be. And lands here in Australia and then proceeds to visit a museum or get on public transport. I mean that that symbol never, never wavers. So it's super important to have as many businesses, um, on board and not only for their customers, but for their colleagues. And that's another shift. The biggest shift that I've seen in the six years of being affiliated with this initiative, or five and a half years, is the shift in when it first arrived, it was an airport aviation initiative. It was a passenger initiative. It was a patient initiative. It was taking care of your customer. And now what I realize and what I've seen over the course of the last 18 months to two years is there's been this shift that's equally as important. So if you extrapolate that statistic of 1 in 5 and then up to 90%. And you assess your workforce and you say, well, I didn't realize that we had so many people that potentially could have disability, perhaps need support, like need a bit more understanding in the workplace. The reason why they don't know is because people don't feel safe enough. They, they feel that if they were to share their question, you know what, where is that information going to be housed? You know, someone told me to fill out a form to me. I think that's the wrong approach. Sure. There's some policies and procedures that we have to follow. Simon, don't get me wrong. I'm not, I get it. I get that we have to. You know, we have to cover the risk of X, Y, z. But what I think the shift should be is it starts with a conversation. It starts with a manager saying to their employee, hey, I noticed that you're wearing the sunflower. Is there something I can help you with? Is there something in the job that I can help you with? That starts a much better conversation than someone getting delivered a form saying, you know, fill this out and do this and do that. Because people are apprehensive. And the fact that a business becomes sunflower friendly, that's proactively telling a talent pool that isn't even onboarded yet with your business that, hey, I can actually walk into this business and, and feel comfortable talking and sharing my story. And I think that's the most powerful thing now. Are we there yet culturally, workplace culture? No. You know, but but I think it's a shift. I don't want to go back. I mean, I've been work I've been in the workplace since 1988. Like, I don't want to go back to where we were in the 80s and the 90s where, you know, the managers keep their doors shut and there's, um, you know, egos and power and all of this sort of thing, I think or I believe that the sunflower. Normalizes human condition.
00:21:35
S2: Yep.
00:21:35
S3: And that's what I feel, I feel. And the best thing that could ever happen is have an executive become a sunflower wearer. And I've seen it time and time again in across Australia and in New Zealand, where all of a sudden, you know, you'll have someone from an executive team identify with wearing a sunflower. And better yet, even sharing their story. So powerful. Simon.
00:21:58
S2: It is. Do you have any numbers of how many people have registered individuals who have registered to be a participant of sunflower?
00:22:06
S3: No, I don't have that information. Um, but I can tell you that, you know, we have 22,000 followers on Instagram. We pack and ship what we call a B to C channel, which is business to consumer. Um, what you can jump on our website and you can purchase a lanyard and we pack and fulfill those orders. Um, twice a week. Our Bailey House clients that I spoke of earlier, that part of their work training and enhancement for what we call day programs, um, they do packing and fulfilling, which is, which is wonderful. So they pack twice a week and we could pack anywhere from 100 to 200 orders per week.
00:22:50
S2: Do you know what brings people like an individual to say, ah, I think I will participate in this. I think I want to wear the sunflower.
00:22:59
S4: I think the more.
00:23:00
S3: An individual educates themselves on what it means and what it doesn't mean, because there is some misinformation out there. Like it's not a get out of jail free card. It's not affiliated with the NDIS. We're not government funded. It is a choice to wear it and you can wear it discreetly. It only works when you're in an environment where people recognize the sunflower. So if you go, okay, I'm going to wear my lanyard and I'm going to go outside and I'm going to waltz around. You know, assuming everybody knows what it means. We're still not there yet. We haven't reached public awareness. You know the masses of that. But we will potentially one day get to that point, which is great. I also think, you know, reflecting on disability in general, I I'm sure this is talked about a lot in many different circles is the concept of, you know, am I disabled enough? AM I, you know, like if I compared myself to someone else and I think we need to really get away from that sort of self-criticism, because I think what we have to realize is that the barriers that are in society aren't just physical barriers. Those barriers can be mental. They can have to do with psychological safety. There's a lot of different barriers that if we had a tool that we could utilize to indicate, hey, today, maybe not tomorrow, but today I need a little bit more support and something as simple as I'll just give you an example. In workplace. Say there's someone who today doesn't want to turn their camera on in a meeting. Ten years ago, if you didn't have your camera on in a meeting, you would be, you know, your manager would be going, you know, why don't you have your camera on? In today's workplace culture, where we need to be moving to is an inclusive workplace where people feel that they can authentically arrive as themselves. And that may be on that particular day, not having their camera on.
00:24:56
S2: How do people get involved with the hidden disabilities sunflower and how can we reach your organization?
00:25:02
S4: Yeah. So the website.
00:25:04
S3: Is WWWHD sunflower, so H as in hidden, D as in disability, H d sunflower.com/au. And so you have a couple different options you can tick on the flag and you can see all the different countries. There's heaps of different countries that are rolling out the sunflower across the globe, which is amazing. In South America, the sunflower is now officially the symbol for non-visible disability, which I think is amazing. It sits alongside the iconic wheelchair, and I think that that is really amazing because there should be a spot for everyone that needs extra support. So if you are a consumer who simply wants to identify as a sunflower, where you can go to one of our lovely members on our sunflower map and potentially get a complimentary sunflower lanyard, like as an example. Perth airport. However, you can also go on to our website and have one shipped directly to your house and we have a wristband and a pin, etc..
00:26:11
S2: What are your thoughts about Invisible Disability Awareness Week, which is in the last week of October? What do you feel about these kinds of awareness weeks and what do you what do you think they hope to achieve and what do you want them to achieve?
00:26:24
S4: Oh, I think they're amazing.
00:26:26
S3: So although like I mentioned earlier, we are not affiliated with that particular week. We do share lots of information about it. I think anytime there is an awareness piece, it's great. I would love to find a time where, you know, it's just common conversation to be had every day, all day. Um, but if it takes an awareness day, I think it just gives people an opportunity to learn more and to understand that if you don't have challenges right now in your life or you don't know someone who potentially does, one day you will.
00:27:02
S2: That's exactly right. Right.
00:27:03
S3: So it's it's learning and staying curious, Simon.
00:27:09
S2: It is. On that note, Sandy, we have to wind the show up now. So I'd like to thank Sandy Pacey from Hidden Disabilities, Sunflower Australia and New Zealand for joining us in the studio today. And thanks for joining us, Sandy.
00:27:24
S3: Well, thank you so much for the opportunity. I really appreciate it. Have a wonderful day.
00:27:29
S2: You too. And that's all we've got time for this week, everybody. And thanks for joining us once again on In Plain Sight on Vision Australia Radio. Speak to you next time. Bye for now.
00:27:49
S1: That concludes In Plain Sight for this week. Join us at the same time next week on Vision Australia Radio. VA Radio Digital and online at VA radio.org. You can also listen on demand by searching for In Plain Sight by Vision Australia Radio. Wherever you get your podcasts, or ask your smart device to play in Plain Sight by Vision Australia Radio. Thanks for listening.
00:28:14
S2: Thank you.
