00:00:22
S1: Good evening and welcome to Focal Point here on this radio. Radio 1190 7 a.m. Natalie online at Video Radio via Radio Digital Adelaide-darwin through Community Radio Plus app. Look for Vision Australia, Radio Adelaide and we're there on your favourite podcast service as well. Peter Greco on behalf of Philip Van Beer, saying thank you for making time to tune in this program coming to you from Garner Land, coming to you very shortly. We'll catch up with Professor Lauren Aitken from the centre for Eye Research. October 9th is World Sight Day. We'll talk about that. And in particular, Usher syndrome. Rebecca Young will join us from Access to Arts. What's happening in that space? Plenty is the short answer. We'll get more from Rebecca, including something about Christmas. We'll catch up with Charlie. Helen Robinson talking about active ageing and ageing. Well, Charlie. Helen has got some interesting thoughts about that. And then Jeremy Muir will join us. He's the CEO for the Physical Disability Council of Australia. He's a little bit concerned regarding some of the changes to access cabs and what passengers can and can't ask for as far as their preferred driver goes. If you listen through 1190 7 a.m. in Adelaide at 8:00 for your listening pleasure. Lizzie and Sam are here with studio one. Just before we hear what's on their program, letting you know that the SA branch of Blind Australia, their next catch up, is coming up a week earlier than normal. It's Saturday, the 18th of October, 1230. They're off to the Cathedral Hotel in North Adelaide. I reckon a few of the people used to work at the Rnib back in the day would know that one very well. So Sam tells us how the Cathedral Hotel for the SA branch coming up on Saturday the 18th of October. If you want more details, give the office a call and ask for Kerry to call you back. 1-800-033-6601 800. 3360. Let us find out what's on studio one tonight.
00:02:25
S2: We chat to Julie Coppins, the president of ski for light, about how it all began. And we also have a chat with Anthony Nelson, one of their visually impaired athletes.
00:02:36
S3: So join us at eight for studio One.
00:02:41
S1: Well, World Sight Day, October 9th. Depending on when you hear this interview, maybe you've experienced the day already, or maybe you're about to. Anyway, let's chat about it with Professor Lauren. I am from the centre for Eye Research. Lauren, always great to catch up. Thanks so much for your time.
00:02:56
S4: Always great to talk to you, Peter. Thank you for having me on.
00:02:58
S1: Just about your focus, if you like, for World Sight Day. Yeah, you have a bit of an emphasis on the usher syndrome.
00:03:04
S4: We do this year. We do. So we, um, have had a lot of years of World words like day, where we have kind of focus on inherited retinal diseases. And this year we're, I guess, targeting an even more and really trying to raise awareness of usher syndrome. And for those of your listeners who haven't heard of Usher syndrome before, it's actually the most common syndromic form of inherited retinal disease. So it means it affects both the eyes but other parts of the body. And in the case of usher syndrome, it's mainly hearing and balance that can be affected as well.
00:03:34
S1: So what about in terms of when it's diagnosed or how easy is it to diagnose?
00:03:38
S4: It's a really great question Peter. So it's actually changed a lot recently. So historically what would happen is and I should caveat this, that there are different subtypes of usher syndrome. And everyone has a different journey. But for one of the subtypes often children are born deaf. And so that's picked up in their newborn screening. And what happened historically is that those kids grew up with a hearing loss, but they didn't start losing their vision until they were in late primary school, so roughly around ten years of age. What's happened in the last few years is that we have now have genetic tests that we can do to find out if a child does have usher syndrome. So it's completely changed that. So if a child is picked up as being deaf at birth, they'll undergo a genetic test. If the parents agree to look for other conditions and other causes of hearing loss. And so often families will then realise their child has usher syndrome as a newborn. And as you can imagine, that then, you know, raises a lot of, um, support needs really for the family, you know, how do you best raise that child when their vision is normal for the first ten years, and then we'll start to change?
00:04:43
S1: Well, I learned very early on during this program that early intervention is such a critical thing. And I guess, okay, the news might not be good if someone has usher syndrome, you know, with their diagnosis if you like. But I guess you can do proactive things to sort of minimize any damage from it or indeed, you know, give the child the best chance as far as a the staff and life goes, absolutely no.
00:05:05
S4: You're 100% right. And particularly with usher syndrome, because it affects the cells in the ear, and that's why people lose their hearing. It also affects their balance. And so one of the biggest things that we can do for these kids is help them through physiotherapy. So helping with their balance and their development and things like that. Obviously we have things like hearing aids and cochlear implant for hearing loss, which have just life changing. And now what we're trying to do at Sierra is come up with the same solutions for vision loss, trying to find some some treatments that could help people with these conditions.
00:05:37
S1: You talk about the balance. I mean, you just have to think about it a little bit. I mean, obviously in terms of falls and things that can happen from that, that is such a critical thing as well.
00:05:46
S4: Absolutely, absolutely. And I think quite often people don't realise how much balance affects so much of your development. So, you know, if you're a baby, learning, learning to walk is really hard. Learning to sit, learning to ride a bike. All of these become really, you know, challenging milestones. And I guess the flip side is, you know, ones that the families really celebrate when the kids do get there, which they can with that support.
00:06:09
S1: Is it the third thing that you're probably not in a position to kind of know how much that impacts on a child's balance, particularly, you know, early on in life because they maybe can't express it so well.
00:06:18
S4: Yeah, that's exactly right. And, and I think, um, this is kind of where genetic testing really helps people and families with usher syndrome, because historically, the parents often weren't really sure why the child was struggling to hit some of those milestones. Whereas now, if you know that this is the syndrome that that they're living with, uh, yeah. Like you said before, you can target the early interventions, you can get them the help they need to to be able to develop as they need to.
00:06:41
S1: Now it's a degenerative disease. So, you know, sad in a sense, the longer it goes the worse the symptoms get. Would that be fair?
00:06:49
S4: Yeah. Yeah. And again yeah there's there's all sorts of different subtypes of ushers. But um, often we do see that, that the, the um, particularly the vision loss, you know, is a form of retinitis pigmentosa. So most of our listeners will have heard of RPA before. Yeah. And so it very much follows that the sort of similar, um, changes that we see in RPA, what we are able to do is, is obviously monitor people over time to sort of see how that changes. And as I mentioned before, we're obviously then trying to find ways to intervene and and try and slow that down.
00:07:20
S1: One of the things I was going to ask you was that I've spoken to people with usher syndrome and their hearing and, um, sight deteriorates at different rates in different people. Is that part of the subtype kind of complications, if you like.
00:07:33
S4: That's exactly right. So there's all sorts of different genes that are affected and different subtypes. And interestingly, even people that have the same type of gene variant can can express in different ways. And so, you know, it, it's um, all of these inherited retinal diseases keep us guessing, that's for sure. There's no clear answer. If you have this, this is what you're going to experience. But if we know the subtype, we can give people a rough idea of, you know, the know, the potential times that they might experience some of these changes.
00:08:01
S1: I guess from a professional point of view, Lauren, that's part of the I was going to say the fun of it, but but the fact that, you know, even though two people might have the same sort of genetic makeup, the way that things go aren't necessarily the same, but I guess that's part of the quote unquote fun of it.
00:08:15
S4: Yeah, no, it's definitely, you know, a huge challenge for us. But but you're right. It's that thing of we often talk about inherited retinal diseases being very attractive for researchers because it's usually a single gene that is causing the condition. It means that we can look at things like gene therapy and different treatments. But I think, yeah, you're probably right. You know, it is that case that it's never going to be a one size fits all for everyone. And so it means that we have to be really clever in the way that we think about these conditions and the treatments that we're developing to try and help as many people as we can.
00:08:49
S1: And the sort of generic genetic therapy side of things that that's the biggest hope, I mean, in terms of lifestyle and stuff like that, we hear about the sort of differences that can make with things like macular degeneration and other conditions, but with an inherited retinal disease, you know that that lifestyle is obviously important for lifestyle, but maybe not for the disease itself.
00:09:10
S4: So there's a couple again. Again, um, you know, there's different subtypes of inherited retinal disease. So there's a few where you'll eat your diet. And the things that you do can make a difference. So one of the big ones is is a condition called Refsum disease. And with Refsum disease, um, you do need to watch the diet that you have and that can help to slow down the disease progression. But generally for a lot of inherited retinal diseases, the gene is the overpowering part of it, you know. So it's it's sort of unfortunately there's not much you can do for a lot of these erds, uh, we always recommend, you know, a healthy, balanced diet, lots of leafy green vegetables, things like that, protecting your eyes from the sun with sunglasses, those sort of common sense things. But you're right in terms of targeted therapies. We are looking more at can we actually change the gene that's causing the problem? And if we can't do that, is there other things that we can do to protect the retina? And so many of your listeners might have heard of a trial that was run by a company called an acuity recently, which was looking at an antioxidant, um, tablet that people were taking and that has been shown to slow down the progression of usher syndrome and the vision loss. Uh, but what we are really trying to do now is, you know, try and stop it in its tracks. And if we can change the genes or change the process that the genes develop into a protein, then hopefully we can try and, you know, make a bigger difference.
00:10:35
S1: And that's, I guess, a bit of a target of a number of different diseases, not just retinal diseases, indeed, not just eye diseases that kind of approach.
00:10:43
S4: Absolutely. And I think that's one of the really exciting things being in this field of research, actually, when we go to conferences, we're there with, you know, genetic testing and genetic engineering researchers from cancer fields and heart fields and all sorts of other researchers, too, because we're all trying to do the same thing in terms of, you know, correcting faults in our genetic information. And so we are, um, slightly challenged in usher syndrome because the gene for usher syndrome is quite large. So it means that we can't some of the simpler ways of doing, um, gene therapy we can't do for usher syndrome. And so we have to be a little bit more clever. And so that's where this international multidisciplinary collaboration is great because we learn from each other in ways to develop those other therapies.
00:11:29
S1: When you say large, you mean physically large.
00:11:31
S4: Yeah. So so the easiest way to do gene therapy is if you've got a problem with your genes, you can get a correct version of that gene and pop it into a virus, which we've injected into the eye. So it's very it sounds very science fictiony, but basically what it does is it pops it into the eye and then spreads that into the different cells in the retina to to restore or make their function better. The problem with the usher syndrome gene is it's too big, so we can't actually fit it inside a virus to do that. Oh, wow. Yeah. And so what we can do is we can do a few different clever things so we can cut the gene in half and then still use that way of getting into the eye. So still use the viruses. Or the other thing that we're doing a lot at Sierra is actually looking at whether you can edit the gene. So rather than just putting a whole new copy into the eye, can we change the genetic information that is already in the eye? So it's um, it is quite mind blowing to think about the different ways of, of doing these treatments. But I guess the take home message is that for usher syndrome, we do have to be a little bit more clever in the ways that we try and target those mutations, but we've got multiple streams of research happening in that space.
00:12:45
S1: That boggles the mind, because you hear about how small viruses are and, you know, to be picked up by microscopes, etc.. So if this is a large gene, we can't kind of fathom how small that large gene is. If I could put it that.
00:12:58
S4: Absolutely. Absolutely. That's fascinating. When you hear our incredibly smart lab colleagues talking about this, they talk about the ways that they can use enzymes to cut parts of the genes. And, and, you know, make it so that it works more effectively in the eye and the way they talk about it. It sounds almost like, you know, it scissors and paper and and then you sort of take a step back and go, this is. Yeah, absolutely. You know, Submicroscopic, these are such tiny scale changes. Um, and it's quite amazing that we can do them in, in, in living tissue.
00:13:31
S1: Maybe nanoscopic might be the word.
00:13:33
S4: Absolutely, absolutely.
00:13:35
S1: Now, I guess funding is so important for research, isn't it? Because these things, you know, if they come good, there's obviously potentially a lot of money for the country and for the organization asked that strikes that, uh, breakthrough. But to get there, we did a lot of funding.
00:13:50
S4: Absolutely, absolutely. And it's a huge challenge in the space of inherited retinal diseases because they are rare conditions. And so, you know, often when we're going for big national grants, uh, you know, we are competing against, you know, areas like cancer research and things, which, you know, obviously should get funding as well, but it does make it challenging for us. And so the way that we try and target that is obviously we apply for all of the competitive grants we can, but we also do call out to the community, um, at times and say, you know, if people are interested and would love to see this research accelerate. Um, we always are incredibly grateful when people are happy to donate as well to our cause.
00:14:29
S1: We'll put the details on our show, notes about your website, etc. and I guess World Sight Day. This is Usher's syndrome that we're or that you're targeting or talking mainly about, but world sight. That's a great day to kind of, um, you know, raise the awareness of of things like Usher's Ascher's syndrome and other inherited retinal diseases. Indeed, other eye conditions.
00:14:48
S4: Absolutely. And I always talk about, you know, this is kind of from me. It's World Sight month, right? We had we had World Retina Day the other day. There was World Usher Syndrome Awareness Day as well. So yeah, World Sight Day is is such an important day to us that work in this space. Um, and it's really a great day to, I guess, acknowledge how far we've all come, uh, in terms of awareness, where the research is, where the support is. And, um, yeah, we're just excited to see it continue to grow.
00:15:13
S1: And it's going to be really unfair of me to ask what about in terms of breakthrough? But but I guess every day there's a chance and, you know, the fact that these things are probably unpredictable again, makes it part of the excitement of working in this area.
00:15:24
S4: Yeah, absolutely. And I think what I really love as well is I love all the offshoots of our research. So, you know, our ultimate goal obviously, is, is to come up with treatments for these conditions. But we do a lot of research into, you know, how people can live most comfortably and happily with the conditions. you know, what are the supports we can give people? Low vision aids, all of those sorts of things as well. And so it is a really exciting and growing space of research. And so I guess for all the listeners know that there's a lot of people working to, to to do as much as we can for, for these conditions.
00:15:59
S1: Just as we are. And I know there's a couple of lovely individuals that are kind of highlighted in one of your newsletters that live with Usher's syndrome, a 15 year old and a 28 year old. And it's, you know, I guess it's those sort of messages that really get through because, you know, if there's someone in our family or in our circle of friends that is that kind of age, and we think, well, if it was them, what would we be thinking? It's a a great way to get that message across.
00:16:23
S4: Absolutely. And look, we're obviously so grateful for for them sharing their stories and for those, um, if people get a chance to have a look, there is a video on our website where it's who's the 15 year old? Um, I love what he says. He says, you know, we have usher syndrome, we have cochlear implants for the year. You know, let's let's fix the eye. Let's get on it. And I really I love that it's it's, um. It's so true. This is what we need to target next.
00:16:47
S1: Well, I hope one day we're talking about that Lauren. In real life.
00:16:50
S4: Me too. Me too.
00:16:52
S1: Hello. Great to catch up to all those at the center for our research. Keep up the tremendous work. We'll put details up with our show notes, and if people can find a few dollars to give, who knows? That could be the the thing that makes the next breakthrough happen. Uh, happy. Well, the happy well site month. And, uh, I look forward to the next time we speak so much. Peter, that's Professor Lauren Acton there. What a what an energetic and very positive person. Great to have Lauren on the program. That's Lauren Eaton who professor Lauren Nation am from the center for Eye Research talking about World Sight Day and in particular the research into usher syndrome. Yes. That's it. That's the music we love to hear. Which means that Rebecca Young is on the line. The CEO from Access to Arts Like you and the times. Rebecca, how are you?
00:17:39
S5: Great. Thanks. Peter. How are you?
00:17:41
S1: Going especially well now? You're right in the middle of your office. So a little bit of background noise, but that's good because it means things are very busy. And I can't believe I'm going to say this, but we're going to talk about the Christmas pageant.
00:17:52
S5: We are. It's that time of year already. The decorations are appearing in the shops and we are winding up for audio description for the pageant.
00:18:01
S1: All right. Now, this is quite a few years ago. Now I've lost count. I have to be honest.
00:18:05
S5: Yes, well, we obviously had a little gap during Covid, but we've been back for a few years now and yeah, really excited to be making sure that we are broadcasting our fantastic audio description of the pageant with you lovely folks at Vision Australia Radio.
00:18:24
S1: I know we love doing it, we love listening to it and we get wonderful feedback. So I guess really we can say back by popular demand.
00:18:31
S5: Yes, absolutely.
00:18:33
S1: Are you allowed to tell us who the audio describes are for this year.
00:18:36
S5: I am not able to tell you that right now, Peter. I guess Ruth is not in the office, and I'm not quite sure who's doing it. Okay.
00:18:42
S1: Rebecca who? The audio describers this year. Oh, you can't tell us. That's fair enough. All right. Well, I know one thing. Whoever they are, they'll be really, really good.
00:18:50
S5: They absolutely will be really, really good. All of our audio describers are really, really good. Um, and I know that there's always a, you know, a hot competition to get the Christmas pageant because it's such a fun one to do.
00:19:03
S1: Maybe I listen to that secret. Is it like we apply and then you choose, or how does that happen?
00:19:10
S5: Oh, look, we, um, always email our jobs out to the describers and, um, find out who's available. And they're all, you know, very busy people. And then we work out who's available and who's doing what other jobs around the place, and we try and make sure that we've got the best people for the jobs and that we everyone's getting to do some interesting work.
00:19:30
S1: Alright. Saturday the 8th of November. So we'll mention other other programs as it gets closer. But that's a great thing. And I know we've said this every year, but for those people who hear about audio description but don't actually hear it, this is a great way to hear it. You know, in the comfort of your own home. And also absolutely free.
00:19:48
S5: It's absolutely is. It's easy to access from home. Um, if you want to come along to the pageant and listen to the audio description, you can also access our, um, access to our community site, which is right in front of the MFS building where we describe. So that's fantastic because you can be up close to the floats as the describers are, um, describing them on the way past so you can hear all those bells jingling and hear Santa doing his ho ho ho.
00:20:16
S1: Yeah, that's a really great point you make about being close up, because, you know, there are a lot of people who have a visual impairment, aren't necessarily totally blind. And I often find, I'm sure you'd agree with this over the years that, you know, people who have got a little bit of sight tend to use it really, really well. And you almost don't know Neither I've got a vision impairment. Or you don't realize how much their vision is impaired, but they use it really well. So, you know, they get along to your spot for this year. They'll. They'll get a good view.
00:20:42
S5: Absolutely. They'll get a good view. Close up to the action. Um, if you have some sight, you'll be able to see the colors and movement, and it should match up to where the descriptions are in the parade. And then if you don't have any sight, you'll still get the smells and the sounds and all of the other great sensory input that will still match up with the description.
00:21:00
S1: Now we're about to argue with your location.
00:21:03
S5: It's in front of the MFS building on Wakefield Street.
00:21:06
S1: Okay, well, I think everyone knows where that is. Oh, that'd be tremendous. And as you say, you know, people get along. They can have the best of both girls in their ears. And also, it's great to get that sort of surround sound of the the stuff that's going on around you both sort of on the ride, but also the reaction of the people around you as well.
00:21:23
S5: Absolutely. It's lovely to, um, see how all the kids are reacting and, and listen to all of their, their that joy and all of the fun down there at the parade.
00:21:34
S1: Just had a sneak peak and the weather forecast is perfect.
00:21:37
S5: Oh fantastic.
00:21:38
S1: 30 a month away, but the weather forecast is perfect. So you can take that to the bank, right? And I hope I'm right. Um, but in all seriousness, it's a great thing. And do people need to book to come along to where access to arts will be located?
00:21:51
S5: Yes. They will need to book to come along to our community site.
00:21:54
S1: All right. Well, we'll give the details before we wrap up. So I guess, you know, is there quite a bit of room or a bit of a premium or spots are a bit of a premium?
00:22:04
S5: Look, we've got space for about 30 people okay.
00:22:06
S1: All right. Well the first 30 get in. And of course obviously again we've spoken about this sort of thing before. But if you're a parent who's got a child with a vision impairment or if you're a the other way around, that's a great way to kind of share in the day as well.
00:22:19
S5: Absolutely. It sure is.
00:22:21
S1: Now, uh, okay. So that's the 8th of November. Now you've got something happening. Uh, as far as the, um, Ozasia festival goes as well, haven't you?
00:22:30
S5: We do. We have two Ozasia festival offerings. The first one is our ever popular Moon Lantern Trail tour. Um, which is super fun. And that's on Sunday the 26th of October, um, at Pinky Flat. So, um, be able to go around and have a an intimate tour of all of those incredible lanterns that are part of the moon lantern trail. And the second one is an incredible show called milestone, which should be really interesting. And that one is audio described, and it's at the town hall on Friday the 31st of October.
00:23:04
S1: Okay, so a week or so before the pageant, and I think fair to say that the Ozasia festival has really grown as far as sort of impetus and relevance, uh, as time has gone on.
00:23:14
S5: It absolutely has. They always have some incredible shows. And, um, we're really excited to be involved in these two.
00:23:20
S1: Yeah. Have you got a kind of a special day coming up as well in October for access to us and kind of awareness.
00:23:26
S5: We might have a little special day coming up. Peter, we are really excited to be involved in the first inaugural Oz Art day, which is a giving day to the arts. So it's a day to, um, all of the art sector is encouraging people to make a donation to the arts companies that are important to us, to help us make more art and make more art accessible in our case. So yeah, really excited to be involved in, um, The Giving Day this year and really encourage people, if they have a little bit of money, they can spare everything that comes to access to arts for our arts for all. Giving day, um, will go into providing more artist support for disabled artists, so that means we'll get more artists getting their work on the ground.
00:24:13
S1: Which is fantastic. What about the genesis of this? Rebecca? How did all this idea sort of come about?
00:24:18
S5: The idea came about through, um, Creative Australia. Who are the the federal arts Body, and we've known about it for a little while. I've been talking to them about it for a little while. I'm giving days are quite popular in that it's a way that people can collectively sort of make a bit of noise and, and get a bit of attention, and they have generously supported us to create a few little materials. So there'll be a couple of excellent little audio described videos coming out. Um, to talk a bit about the importance of our work. And, um, you can hear directly from some of the artists that we work with.
00:24:52
S1: Rick. Is it, um, if you like, South Australian focused or should I say if I give money? It's based in South Australia because, I mean, without wanting to sound too, uh, state oriented, that's really important, isn't it?
00:25:02
S5: If you give to access to arts, Peter, it will come directly to access to arts. Okay. So, uh, Creative Australia are, um, running a big campaign for the awareness, but the donations actually go directly to the artists or the arts organisations that you choose to support.
00:25:18
S1: That's really, really important because as I say, you know, particularly the great work that you do. It's kind of great if people in South Australia benefit from it. I mean, I'm sure the other states do very well for themselves as well. And there's always kind of a, you know, a need for another dollar. But it's kind of good to know that if we do it here in South Australia, it it stays here. And you know, it goes to help our artists.
00:25:38
S5: Absolutely. You know, every every dollar through the campaign will definitely go directly into our artist support funds.
00:25:44
S1: Now you've got a date set aside for that.
00:25:46
S5: That is going to be in about two weeks.
00:25:52
S1: Of.
00:25:52
S5: October. It is on Thursday the 23rd of October. So if you're on our mailing list you will get some emails. So please feel free to click on the links and support. And we know that not everyone is in a position to, um, provide financial support. But if you can, um, share our campaign on social media, um, or just even send us an email and let us know how much you appreciate our work, we'd love to get all the love on that day.
00:26:20
S1: That's a great point you make about sharing on social media. I mean, most people are on Facebook or Instagram, etc. and even if you can't, you know, help out by physically donating money, if you just sort of spread the word. You never know who might pick up on it in your circle of followers that can contribute to it as well.
00:26:37
S5: Absolutely. And look, the secondary purpose for us for the day is for more people to know about what we do. So sharing is still very, very helpful.
00:26:45
S1: Terrific. Now I know we'll talk about this maybe next time. Although a bit of a heads up, there's a big audio describe show coming up by the State Theatre Company later on in November.
00:26:55
S5: Yes there is. There will be an excellent show. I believe it will be fantastic. Um, The Glass Menagerie, which is showing at the Odeon in November. So that will, um, round out our, uh, State Theatre shows for the year. Um, but can't wait. Uh, in the next couple of weeks to be sharing with you all the State Theatre shows for next year as well, and I can confidently say it's a very exciting program.
00:27:22
S1: That's the way you work, isn't it? Because you've got to be kind of working ahead. I mean, we say coming up in November, you think, oh yeah, they worked on it yesterday, but it doesn't quite work that way.
00:27:31
S5: No, no, it's definitely, um, sort of audio description for a theater program is normally ideally about a month long process.
00:27:40
S1: Okay. Well, what about for the getting back to the Christmas pageant? Uh, the the audio describers will get a bit of a preview, I guess, because we have a bit of a kick on television, etc., a bit of an unveiling of the floats and the new floats, etc. I guess they get a bit of a kind of heads up compared to the general public.
00:27:56
S5: Our describers will go down to pageant HQ and check out the floats before the day. So, uh, the pageant descriptions, great fun and quite on the fly because, you know, when you're describing live, things change. But they do have, um, I suppose, some cheat sheet notes that they've written about some of the key features of those gorgeous floats, so that we get all of the great detail.
00:28:21
S1: And it's a great thing also to be sitting at home and listening or being there and listening, and you get a lot of background information about stuff about South Australia and South Australian events, etc. that, you know, maybe you dozed off during school time and didn't hear about them or, uh, you know, stuff that you learn new that, uh, sort of comes to the fore in the meantime. So it's a great kind of educational thing as well as entertainment.
00:28:43
S5: It absolutely is. Look, I always think that audio description is such a gift because you have everything from, you know, incredible pre-show tours where you get to meet the actors first or walk around the stage and do sort of touch props and sets that you wouldn't normally get to do, to finding out some of those kind of details that you might miss when you're watching a show. If you're listening to the audio description, you know those tiny little details that are often really instrumental. You're told. So it's really, um, it's really a bit of a cheat sheet.
00:29:15
S1: Sometimes it's a good thing to be doing. So that's November the 8th, and I said, we'll talk about it more as the date gets closer. So put it into effect 2 or 3 hours aside and you'll be the better for it. Now, if people are doing a book to get to a spot at your, uh, location, uh, at, uh, the Christmas pageant, how can we do that?
00:29:33
S5: They can head to our website, which is Access to Arts with the number two. Um, and when you head to our events and Christmas pageant, there's a booking form there that you can pop your details down in.
00:29:47
S1: All right? And, uh, be mindful and keep an ear and eye out for October the 23rd as well. That Thursday, that, uh, big day of giving and, um. Yeah, I mean, it's nice that you said if people just want to acknowledge the fact that they appreciate what you do, that that'll make everyone in the office feel a little bit better, too.
00:30:02
S5: That always makes our day. We love feedback.
00:30:05
S1: Alright. You've made our day. You've made our evening. Thank you for spending some time with us. Uh, we'll catch up next month and, uh, Merry Christmas Fantastic.
00:30:13
S5: Thanks. Merry Christmas to.
00:30:15
S1: You, indeed. Rebecca Young there. Good fun there. Rebecca. As a CEO, there's a tremendous amount of work and always great to have Rebecca and her team to give us a few minutes each month to chat about what they're doing. You're listening to.
00:30:29
S6: Focal Point on Vision Australia Radio.
00:30:31
S1: On VA radio, digital.
00:30:33
S6: And online at VA radio.
00:30:35
S1: Hope you're enjoying the program. It's activating week, a very important week. Let's talk about a passion project that Charlie. Helen Robertson is actually celebrating one year since starting it. Charlie. Helen. Lovely to meet you. You're no stranger to radio, but first time we've spoken. So good to meet you. And thanks for coming on.
00:30:53
S5: Thank you so much for having me, Peter. It's a joy to be here.
00:30:57
S1: You're too kind. That's about this passion project. How and why did it come about?
00:31:01
S5: It's actually been something that's been happening for the last ten years since I turned 50. However, a year ago, I launched a thing called Gray Matter Studio and that is celebrating. People who are over the are typically deemed youthful age that the media wish to portray, and also workplaces wish to support. So over the last ten years, you know, we've seen a a lot of research and a lot of commentary about the tsunami wave of boomers hitting the marketplace and what people different people want to do with their life and all the rest of it. So with a colleague of mine at the University of South Australia, we started to look into this and what it actually meant to society and how we can ensure people as they age still live a rich, fulfilling life. And we realized that there was a very diverse cohort of voices that weren't always in line or in sync with societal norms that we see portrayed. For example, the person or the couple walking down the beach hand in hand. You know, because they've retired now is not typically what you find in the actual real world. And we wanted to look at what was in the real world. And there were a lot of over 70 year olds who we were talking to who didn't want to retire. They didn't want to downsize their life. They didn't want to sort of be swept under the carpet and made to feel old. They still feel very youthful, yet very young at heart, fully engaged with what they were doing. It just perhaps wasn't always, um, what we expected. And I guess it's a bit of a backlash. In conjunction with what was going on with our research, there was a global movement where, you know, celebrating age and ageism came out. Uh, there was one particular chap over in America that I was following, David Harry Stewart that started a magazine. It's online. It's a whole world now called The Egoist. And in that space, he was celebrating those people who were still in their 60s, 70s and 80s, who were still going to the gym, are still very vibrant in their working career, still very much beautiful in a traditional sense.
00:33:28
S1: Kelly, you make some great points. I mean, even just in the last week or so, we had Julie Andrews turning 90, still as vivacious as ever. And the very late and great Jane Goodall, 91, passed away, but still, you know, lecturing and speaking publicly a few weeks before passing away. So he's a wonderful example. I mean, I see the other day Warren Buffett is entering into a new business as far as investment goes. And he's 95. And, you know, without getting too political, people like Rupert Murdoch. So there's lots of examples out there, and I guess we've got to make more of them.
00:34:01
S5: It's interesting because over the last ten years there has been a change in the way that we see the people who are working longer, and there's almost been a backlash of, you know, how dare you tell me what I can do with my life? Um, and you know, Helen Mirren and Gillian Anderson, you know, these are recent faces on Paris runways where, you know, it started ten years ago, where it was very tokenism and there wasn't a lot out there. And when people did do it, it was like front page news, whereas now it's starting. It's not quite there yet, but it's starting to feel almost like the norm. You mentioned Warren Buffett and people like that still being in their 90s and working. And there was a backlash, but almost a societal, you know, like, oh, it's like yin and yang and black and white. You've got one cohort of people that say, I want to retire because my back hurts, and I've been doing too much stuff, you know, and then you've got the others who, you know, in the creativity space. For example, Creativity doesn't retire. You know it doesn't. It keeps going. It's like saying to you that you have to give up your radio station because you're over 50. You know, it's I don't know if you ever.
00:35:13
S1: That might happen one day, but just not yet.
00:35:15
S5: Yeah. And and why should it happen? Really, if you still loving it? Yeah.
00:35:20
S1: I mean, turning over 50.
00:35:21
S5: Oh, I was going to say I don't know what your age is, Peter, but, you know, it's some. If somebody said to you, you know, now that you're 50, you have to give up your radio station or, you know, like or your program. That would be an insult to you, wouldn't it? So, you know, it's it's that that we encounter when we turn 50. And I was walking into hair salons wanting my hair blow dried and they said, we can't have you leave, like looking like that. You've got gray hair. And it's like, why? Like it's a privilege to have gray hair. It's a privilege to age. And, um, you know, in the workplace, age is an asset because you can you've got a lot more wisdom. You've got a lot more experience under your belt. You can mentor. There's all sorts of reasons why it's good to have an older person in the workplace. And a lot of that stuff came out in our research. So, um, a year ago, I decided to culminate all that into an Instagram newsfeed and also a website where we share inspiring stories of people over 50 doing stuff they haven't slowed down. One of my favorite stories, um, that I've done in the past year is about a lady by the name of Maureen, and she is still an artist. She's in her 80s, and when she turned 70, she decided to set herself a challenge where every year she would do something new. And that was one of my first interviews. And when I heard that, I thought, that is such a great philosophy for life is to keep evolving, keep learning, keep doing stuff. You know, why do we stop just because we're told that, you know, you've reached a certain age or your retirement age now it's it's like a mandate that somebody else has dictated to us. And I don't like dictatorship.
00:37:07
S1: So I that's very true. And of course, the other thing is like, you've got to have a reason to get up in the morning and whatever it is, if it gets you out of bed, that's got to be a good thing. Yeah. Particularly as far as your mental health goes.
00:37:17
S5: Oh, absolutely. And it is a shame that as we get older, we do get lonelier. There's, you know, in your 30s you don't think about it, but in your 50s, all of a sudden people around you start getting sick or, you know, heart disease pops up in conversation a lot more than what it used to. And, you know, friends pass away. I had a friend, um, this week who unfortunately passed from cancer. And it's it's sad. It starts to happen a lot more frequently than what we like. And so when we do know that we have the ability to keep ourselves healthy and, you know, look forward to another 30 years, because, you know, why shouldn't I live till I'm 100? Yeah. So that's 40 years. You think about how much we do from 0 to 40 or 0 to 50. I've got to fit all that in from 50 to 100. That's my philosophy now is what else can I fit in?
00:38:12
S1: You talk about people in the art world or the creative world. I mean, a lot of people that are creative, you know, draw upon their lived experience. Well, if you've lived to 60, you've got more experiences than if you've only lived to 30.
00:38:23
S5: Absolutely.
00:38:24
S1: Do you work.
00:38:25
S5: With, think about or. Yes, all that material that you can work with and all the confidence that you bring with that? I must admit, though, when you get into menopausal years, which you wouldn't know about, the anxiety increases. And so there is a different layer that we're dealing with in that space. But at the end of the day, you do have a lot more worldliness about you, hopefully. And, you know, you're sort of bouncing from a different platform. Yeah, it's it's living and evolving.
00:38:55
S1: This is a lot of research in those areas. I mean, you talked about menopause and I didn't mean to laugh. That was an empathetic laugh. But, you know, there's a lot of research that goes on in that area that can make, you know, either going through menopause better or indeed, when you come out the other side, your quality of life is is still improving and you're still the, the wonderful person that you always were.
00:39:14
S5: That's right. Absolutely right. And I think workplaces when we first started talking workplaces just did not understand menopause at all. Whereas nowadays, you know, turning bright red because you're having a hot flush or needing a fan on your desk or whatever is far more acceptable than what it used to be. And that's a great sign of the times. It does mean that we are learning. Um, and over this past year, I think I've probably worked out that there is an element of ageism in a undereducated way, but when a person is made aware of it, they are far more accepting and far more open. And so you don't get quite the same ages attitude that we used to get.
00:39:58
S1: Well, it's also a bit of a cheap shot, isn't it? It's an easy target, if I can put it that way.
00:40:02
S5: Yeah. And, you know, the disability sector has been looking at this and suffering from this for decades. So it is a different spin on it. But, you know, I hate to be, um, you know, I'm healthy, able bodied white person, um, and relatively attractive, if I say so myself.
00:40:21
S1: Well, I couldn't agree more.
00:40:23
S5: Yeah. I've got a face for radio, but, you know. But at the end of the day, you know, you couple that with ageing as well and all, you know, like, where do these people go. What do they do? They just, you know, they've got that extra layer of disadvantage over the top of them. So that's something that certainly trying to change as well.
00:40:43
S1: Helen where do you get your material from. So is it stuff that people send to you or do you kind of have your antenna up all the time? How does that.
00:40:50
S6: Work?
00:40:50
S5: Well, so over the past year we have evolved and from the beginnings of me sending out messages and getting people to, you know, like allowing me to write their story. I now have seven contributors on the website who provide articles and write stories. Um, some of them are hilarious. I've got a grey nomad that goes traveling and writes stories from his caravan. I've got, uh, a lady who's still working, but very much opinionated in some particular ways in, in regards to language and and etiquette out in, you know, where's the etiquette gone type scenarios. And then I've just got the regular commentary, um, opinion makers. And it's a, it's a fun dynamic or space to curate and it's getting bigger. So I know there's more voices out there that would love to be heard. I love writing people's stories. I think that's an absolute privilege and honor, and that comes from my aged care background. Some of the people that I've interviewed over the years include over 100 year olds. There's one particular lady who was 103, and they are an absolute delight to interview and to listen to their stories and what they've gone through over the years. So the more of that bring it on, I say. If anybody would like to be interviewed, I'm very happy to do it.
00:42:10
S6: Well, how can.
00:42:11
S1: We find the information that you put out there? You've got a website.
00:42:14
S5: I have a website. It's grey Matter or grey matter dot studio. If you Google us, you'll find us. Or you can Google Charlie, Helen Robinson and all my platforms are there. We're on Instagram as Grey Matter studio. We're now on Substack, we're on SoundCloud. I have a playlist for Grey Matter.
00:42:34
S1: Excellent.
00:42:35
S5: Yeah, and.
00:42:37
S1: I love double entendres. Charlie, Helen and Grey matter. I mean, that's kind of that. Says it all.
00:42:42
S6: Doesn't it?
00:42:43
S5: It does.
00:42:44
S6: You know, it's.
00:42:44
S1: A brain, but it's also the hair and and yeah, the matter is very, very important that you know being being old you do matter. We do matter.
00:42:52
S5: We matter. Absolutely. And yes, it was a little bit of a double entendre. You picked that one up very well. Thank you.
00:42:59
S6: I love I love.
00:43:00
S1: Words like that Kelly. It's been fabulous catching up with me. I do look forward to turning 50. In the meantime, if people want to find out any more about what we've spoken about, we'll put these details up on our show notes. Just give us your website again, and people can go there and find out more. And they can always call us here at this radio station if they don't get access to it as well. So what's your website?
00:43:20
S5: So the website is Gray Matter Studio Life.com or Gray Matter Gallery. There's two different URLs for that one, Peter. But you can also get us via Instagram Gray Matter Studio. You can get us on Substack and also SoundCloud. We try to get on to lots of different platforms, um, to keep the story alive.
00:43:44
S1: Life. Charlie. Helen, keep up the passion.
00:43:46
S5: Thank you so much. Peter.
00:43:48
S1: Charlie. Helen Robertson, they're chatting about activating. This week is the week, but it's a message that is very, very relevant 365 days a year. Or some real concerns regarding the access taxi situation in South Australia. Let's chat about it with, uh, Jeremy Muir, who's the CEO for the Physical Disability Council. Jeremy, always good to catch up and thank you for your time.
00:44:11
S7: Hi, Peter. Great to be with you again.
00:44:13
S1: Now, there have been some changes in the last little while here in South Australia. You're a little bit concerned regarding, uh, the repercussions of these changes.
00:44:20
S7: Yeah. Look, we were we were concerned when we saw the, the policy changes around, um, how people with disabilities access or book access cabs in South Australia. And we just felt that perhaps the approach they, they have taken without seems to be without little or no consultation with, um, those that use access cabs. Um, we're just concerned about, you know, what those changes are.
00:44:48
S1: Now, many people may recall the situation. It was very public of a a young mother with a younger child, an 11 year old trying to get to a medical appointment. And they missed it because the access cab didn't turn up. I mean, I'm sure things like that happen regularly, but, uh, you feel it's a bit of an overreaction or a knee jerk reaction to one sort of public incident.
00:45:09
S7: Well, look, I mean, that incident for that family, you know, that that shouldn't happen, and it shouldn't happen in any state. And our concerns is they've made these changes without any further consultation. You're right. Those sorts of incidences occur. Unfortunately, they occur in every state because trying to get an access cab when you really need it is difficult. But I think the response the government has put in place is a little bit knee jerk. And um, as I said, they have seemed to have done so without without any consultation with other users.
00:45:43
S1: I think part of the issue, if you like Jerry, with due deference to the ministers, and we actually had him on the program to talk about it. One of the concerns that we had and people expressed to us was that a really good system, not perfect, but a good system. Up until then was that if I were to use an access cab, I know Jeremy, he's a good bloke, I trust him, I trust him with my kids. I trust him with my family members. I'll give him a call and arrange him to pick me up tomorrow at nine. That now is no longer available. Or if you do that, the Jeremy the driver misses out on his fee.
00:46:15
S7: Yeah, and we understand that. Like if you're having to use access cab, if that is your only way of transportation, the only means of transportation, then you want it to be safe. You want it to be reliable and you want to have consistency around that service. You know, as a person who uses access cabs and and if you rely on them, you know, you have the right to be able to access those vehicles and feel safe in doing so, just like anybody else who catches a cab. And remember, people who use mobility devices like wheelchairs and so on and so forth. Usually cabs are their only means of transportation. Don't have the option of using Uber. Sometimes other sorts of transportation can be difficult to use. Or, you know, they just don't fit your lifestyle. So if you're using access cabs, you want to make sure that you can do so equitably, safely, and reliably. Because, you know, our lives are just as important as everybody else's, and you shouldn't be at the mercy of a system that doesn't meet your needs.
00:47:20
S1: Another issue, Jeremy, is you're obviously very articulate. You kind of know what you want and what you don't want. You're able to express yourself. I mean, the way life goes. Not everyone is in that position. And that's also really, really important to bear in mind when you're maybe be even putting them at risk or as a family member, putting a vulnerable family member at risk are exactly.
00:47:42
S7: Imagine if a cab turned up. You had to put your family member or person that you support into a cab. You didn't know the driver. You were unsure about their, um, level of expertise, their level of knowledge of how to, you know best to work with people with disabilities and what that particular person's needs be. Um, it just creates a level of anxiety that's just completely unnecessary. But, you know, you're right. Particularly if you can't speak up for yourself and you can't make it knowing what you want. The other problem with also that is, even if you are a person that can articulate, there's a little bit of fear about speaking up and making yourself known because you think, what are the repercussions of that driver going to make this trip even more difficult for me? Are they not going to respond to my trips in the future? You know, so so there's that vulnerability and that power imbalance that always occurs in these situations. And again, it shouldn't, but it does.
00:48:36
S1: So you've, um, I know since the last time we spoke and certainly since the last time we spoke regarding the transport minister, South Australia, there's been a change of minister. Emily Bourke is now the minister. Uh, you've got some thoughts regarding some things that could be at least considered.
00:48:52
S7: Yeah. Look, we, um, we we would like them to, you know, investigate, you know, the impact of eliminating the direct driver bookings. As far as I'm aware, the numbers of people that use access cabs, you know, this is data that's available daily, weekly, monthly. So it should be quite easy to see what the impact has been of eliminating this. You know, we want to assess whether this change has led to any improvements in service quality for users. You know, we'd like to explore what alternate methods there are to expand and improve transport options for people with physical disabilities in South Australia. Undertake a review to improve the current experience of users of access cabs. You know. might consider conducting a co-design development process involving people with disabilities to use these services regularly and use their feedback to shape service improvements. Don't just as a government think, oh yeah, we've got cabs, that's good enough. How do we make this better for the users? And that's what it's all about, isn't it? The end user? Um, you know, and improve the knowledge base of of accessible taxi drivers and increase the safeguarding so members of community can feel confident in, um, in the driver's ability.
00:50:01
S1: That co-design work is so important. And we have some excellent advocates here in South Australia that could certainly represent the users of access cabs. Uh, really, really well.
00:50:10
S7: Yeah, definitely. And, you know, that's what you want. You want that local knowledge. You want those advocates that understand the system and they understand Adelaide and South Australia and can really add value to the to the whole process of, you know, of improving the quality of service.
00:50:26
S1: What about in terms of the drivers? Yeah, it's a two way equation if you like. We catch the cab. The drivers obviously got to earn a living and, you know, sort of do his day to day task. What about sort of, uh, consulting and taking their situation into account as well?
00:50:40
S7: Exactly. And if we're talking about, you know, what the impact has been of eliminating direct driver bookings, then let's talk to the taxi drivers. Let's talk to how it's impacted them and looks to talk to the drivers that perhaps felt they were impacted by that direct driver bookings. You know, there's a little bit of a lack of information of what the impacts been on both counts. And the reality is if there's enough cabs, you know, uh, to provide the service, um, then there should be enough work for all drivers. So let's talk to the drivers and see what you know their issues are with, with both systems direct driver and not.
00:51:17
S1: Think the minister made the point that, uh, you know, the problem was or the sort of peak hour, if you like, or peak time use for cabs was one of the issues that if everyone or if people were choosing their favorite driver and it was school run time or work time, then that might create a bit of an issue.
00:51:34
S7: And what I don't quite understand about that is if it's peak time and someone's booking a driver directly, then obviously they need that driver, so they're only booking them for that particular time. So what's the issue then in relation to what does the driver just sit around for three hours and wait for that person to finish their booking, or do they. They don't sit around the school all day and wait. So there's always going to be demands at peak time. So if drivers are missing out at peak time, what is the cause of that? Because you would think all drivers would be would have bookings at that peak time.
00:52:12
S1: I guess it's a bit like New Year's Eve or special occasions. Sometimes the wait is going to have to be longer, and I guess if you know that, that doesn't make it so good. Another really interesting point that you made, Jeremy. If people are uncomfortable about, you know, their personal support or their loved one. Uh, going, uh, in the cab that they might not know the driver very well, if particularly if it's a support worker, then that's time that comes out of, say, their NDIS package. If the support worker is travelling with the with the person on the NDIS.
00:52:42
S7: Exactly. And and if you're, if you're only using a support worker to come with you because you're unsure of the driver and you're unsure of the trip and you're unsure of your safety, and that's not necessarily appropriate use of your funds, isn't it? You want to use those funds when you really need them. Not because I don't know this driver. Maybe it's better if I have someone with me. Surely that's not what the government wants in relation to how people use their NDIS funding?
00:53:08
S1: Well, especially for last year. This time I didn't need that situation because I did trust Jeremy who was picking me up.
00:53:14
S7: Exactly. And then if I have to use that funding as a support worker while I'm using a cab, then I can't use it elsewhere, you know, and then you're having to compromise on how you use those funds. And, you know, we all know that the funds aren't, um, a bottomless pit of money that you get, you know, in your funding package. And you shouldn't have to compromise on how you use your NDIS funding. Um, because, ah, it's probably safe if I use it while catching a cab.
00:53:41
S1: Yeah. We also spoke to the shadow spokesperson for transport to Ben Hood, who acknowledged the these issues, and they were going to do some, um, I guess, you know, formulating policies because we have an election in March next year, which is not too far away. So we might see if they've come up with something because I guess, you know, even though the amount of people that use the cabs might not be huge, family members support workers, people they know could be. And uh, whilst not going to say it's going to it's going to turn an election, but it certainly could be something that at worst can be put into the public forum, which would be good for general awareness anyway.
00:54:15
S7: Yeah. And look, let's hope that the, um, the, the current opposition come up with some realistic and they, you know, they they talk to those that need answers and want a better scheme because this, you know, it it might not be a big issue for each individual, but it's certainly a big issue for, um, South Australians with disabilities and South Australians with disabilities have family members, have friends. And, you know, if they're aware of this issue, then that could influence their vote. And I think the other point that I'd really like to make is remembering that the number of people with disabilities that use access cards in Adelaide or South Australia, whatever that number is, we don't really know. But remembering again that we don't have the option to use Uber or other ride sharing facilities. So the demand for those services is certainly there. It's just how is it, um, better utilised.
00:55:08
S1: Or indeed public transport? One of the points that was made by the minister was that people could email or ring and say, look, I'd like Jeremy to pick me up. But again, that's okay for a lot of people, but not for everyone. Now, some people might not either have the ability to send an email or indeed choose to. I mean, that's that's again a personal right.
00:55:28
S7: Well, you shouldn't have to go jump through more hoops to get a cab, should you? You should be able to call, get a cab like everybody else and know that your journey is going to be safe and reliable. Why make people disabilities have to jump through more hoops just to get a cab, you know, and they're trying. We're just trying to meet our everyday needs and live our lives. Why make us jump through extra hoops to do that?
00:55:53
S1: Well, my next door neighbor who doesn't use access cabs doesn't have to do that.
00:55:56
S7: Exactly. And and do you know anybody without a disability that has to do that? Peter I don't.
00:56:02
S1: Know. No. So, Jeremy, you've put this media release out there. I guess you kind of wait and see what the response is to this new minister in the chair. Uh, an election coming up. You know, we stand by for maybe some responses.
00:56:13
S7: Yeah. Um, usually we get a response. We haven't yet, but I'm assuming that we will, Um, you know, we've we've had some little inroads in other states around different, uh, transport issues where we see responses. So, um, we look forward to hearing from the minister and the government shortly.
00:56:28
S1: There's nothing like an election to get people motivated, Jeremy. But on both sides of the, uh, voting slip, if I can put it that way. So we'll see what happens exactly.
00:56:37
S7: Peter, let's let's hope we get some positive outcomes with this.
00:56:39
S1: Thanks, Jeremy.
00:56:40
S7: Thank you Peter, much appreciate it.
00:56:42
S1: Jeremy, who's the CEO for the Physical Disability Council. If you've had some experience in this area, we'd love to hear from you. So get in touch and we will chase up the minister and the Shadow Minister. We'll at least put in a request and see where we go to from there. Our audio description of the week. Perfecto. It is coming up this Monday evening. 649 TV part of the SBS network Great Parks of Africa. Africa has a wonderful tapestry of habitats and hosts a variety of incredible creatures. Its natural beauty is amazing. This is all featured on this documentary writer G. This Monday Evening 640 SBS, NITV channel and it is great parks of Africa. Check it out. Certainly sounds fantastic. Kind of an Australian. Kind of an African version of Australian Geographic's that Vicky Cousins presents. So that is certainly worth a while. A bit of a check in some birthdays before we go. Vanessa Radford having a birthday down in Tassie. That young lady that made a bit of a scene. Uh, I say that very much tongue in cheek at the Stanford, uh, down at Brighton, uh, a few years ago when, uh, she won her a drink and I said, well, he's blind. He's sure he can handle a drink on your own. Anyway, happy birthday Vanessa. Well played then and well played now. Also, Sue Ellen Lovett, happy birthday. Tremendous Paralympian on the back of a horse doing wonderful things. So happy birthday to you, Sue Ellen and Craig Gordon having a birthday. What a champion a person. Craig is done some great work in the area of technology. Also a real whiz with cars and engines etc. so Craig, a very big happy birthday to you. That is it for the programme. Sam. Richard, thanks so much for your help. Pam. Thanks so much for your support. Reminding you that support is available wherever you get your favourite podcast. If you like the programme, please tell a friend. On behalf of Philip van der veer. This is Peter Greco saying be kind yourselves, be thoughtful and look out for others. All being well, focal point back at the same time. Next week on Vision Australia Radio and the Receiving Radio Network. This is focal point.
S1: Good evening and welcome to Focal Point here on this radio. Radio 1190 7 a.m. Natalie online at Video Radio via Radio Digital Adelaide-darwin through Community Radio Plus app. Look for Vision Australia, Radio Adelaide and we're there on your favourite podcast service as well. Peter Greco on behalf of Philip Van Beer, saying thank you for making time to tune in this program coming to you from Garner Land, coming to you very shortly. We'll catch up with Professor Lauren Aitken from the centre for Eye Research. October 9th is World Sight Day. We'll talk about that. And in particular, Usher syndrome. Rebecca Young will join us from Access to Arts. What's happening in that space? Plenty is the short answer. We'll get more from Rebecca, including something about Christmas. We'll catch up with Charlie. Helen Robinson talking about active ageing and ageing. Well, Charlie. Helen has got some interesting thoughts about that. And then Jeremy Muir will join us. He's the CEO for the Physical Disability Council of Australia. He's a little bit concerned regarding some of the changes to access cabs and what passengers can and can't ask for as far as their preferred driver goes. If you listen through 1190 7 a.m. in Adelaide at 8:00 for your listening pleasure. Lizzie and Sam are here with studio one. Just before we hear what's on their program, letting you know that the SA branch of Blind Australia, their next catch up, is coming up a week earlier than normal. It's Saturday, the 18th of October, 1230. They're off to the Cathedral Hotel in North Adelaide. I reckon a few of the people used to work at the Rnib back in the day would know that one very well. So Sam tells us how the Cathedral Hotel for the SA branch coming up on Saturday the 18th of October. If you want more details, give the office a call and ask for Kerry to call you back. 1-800-033-6601 800. 3360. Let us find out what's on studio one tonight.
00:02:25
S2: We chat to Julie Coppins, the president of ski for light, about how it all began. And we also have a chat with Anthony Nelson, one of their visually impaired athletes.
00:02:36
S3: So join us at eight for studio One.
00:02:41
S1: Well, World Sight Day, October 9th. Depending on when you hear this interview, maybe you've experienced the day already, or maybe you're about to. Anyway, let's chat about it with Professor Lauren. I am from the centre for Eye Research. Lauren, always great to catch up. Thanks so much for your time.
00:02:56
S4: Always great to talk to you, Peter. Thank you for having me on.
00:02:58
S1: Just about your focus, if you like, for World Sight Day. Yeah, you have a bit of an emphasis on the usher syndrome.
00:03:04
S4: We do this year. We do. So we, um, have had a lot of years of World words like day, where we have kind of focus on inherited retinal diseases. And this year we're, I guess, targeting an even more and really trying to raise awareness of usher syndrome. And for those of your listeners who haven't heard of Usher syndrome before, it's actually the most common syndromic form of inherited retinal disease. So it means it affects both the eyes but other parts of the body. And in the case of usher syndrome, it's mainly hearing and balance that can be affected as well.
00:03:34
S1: So what about in terms of when it's diagnosed or how easy is it to diagnose?
00:03:38
S4: It's a really great question Peter. So it's actually changed a lot recently. So historically what would happen is and I should caveat this, that there are different subtypes of usher syndrome. And everyone has a different journey. But for one of the subtypes often children are born deaf. And so that's picked up in their newborn screening. And what happened historically is that those kids grew up with a hearing loss, but they didn't start losing their vision until they were in late primary school, so roughly around ten years of age. What's happened in the last few years is that we have now have genetic tests that we can do to find out if a child does have usher syndrome. So it's completely changed that. So if a child is picked up as being deaf at birth, they'll undergo a genetic test. If the parents agree to look for other conditions and other causes of hearing loss. And so often families will then realise their child has usher syndrome as a newborn. And as you can imagine, that then, you know, raises a lot of, um, support needs really for the family, you know, how do you best raise that child when their vision is normal for the first ten years, and then we'll start to change?
00:04:43
S1: Well, I learned very early on during this program that early intervention is such a critical thing. And I guess, okay, the news might not be good if someone has usher syndrome, you know, with their diagnosis if you like. But I guess you can do proactive things to sort of minimize any damage from it or indeed, you know, give the child the best chance as far as a the staff and life goes, absolutely no.
00:05:05
S4: You're 100% right. And particularly with usher syndrome, because it affects the cells in the ear, and that's why people lose their hearing. It also affects their balance. And so one of the biggest things that we can do for these kids is help them through physiotherapy. So helping with their balance and their development and things like that. Obviously we have things like hearing aids and cochlear implant for hearing loss, which have just life changing. And now what we're trying to do at Sierra is come up with the same solutions for vision loss, trying to find some some treatments that could help people with these conditions.
00:05:37
S1: You talk about the balance. I mean, you just have to think about it a little bit. I mean, obviously in terms of falls and things that can happen from that, that is such a critical thing as well.
00:05:46
S4: Absolutely, absolutely. And I think quite often people don't realise how much balance affects so much of your development. So, you know, if you're a baby, learning, learning to walk is really hard. Learning to sit, learning to ride a bike. All of these become really, you know, challenging milestones. And I guess the flip side is, you know, ones that the families really celebrate when the kids do get there, which they can with that support.
00:06:09
S1: Is it the third thing that you're probably not in a position to kind of know how much that impacts on a child's balance, particularly, you know, early on in life because they maybe can't express it so well.
00:06:18
S4: Yeah, that's exactly right. And, and I think, um, this is kind of where genetic testing really helps people and families with usher syndrome, because historically, the parents often weren't really sure why the child was struggling to hit some of those milestones. Whereas now, if you know that this is the syndrome that that they're living with, uh, yeah. Like you said before, you can target the early interventions, you can get them the help they need to to be able to develop as they need to.
00:06:41
S1: Now it's a degenerative disease. So, you know, sad in a sense, the longer it goes the worse the symptoms get. Would that be fair?
00:06:49
S4: Yeah. Yeah. And again yeah there's there's all sorts of different subtypes of ushers. But um, often we do see that, that the, the um, particularly the vision loss, you know, is a form of retinitis pigmentosa. So most of our listeners will have heard of RPA before. Yeah. And so it very much follows that the sort of similar, um, changes that we see in RPA, what we are able to do is, is obviously monitor people over time to sort of see how that changes. And as I mentioned before, we're obviously then trying to find ways to intervene and and try and slow that down.
00:07:20
S1: One of the things I was going to ask you was that I've spoken to people with usher syndrome and their hearing and, um, sight deteriorates at different rates in different people. Is that part of the subtype kind of complications, if you like.
00:07:33
S4: That's exactly right. So there's all sorts of different genes that are affected and different subtypes. And interestingly, even people that have the same type of gene variant can can express in different ways. And so, you know, it, it's um, all of these inherited retinal diseases keep us guessing, that's for sure. There's no clear answer. If you have this, this is what you're going to experience. But if we know the subtype, we can give people a rough idea of, you know, the know, the potential times that they might experience some of these changes.
00:08:01
S1: I guess from a professional point of view, Lauren, that's part of the I was going to say the fun of it, but but the fact that, you know, even though two people might have the same sort of genetic makeup, the way that things go aren't necessarily the same, but I guess that's part of the quote unquote fun of it.
00:08:15
S4: Yeah, no, it's definitely, you know, a huge challenge for us. But but you're right. It's that thing of we often talk about inherited retinal diseases being very attractive for researchers because it's usually a single gene that is causing the condition. It means that we can look at things like gene therapy and different treatments. But I think, yeah, you're probably right. You know, it is that case that it's never going to be a one size fits all for everyone. And so it means that we have to be really clever in the way that we think about these conditions and the treatments that we're developing to try and help as many people as we can.
00:08:49
S1: And the sort of generic genetic therapy side of things that that's the biggest hope, I mean, in terms of lifestyle and stuff like that, we hear about the sort of differences that can make with things like macular degeneration and other conditions, but with an inherited retinal disease, you know that that lifestyle is obviously important for lifestyle, but maybe not for the disease itself.
00:09:10
S4: So there's a couple again. Again, um, you know, there's different subtypes of inherited retinal disease. So there's a few where you'll eat your diet. And the things that you do can make a difference. So one of the big ones is is a condition called Refsum disease. And with Refsum disease, um, you do need to watch the diet that you have and that can help to slow down the disease progression. But generally for a lot of inherited retinal diseases, the gene is the overpowering part of it, you know. So it's it's sort of unfortunately there's not much you can do for a lot of these erds, uh, we always recommend, you know, a healthy, balanced diet, lots of leafy green vegetables, things like that, protecting your eyes from the sun with sunglasses, those sort of common sense things. But you're right in terms of targeted therapies. We are looking more at can we actually change the gene that's causing the problem? And if we can't do that, is there other things that we can do to protect the retina? And so many of your listeners might have heard of a trial that was run by a company called an acuity recently, which was looking at an antioxidant, um, tablet that people were taking and that has been shown to slow down the progression of usher syndrome and the vision loss. Uh, but what we are really trying to do now is, you know, try and stop it in its tracks. And if we can change the genes or change the process that the genes develop into a protein, then hopefully we can try and, you know, make a bigger difference.
00:10:35
S1: And that's, I guess, a bit of a target of a number of different diseases, not just retinal diseases, indeed, not just eye diseases that kind of approach.
00:10:43
S4: Absolutely. And I think that's one of the really exciting things being in this field of research, actually, when we go to conferences, we're there with, you know, genetic testing and genetic engineering researchers from cancer fields and heart fields and all sorts of other researchers, too, because we're all trying to do the same thing in terms of, you know, correcting faults in our genetic information. And so we are, um, slightly challenged in usher syndrome because the gene for usher syndrome is quite large. So it means that we can't some of the simpler ways of doing, um, gene therapy we can't do for usher syndrome. And so we have to be a little bit more clever. And so that's where this international multidisciplinary collaboration is great because we learn from each other in ways to develop those other therapies.
00:11:29
S1: When you say large, you mean physically large.
00:11:31
S4: Yeah. So so the easiest way to do gene therapy is if you've got a problem with your genes, you can get a correct version of that gene and pop it into a virus, which we've injected into the eye. So it's very it sounds very science fictiony, but basically what it does is it pops it into the eye and then spreads that into the different cells in the retina to to restore or make their function better. The problem with the usher syndrome gene is it's too big, so we can't actually fit it inside a virus to do that. Oh, wow. Yeah. And so what we can do is we can do a few different clever things so we can cut the gene in half and then still use that way of getting into the eye. So still use the viruses. Or the other thing that we're doing a lot at Sierra is actually looking at whether you can edit the gene. So rather than just putting a whole new copy into the eye, can we change the genetic information that is already in the eye? So it's um, it is quite mind blowing to think about the different ways of, of doing these treatments. But I guess the take home message is that for usher syndrome, we do have to be a little bit more clever in the ways that we try and target those mutations, but we've got multiple streams of research happening in that space.
00:12:45
S1: That boggles the mind, because you hear about how small viruses are and, you know, to be picked up by microscopes, etc.. So if this is a large gene, we can't kind of fathom how small that large gene is. If I could put it that.
00:12:58
S4: Absolutely. Absolutely. That's fascinating. When you hear our incredibly smart lab colleagues talking about this, they talk about the ways that they can use enzymes to cut parts of the genes. And, and, you know, make it so that it works more effectively in the eye and the way they talk about it. It sounds almost like, you know, it scissors and paper and and then you sort of take a step back and go, this is. Yeah, absolutely. You know, Submicroscopic, these are such tiny scale changes. Um, and it's quite amazing that we can do them in, in, in living tissue.
00:13:31
S1: Maybe nanoscopic might be the word.
00:13:33
S4: Absolutely, absolutely.
00:13:35
S1: Now, I guess funding is so important for research, isn't it? Because these things, you know, if they come good, there's obviously potentially a lot of money for the country and for the organization asked that strikes that, uh, breakthrough. But to get there, we did a lot of funding.
00:13:50
S4: Absolutely, absolutely. And it's a huge challenge in the space of inherited retinal diseases because they are rare conditions. And so, you know, often when we're going for big national grants, uh, you know, we are competing against, you know, areas like cancer research and things, which, you know, obviously should get funding as well, but it does make it challenging for us. And so the way that we try and target that is obviously we apply for all of the competitive grants we can, but we also do call out to the community, um, at times and say, you know, if people are interested and would love to see this research accelerate. Um, we always are incredibly grateful when people are happy to donate as well to our cause.
00:14:29
S1: We'll put the details on our show, notes about your website, etc. and I guess World Sight Day. This is Usher's syndrome that we're or that you're targeting or talking mainly about, but world sight. That's a great day to kind of, um, you know, raise the awareness of of things like Usher's Ascher's syndrome and other inherited retinal diseases. Indeed, other eye conditions.
00:14:48
S4: Absolutely. And I always talk about, you know, this is kind of from me. It's World Sight month, right? We had we had World Retina Day the other day. There was World Usher Syndrome Awareness Day as well. So yeah, World Sight Day is is such an important day to us that work in this space. Um, and it's really a great day to, I guess, acknowledge how far we've all come, uh, in terms of awareness, where the research is, where the support is. And, um, yeah, we're just excited to see it continue to grow.
00:15:13
S1: And it's going to be really unfair of me to ask what about in terms of breakthrough? But but I guess every day there's a chance and, you know, the fact that these things are probably unpredictable again, makes it part of the excitement of working in this area.
00:15:24
S4: Yeah, absolutely. And I think what I really love as well is I love all the offshoots of our research. So, you know, our ultimate goal obviously, is, is to come up with treatments for these conditions. But we do a lot of research into, you know, how people can live most comfortably and happily with the conditions. you know, what are the supports we can give people? Low vision aids, all of those sorts of things as well. And so it is a really exciting and growing space of research. And so I guess for all the listeners know that there's a lot of people working to, to to do as much as we can for, for these conditions.
00:15:59
S1: Just as we are. And I know there's a couple of lovely individuals that are kind of highlighted in one of your newsletters that live with Usher's syndrome, a 15 year old and a 28 year old. And it's, you know, I guess it's those sort of messages that really get through because, you know, if there's someone in our family or in our circle of friends that is that kind of age, and we think, well, if it was them, what would we be thinking? It's a a great way to get that message across.
00:16:23
S4: Absolutely. And look, we're obviously so grateful for for them sharing their stories and for those, um, if people get a chance to have a look, there is a video on our website where it's who's the 15 year old? Um, I love what he says. He says, you know, we have usher syndrome, we have cochlear implants for the year. You know, let's let's fix the eye. Let's get on it. And I really I love that it's it's, um. It's so true. This is what we need to target next.
00:16:47
S1: Well, I hope one day we're talking about that Lauren. In real life.
00:16:50
S4: Me too. Me too.
00:16:52
S1: Hello. Great to catch up to all those at the center for our research. Keep up the tremendous work. We'll put details up with our show notes, and if people can find a few dollars to give, who knows? That could be the the thing that makes the next breakthrough happen. Uh, happy. Well, the happy well site month. And, uh, I look forward to the next time we speak so much. Peter, that's Professor Lauren Acton there. What a what an energetic and very positive person. Great to have Lauren on the program. That's Lauren Eaton who professor Lauren Nation am from the center for Eye Research talking about World Sight Day and in particular the research into usher syndrome. Yes. That's it. That's the music we love to hear. Which means that Rebecca Young is on the line. The CEO from Access to Arts Like you and the times. Rebecca, how are you?
00:17:39
S5: Great. Thanks. Peter. How are you?
00:17:41
S1: Going especially well now? You're right in the middle of your office. So a little bit of background noise, but that's good because it means things are very busy. And I can't believe I'm going to say this, but we're going to talk about the Christmas pageant.
00:17:52
S5: We are. It's that time of year already. The decorations are appearing in the shops and we are winding up for audio description for the pageant.
00:18:01
S1: All right. Now, this is quite a few years ago. Now I've lost count. I have to be honest.
00:18:05
S5: Yes, well, we obviously had a little gap during Covid, but we've been back for a few years now and yeah, really excited to be making sure that we are broadcasting our fantastic audio description of the pageant with you lovely folks at Vision Australia Radio.
00:18:24
S1: I know we love doing it, we love listening to it and we get wonderful feedback. So I guess really we can say back by popular demand.
00:18:31
S5: Yes, absolutely.
00:18:33
S1: Are you allowed to tell us who the audio describes are for this year.
00:18:36
S5: I am not able to tell you that right now, Peter. I guess Ruth is not in the office, and I'm not quite sure who's doing it. Okay.
00:18:42
S1: Rebecca who? The audio describers this year. Oh, you can't tell us. That's fair enough. All right. Well, I know one thing. Whoever they are, they'll be really, really good.
00:18:50
S5: They absolutely will be really, really good. All of our audio describers are really, really good. Um, and I know that there's always a, you know, a hot competition to get the Christmas pageant because it's such a fun one to do.
00:19:03
S1: Maybe I listen to that secret. Is it like we apply and then you choose, or how does that happen?
00:19:10
S5: Oh, look, we, um, always email our jobs out to the describers and, um, find out who's available. And they're all, you know, very busy people. And then we work out who's available and who's doing what other jobs around the place, and we try and make sure that we've got the best people for the jobs and that we everyone's getting to do some interesting work.
00:19:30
S1: Alright. Saturday the 8th of November. So we'll mention other other programs as it gets closer. But that's a great thing. And I know we've said this every year, but for those people who hear about audio description but don't actually hear it, this is a great way to hear it. You know, in the comfort of your own home. And also absolutely free.
00:19:48
S5: It's absolutely is. It's easy to access from home. Um, if you want to come along to the pageant and listen to the audio description, you can also access our, um, access to our community site, which is right in front of the MFS building where we describe. So that's fantastic because you can be up close to the floats as the describers are, um, describing them on the way past so you can hear all those bells jingling and hear Santa doing his ho ho ho.
00:20:16
S1: Yeah, that's a really great point you make about being close up, because, you know, there are a lot of people who have a visual impairment, aren't necessarily totally blind. And I often find, I'm sure you'd agree with this over the years that, you know, people who have got a little bit of sight tend to use it really, really well. And you almost don't know Neither I've got a vision impairment. Or you don't realize how much their vision is impaired, but they use it really well. So, you know, they get along to your spot for this year. They'll. They'll get a good view.
00:20:42
S5: Absolutely. They'll get a good view. Close up to the action. Um, if you have some sight, you'll be able to see the colors and movement, and it should match up to where the descriptions are in the parade. And then if you don't have any sight, you'll still get the smells and the sounds and all of the other great sensory input that will still match up with the description.
00:21:00
S1: Now we're about to argue with your location.
00:21:03
S5: It's in front of the MFS building on Wakefield Street.
00:21:06
S1: Okay, well, I think everyone knows where that is. Oh, that'd be tremendous. And as you say, you know, people get along. They can have the best of both girls in their ears. And also, it's great to get that sort of surround sound of the the stuff that's going on around you both sort of on the ride, but also the reaction of the people around you as well.
00:21:23
S5: Absolutely. It's lovely to, um, see how all the kids are reacting and, and listen to all of their, their that joy and all of the fun down there at the parade.
00:21:34
S1: Just had a sneak peak and the weather forecast is perfect.
00:21:37
S5: Oh fantastic.
00:21:38
S1: 30 a month away, but the weather forecast is perfect. So you can take that to the bank, right? And I hope I'm right. Um, but in all seriousness, it's a great thing. And do people need to book to come along to where access to arts will be located?
00:21:51
S5: Yes. They will need to book to come along to our community site.
00:21:54
S1: All right. Well, we'll give the details before we wrap up. So I guess, you know, is there quite a bit of room or a bit of a premium or spots are a bit of a premium?
00:22:04
S5: Look, we've got space for about 30 people okay.
00:22:06
S1: All right. Well the first 30 get in. And of course obviously again we've spoken about this sort of thing before. But if you're a parent who's got a child with a vision impairment or if you're a the other way around, that's a great way to kind of share in the day as well.
00:22:19
S5: Absolutely. It sure is.
00:22:21
S1: Now, uh, okay. So that's the 8th of November. Now you've got something happening. Uh, as far as the, um, Ozasia festival goes as well, haven't you?
00:22:30
S5: We do. We have two Ozasia festival offerings. The first one is our ever popular Moon Lantern Trail tour. Um, which is super fun. And that's on Sunday the 26th of October, um, at Pinky Flat. So, um, be able to go around and have a an intimate tour of all of those incredible lanterns that are part of the moon lantern trail. And the second one is an incredible show called milestone, which should be really interesting. And that one is audio described, and it's at the town hall on Friday the 31st of October.
00:23:04
S1: Okay, so a week or so before the pageant, and I think fair to say that the Ozasia festival has really grown as far as sort of impetus and relevance, uh, as time has gone on.
00:23:14
S5: It absolutely has. They always have some incredible shows. And, um, we're really excited to be involved in these two.
00:23:20
S1: Yeah. Have you got a kind of a special day coming up as well in October for access to us and kind of awareness.
00:23:26
S5: We might have a little special day coming up. Peter, we are really excited to be involved in the first inaugural Oz Art day, which is a giving day to the arts. So it's a day to, um, all of the art sector is encouraging people to make a donation to the arts companies that are important to us, to help us make more art and make more art accessible in our case. So yeah, really excited to be involved in, um, The Giving Day this year and really encourage people, if they have a little bit of money, they can spare everything that comes to access to arts for our arts for all. Giving day, um, will go into providing more artist support for disabled artists, so that means we'll get more artists getting their work on the ground.
00:24:13
S1: Which is fantastic. What about the genesis of this? Rebecca? How did all this idea sort of come about?
00:24:18
S5: The idea came about through, um, Creative Australia. Who are the the federal arts Body, and we've known about it for a little while. I've been talking to them about it for a little while. I'm giving days are quite popular in that it's a way that people can collectively sort of make a bit of noise and, and get a bit of attention, and they have generously supported us to create a few little materials. So there'll be a couple of excellent little audio described videos coming out. Um, to talk a bit about the importance of our work. And, um, you can hear directly from some of the artists that we work with.
00:24:52
S1: Rick. Is it, um, if you like, South Australian focused or should I say if I give money? It's based in South Australia because, I mean, without wanting to sound too, uh, state oriented, that's really important, isn't it?
00:25:02
S5: If you give to access to arts, Peter, it will come directly to access to arts. Okay. So, uh, Creative Australia are, um, running a big campaign for the awareness, but the donations actually go directly to the artists or the arts organisations that you choose to support.
00:25:18
S1: That's really, really important because as I say, you know, particularly the great work that you do. It's kind of great if people in South Australia benefit from it. I mean, I'm sure the other states do very well for themselves as well. And there's always kind of a, you know, a need for another dollar. But it's kind of good to know that if we do it here in South Australia, it it stays here. And you know, it goes to help our artists.
00:25:38
S5: Absolutely. You know, every every dollar through the campaign will definitely go directly into our artist support funds.
00:25:44
S1: Now you've got a date set aside for that.
00:25:46
S5: That is going to be in about two weeks.
00:25:52
S1: Of.
00:25:52
S5: October. It is on Thursday the 23rd of October. So if you're on our mailing list you will get some emails. So please feel free to click on the links and support. And we know that not everyone is in a position to, um, provide financial support. But if you can, um, share our campaign on social media, um, or just even send us an email and let us know how much you appreciate our work, we'd love to get all the love on that day.
00:26:20
S1: That's a great point you make about sharing on social media. I mean, most people are on Facebook or Instagram, etc. and even if you can't, you know, help out by physically donating money, if you just sort of spread the word. You never know who might pick up on it in your circle of followers that can contribute to it as well.
00:26:37
S5: Absolutely. And look, the secondary purpose for us for the day is for more people to know about what we do. So sharing is still very, very helpful.
00:26:45
S1: Terrific. Now I know we'll talk about this maybe next time. Although a bit of a heads up, there's a big audio describe show coming up by the State Theatre Company later on in November.
00:26:55
S5: Yes there is. There will be an excellent show. I believe it will be fantastic. Um, The Glass Menagerie, which is showing at the Odeon in November. So that will, um, round out our, uh, State Theatre shows for the year. Um, but can't wait. Uh, in the next couple of weeks to be sharing with you all the State Theatre shows for next year as well, and I can confidently say it's a very exciting program.
00:27:22
S1: That's the way you work, isn't it? Because you've got to be kind of working ahead. I mean, we say coming up in November, you think, oh yeah, they worked on it yesterday, but it doesn't quite work that way.
00:27:31
S5: No, no, it's definitely, um, sort of audio description for a theater program is normally ideally about a month long process.
00:27:40
S1: Okay. Well, what about for the getting back to the Christmas pageant? Uh, the the audio describers will get a bit of a preview, I guess, because we have a bit of a kick on television, etc., a bit of an unveiling of the floats and the new floats, etc. I guess they get a bit of a kind of heads up compared to the general public.
00:27:56
S5: Our describers will go down to pageant HQ and check out the floats before the day. So, uh, the pageant descriptions, great fun and quite on the fly because, you know, when you're describing live, things change. But they do have, um, I suppose, some cheat sheet notes that they've written about some of the key features of those gorgeous floats, so that we get all of the great detail.
00:28:21
S1: And it's a great thing also to be sitting at home and listening or being there and listening, and you get a lot of background information about stuff about South Australia and South Australian events, etc. that, you know, maybe you dozed off during school time and didn't hear about them or, uh, you know, stuff that you learn new that, uh, sort of comes to the fore in the meantime. So it's a great kind of educational thing as well as entertainment.
00:28:43
S5: It absolutely is. Look, I always think that audio description is such a gift because you have everything from, you know, incredible pre-show tours where you get to meet the actors first or walk around the stage and do sort of touch props and sets that you wouldn't normally get to do, to finding out some of those kind of details that you might miss when you're watching a show. If you're listening to the audio description, you know those tiny little details that are often really instrumental. You're told. So it's really, um, it's really a bit of a cheat sheet.
00:29:15
S1: Sometimes it's a good thing to be doing. So that's November the 8th, and I said, we'll talk about it more as the date gets closer. So put it into effect 2 or 3 hours aside and you'll be the better for it. Now, if people are doing a book to get to a spot at your, uh, location, uh, at, uh, the Christmas pageant, how can we do that?
00:29:33
S5: They can head to our website, which is Access to Arts with the number two. Um, and when you head to our events and Christmas pageant, there's a booking form there that you can pop your details down in.
00:29:47
S1: All right? And, uh, be mindful and keep an ear and eye out for October the 23rd as well. That Thursday, that, uh, big day of giving and, um. Yeah, I mean, it's nice that you said if people just want to acknowledge the fact that they appreciate what you do, that that'll make everyone in the office feel a little bit better, too.
00:30:02
S5: That always makes our day. We love feedback.
00:30:05
S1: Alright. You've made our day. You've made our evening. Thank you for spending some time with us. Uh, we'll catch up next month and, uh, Merry Christmas Fantastic.
00:30:13
S5: Thanks. Merry Christmas to.
00:30:15
S1: You, indeed. Rebecca Young there. Good fun there. Rebecca. As a CEO, there's a tremendous amount of work and always great to have Rebecca and her team to give us a few minutes each month to chat about what they're doing. You're listening to.
00:30:29
S6: Focal Point on Vision Australia Radio.
00:30:31
S1: On VA radio, digital.
00:30:33
S6: And online at VA radio.
00:30:35
S1: Hope you're enjoying the program. It's activating week, a very important week. Let's talk about a passion project that Charlie. Helen Robertson is actually celebrating one year since starting it. Charlie. Helen. Lovely to meet you. You're no stranger to radio, but first time we've spoken. So good to meet you. And thanks for coming on.
00:30:53
S5: Thank you so much for having me, Peter. It's a joy to be here.
00:30:57
S1: You're too kind. That's about this passion project. How and why did it come about?
00:31:01
S5: It's actually been something that's been happening for the last ten years since I turned 50. However, a year ago, I launched a thing called Gray Matter Studio and that is celebrating. People who are over the are typically deemed youthful age that the media wish to portray, and also workplaces wish to support. So over the last ten years, you know, we've seen a a lot of research and a lot of commentary about the tsunami wave of boomers hitting the marketplace and what people different people want to do with their life and all the rest of it. So with a colleague of mine at the University of South Australia, we started to look into this and what it actually meant to society and how we can ensure people as they age still live a rich, fulfilling life. And we realized that there was a very diverse cohort of voices that weren't always in line or in sync with societal norms that we see portrayed. For example, the person or the couple walking down the beach hand in hand. You know, because they've retired now is not typically what you find in the actual real world. And we wanted to look at what was in the real world. And there were a lot of over 70 year olds who we were talking to who didn't want to retire. They didn't want to downsize their life. They didn't want to sort of be swept under the carpet and made to feel old. They still feel very youthful, yet very young at heart, fully engaged with what they were doing. It just perhaps wasn't always, um, what we expected. And I guess it's a bit of a backlash. In conjunction with what was going on with our research, there was a global movement where, you know, celebrating age and ageism came out. Uh, there was one particular chap over in America that I was following, David Harry Stewart that started a magazine. It's online. It's a whole world now called The Egoist. And in that space, he was celebrating those people who were still in their 60s, 70s and 80s, who were still going to the gym, are still very vibrant in their working career, still very much beautiful in a traditional sense.
00:33:28
S1: Kelly, you make some great points. I mean, even just in the last week or so, we had Julie Andrews turning 90, still as vivacious as ever. And the very late and great Jane Goodall, 91, passed away, but still, you know, lecturing and speaking publicly a few weeks before passing away. So he's a wonderful example. I mean, I see the other day Warren Buffett is entering into a new business as far as investment goes. And he's 95. And, you know, without getting too political, people like Rupert Murdoch. So there's lots of examples out there, and I guess we've got to make more of them.
00:34:01
S5: It's interesting because over the last ten years there has been a change in the way that we see the people who are working longer, and there's almost been a backlash of, you know, how dare you tell me what I can do with my life? Um, and you know, Helen Mirren and Gillian Anderson, you know, these are recent faces on Paris runways where, you know, it started ten years ago, where it was very tokenism and there wasn't a lot out there. And when people did do it, it was like front page news, whereas now it's starting. It's not quite there yet, but it's starting to feel almost like the norm. You mentioned Warren Buffett and people like that still being in their 90s and working. And there was a backlash, but almost a societal, you know, like, oh, it's like yin and yang and black and white. You've got one cohort of people that say, I want to retire because my back hurts, and I've been doing too much stuff, you know, and then you've got the others who, you know, in the creativity space. For example, Creativity doesn't retire. You know it doesn't. It keeps going. It's like saying to you that you have to give up your radio station because you're over 50. You know, it's I don't know if you ever.
00:35:13
S1: That might happen one day, but just not yet.
00:35:15
S5: Yeah. And and why should it happen? Really, if you still loving it? Yeah.
00:35:20
S1: I mean, turning over 50.
00:35:21
S5: Oh, I was going to say I don't know what your age is, Peter, but, you know, it's some. If somebody said to you, you know, now that you're 50, you have to give up your radio station or, you know, like or your program. That would be an insult to you, wouldn't it? So, you know, it's it's that that we encounter when we turn 50. And I was walking into hair salons wanting my hair blow dried and they said, we can't have you leave, like looking like that. You've got gray hair. And it's like, why? Like it's a privilege to have gray hair. It's a privilege to age. And, um, you know, in the workplace, age is an asset because you can you've got a lot more wisdom. You've got a lot more experience under your belt. You can mentor. There's all sorts of reasons why it's good to have an older person in the workplace. And a lot of that stuff came out in our research. So, um, a year ago, I decided to culminate all that into an Instagram newsfeed and also a website where we share inspiring stories of people over 50 doing stuff they haven't slowed down. One of my favorite stories, um, that I've done in the past year is about a lady by the name of Maureen, and she is still an artist. She's in her 80s, and when she turned 70, she decided to set herself a challenge where every year she would do something new. And that was one of my first interviews. And when I heard that, I thought, that is such a great philosophy for life is to keep evolving, keep learning, keep doing stuff. You know, why do we stop just because we're told that, you know, you've reached a certain age or your retirement age now it's it's like a mandate that somebody else has dictated to us. And I don't like dictatorship.
00:37:07
S1: So I that's very true. And of course, the other thing is like, you've got to have a reason to get up in the morning and whatever it is, if it gets you out of bed, that's got to be a good thing. Yeah. Particularly as far as your mental health goes.
00:37:17
S5: Oh, absolutely. And it is a shame that as we get older, we do get lonelier. There's, you know, in your 30s you don't think about it, but in your 50s, all of a sudden people around you start getting sick or, you know, heart disease pops up in conversation a lot more than what it used to. And, you know, friends pass away. I had a friend, um, this week who unfortunately passed from cancer. And it's it's sad. It starts to happen a lot more frequently than what we like. And so when we do know that we have the ability to keep ourselves healthy and, you know, look forward to another 30 years, because, you know, why shouldn't I live till I'm 100? Yeah. So that's 40 years. You think about how much we do from 0 to 40 or 0 to 50. I've got to fit all that in from 50 to 100. That's my philosophy now is what else can I fit in?
00:38:12
S1: You talk about people in the art world or the creative world. I mean, a lot of people that are creative, you know, draw upon their lived experience. Well, if you've lived to 60, you've got more experiences than if you've only lived to 30.
00:38:23
S5: Absolutely.
00:38:24
S1: Do you work.
00:38:25
S5: With, think about or. Yes, all that material that you can work with and all the confidence that you bring with that? I must admit, though, when you get into menopausal years, which you wouldn't know about, the anxiety increases. And so there is a different layer that we're dealing with in that space. But at the end of the day, you do have a lot more worldliness about you, hopefully. And, you know, you're sort of bouncing from a different platform. Yeah, it's it's living and evolving.
00:38:55
S1: This is a lot of research in those areas. I mean, you talked about menopause and I didn't mean to laugh. That was an empathetic laugh. But, you know, there's a lot of research that goes on in that area that can make, you know, either going through menopause better or indeed, when you come out the other side, your quality of life is is still improving and you're still the, the wonderful person that you always were.
00:39:14
S5: That's right. Absolutely right. And I think workplaces when we first started talking workplaces just did not understand menopause at all. Whereas nowadays, you know, turning bright red because you're having a hot flush or needing a fan on your desk or whatever is far more acceptable than what it used to be. And that's a great sign of the times. It does mean that we are learning. Um, and over this past year, I think I've probably worked out that there is an element of ageism in a undereducated way, but when a person is made aware of it, they are far more accepting and far more open. And so you don't get quite the same ages attitude that we used to get.
00:39:58
S1: Well, it's also a bit of a cheap shot, isn't it? It's an easy target, if I can put it that way.
00:40:02
S5: Yeah. And, you know, the disability sector has been looking at this and suffering from this for decades. So it is a different spin on it. But, you know, I hate to be, um, you know, I'm healthy, able bodied white person, um, and relatively attractive, if I say so myself.
00:40:21
S1: Well, I couldn't agree more.
00:40:23
S5: Yeah. I've got a face for radio, but, you know. But at the end of the day, you know, you couple that with ageing as well and all, you know, like, where do these people go. What do they do? They just, you know, they've got that extra layer of disadvantage over the top of them. So that's something that certainly trying to change as well.
00:40:43
S1: Helen where do you get your material from. So is it stuff that people send to you or do you kind of have your antenna up all the time? How does that.
00:40:50
S6: Work?
00:40:50
S5: Well, so over the past year we have evolved and from the beginnings of me sending out messages and getting people to, you know, like allowing me to write their story. I now have seven contributors on the website who provide articles and write stories. Um, some of them are hilarious. I've got a grey nomad that goes traveling and writes stories from his caravan. I've got, uh, a lady who's still working, but very much opinionated in some particular ways in, in regards to language and and etiquette out in, you know, where's the etiquette gone type scenarios. And then I've just got the regular commentary, um, opinion makers. And it's a, it's a fun dynamic or space to curate and it's getting bigger. So I know there's more voices out there that would love to be heard. I love writing people's stories. I think that's an absolute privilege and honor, and that comes from my aged care background. Some of the people that I've interviewed over the years include over 100 year olds. There's one particular lady who was 103, and they are an absolute delight to interview and to listen to their stories and what they've gone through over the years. So the more of that bring it on, I say. If anybody would like to be interviewed, I'm very happy to do it.
00:42:10
S6: Well, how can.
00:42:11
S1: We find the information that you put out there? You've got a website.
00:42:14
S5: I have a website. It's grey Matter or grey matter dot studio. If you Google us, you'll find us. Or you can Google Charlie, Helen Robinson and all my platforms are there. We're on Instagram as Grey Matter studio. We're now on Substack, we're on SoundCloud. I have a playlist for Grey Matter.
00:42:34
S1: Excellent.
00:42:35
S5: Yeah, and.
00:42:37
S1: I love double entendres. Charlie, Helen and Grey matter. I mean, that's kind of that. Says it all.
00:42:42
S6: Doesn't it?
00:42:43
S5: It does.
00:42:44
S6: You know, it's.
00:42:44
S1: A brain, but it's also the hair and and yeah, the matter is very, very important that you know being being old you do matter. We do matter.
00:42:52
S5: We matter. Absolutely. And yes, it was a little bit of a double entendre. You picked that one up very well. Thank you.
00:42:59
S6: I love I love.
00:43:00
S1: Words like that Kelly. It's been fabulous catching up with me. I do look forward to turning 50. In the meantime, if people want to find out any more about what we've spoken about, we'll put these details up on our show notes. Just give us your website again, and people can go there and find out more. And they can always call us here at this radio station if they don't get access to it as well. So what's your website?
00:43:20
S5: So the website is Gray Matter Studio Life.com or Gray Matter Gallery. There's two different URLs for that one, Peter. But you can also get us via Instagram Gray Matter Studio. You can get us on Substack and also SoundCloud. We try to get on to lots of different platforms, um, to keep the story alive.
00:43:44
S1: Life. Charlie. Helen, keep up the passion.
00:43:46
S5: Thank you so much. Peter.
00:43:48
S1: Charlie. Helen Robertson, they're chatting about activating. This week is the week, but it's a message that is very, very relevant 365 days a year. Or some real concerns regarding the access taxi situation in South Australia. Let's chat about it with, uh, Jeremy Muir, who's the CEO for the Physical Disability Council. Jeremy, always good to catch up and thank you for your time.
00:44:11
S7: Hi, Peter. Great to be with you again.
00:44:13
S1: Now, there have been some changes in the last little while here in South Australia. You're a little bit concerned regarding, uh, the repercussions of these changes.
00:44:20
S7: Yeah. Look, we were we were concerned when we saw the, the policy changes around, um, how people with disabilities access or book access cabs in South Australia. And we just felt that perhaps the approach they, they have taken without seems to be without little or no consultation with, um, those that use access cabs. Um, we're just concerned about, you know, what those changes are.
00:44:48
S1: Now, many people may recall the situation. It was very public of a a young mother with a younger child, an 11 year old trying to get to a medical appointment. And they missed it because the access cab didn't turn up. I mean, I'm sure things like that happen regularly, but, uh, you feel it's a bit of an overreaction or a knee jerk reaction to one sort of public incident.
00:45:09
S7: Well, look, I mean, that incident for that family, you know, that that shouldn't happen, and it shouldn't happen in any state. And our concerns is they've made these changes without any further consultation. You're right. Those sorts of incidences occur. Unfortunately, they occur in every state because trying to get an access cab when you really need it is difficult. But I think the response the government has put in place is a little bit knee jerk. And um, as I said, they have seemed to have done so without without any consultation with other users.
00:45:43
S1: I think part of the issue, if you like Jerry, with due deference to the ministers, and we actually had him on the program to talk about it. One of the concerns that we had and people expressed to us was that a really good system, not perfect, but a good system. Up until then was that if I were to use an access cab, I know Jeremy, he's a good bloke, I trust him, I trust him with my kids. I trust him with my family members. I'll give him a call and arrange him to pick me up tomorrow at nine. That now is no longer available. Or if you do that, the Jeremy the driver misses out on his fee.
00:46:15
S7: Yeah, and we understand that. Like if you're having to use access cab, if that is your only way of transportation, the only means of transportation, then you want it to be safe. You want it to be reliable and you want to have consistency around that service. You know, as a person who uses access cabs and and if you rely on them, you know, you have the right to be able to access those vehicles and feel safe in doing so, just like anybody else who catches a cab. And remember, people who use mobility devices like wheelchairs and so on and so forth. Usually cabs are their only means of transportation. Don't have the option of using Uber. Sometimes other sorts of transportation can be difficult to use. Or, you know, they just don't fit your lifestyle. So if you're using access cabs, you want to make sure that you can do so equitably, safely, and reliably. Because, you know, our lives are just as important as everybody else's, and you shouldn't be at the mercy of a system that doesn't meet your needs.
00:47:20
S1: Another issue, Jeremy, is you're obviously very articulate. You kind of know what you want and what you don't want. You're able to express yourself. I mean, the way life goes. Not everyone is in that position. And that's also really, really important to bear in mind when you're maybe be even putting them at risk or as a family member, putting a vulnerable family member at risk are exactly.
00:47:42
S7: Imagine if a cab turned up. You had to put your family member or person that you support into a cab. You didn't know the driver. You were unsure about their, um, level of expertise, their level of knowledge of how to, you know best to work with people with disabilities and what that particular person's needs be. Um, it just creates a level of anxiety that's just completely unnecessary. But, you know, you're right. Particularly if you can't speak up for yourself and you can't make it knowing what you want. The other problem with also that is, even if you are a person that can articulate, there's a little bit of fear about speaking up and making yourself known because you think, what are the repercussions of that driver going to make this trip even more difficult for me? Are they not going to respond to my trips in the future? You know, so so there's that vulnerability and that power imbalance that always occurs in these situations. And again, it shouldn't, but it does.
00:48:36
S1: So you've, um, I know since the last time we spoke and certainly since the last time we spoke regarding the transport minister, South Australia, there's been a change of minister. Emily Bourke is now the minister. Uh, you've got some thoughts regarding some things that could be at least considered.
00:48:52
S7: Yeah. Look, we, um, we we would like them to, you know, investigate, you know, the impact of eliminating the direct driver bookings. As far as I'm aware, the numbers of people that use access cabs, you know, this is data that's available daily, weekly, monthly. So it should be quite easy to see what the impact has been of eliminating this. You know, we want to assess whether this change has led to any improvements in service quality for users. You know, we'd like to explore what alternate methods there are to expand and improve transport options for people with physical disabilities in South Australia. Undertake a review to improve the current experience of users of access cabs. You know. might consider conducting a co-design development process involving people with disabilities to use these services regularly and use their feedback to shape service improvements. Don't just as a government think, oh yeah, we've got cabs, that's good enough. How do we make this better for the users? And that's what it's all about, isn't it? The end user? Um, you know, and improve the knowledge base of of accessible taxi drivers and increase the safeguarding so members of community can feel confident in, um, in the driver's ability.
00:50:01
S1: That co-design work is so important. And we have some excellent advocates here in South Australia that could certainly represent the users of access cabs. Uh, really, really well.
00:50:10
S7: Yeah, definitely. And, you know, that's what you want. You want that local knowledge. You want those advocates that understand the system and they understand Adelaide and South Australia and can really add value to the to the whole process of, you know, of improving the quality of service.
00:50:26
S1: What about in terms of the drivers? Yeah, it's a two way equation if you like. We catch the cab. The drivers obviously got to earn a living and, you know, sort of do his day to day task. What about sort of, uh, consulting and taking their situation into account as well?
00:50:40
S7: Exactly. And if we're talking about, you know, what the impact has been of eliminating direct driver bookings, then let's talk to the taxi drivers. Let's talk to how it's impacted them and looks to talk to the drivers that perhaps felt they were impacted by that direct driver bookings. You know, there's a little bit of a lack of information of what the impacts been on both counts. And the reality is if there's enough cabs, you know, uh, to provide the service, um, then there should be enough work for all drivers. So let's talk to the drivers and see what you know their issues are with, with both systems direct driver and not.
00:51:17
S1: Think the minister made the point that, uh, you know, the problem was or the sort of peak hour, if you like, or peak time use for cabs was one of the issues that if everyone or if people were choosing their favorite driver and it was school run time or work time, then that might create a bit of an issue.
00:51:34
S7: And what I don't quite understand about that is if it's peak time and someone's booking a driver directly, then obviously they need that driver, so they're only booking them for that particular time. So what's the issue then in relation to what does the driver just sit around for three hours and wait for that person to finish their booking, or do they. They don't sit around the school all day and wait. So there's always going to be demands at peak time. So if drivers are missing out at peak time, what is the cause of that? Because you would think all drivers would be would have bookings at that peak time.
00:52:12
S1: I guess it's a bit like New Year's Eve or special occasions. Sometimes the wait is going to have to be longer, and I guess if you know that, that doesn't make it so good. Another really interesting point that you made, Jeremy. If people are uncomfortable about, you know, their personal support or their loved one. Uh, going, uh, in the cab that they might not know the driver very well, if particularly if it's a support worker, then that's time that comes out of, say, their NDIS package. If the support worker is travelling with the with the person on the NDIS.
00:52:42
S7: Exactly. And and if you're, if you're only using a support worker to come with you because you're unsure of the driver and you're unsure of the trip and you're unsure of your safety, and that's not necessarily appropriate use of your funds, isn't it? You want to use those funds when you really need them. Not because I don't know this driver. Maybe it's better if I have someone with me. Surely that's not what the government wants in relation to how people use their NDIS funding?
00:53:08
S1: Well, especially for last year. This time I didn't need that situation because I did trust Jeremy who was picking me up.
00:53:14
S7: Exactly. And then if I have to use that funding as a support worker while I'm using a cab, then I can't use it elsewhere, you know, and then you're having to compromise on how you use those funds. And, you know, we all know that the funds aren't, um, a bottomless pit of money that you get, you know, in your funding package. And you shouldn't have to compromise on how you use your NDIS funding. Um, because, ah, it's probably safe if I use it while catching a cab.
00:53:41
S1: Yeah. We also spoke to the shadow spokesperson for transport to Ben Hood, who acknowledged the these issues, and they were going to do some, um, I guess, you know, formulating policies because we have an election in March next year, which is not too far away. So we might see if they've come up with something because I guess, you know, even though the amount of people that use the cabs might not be huge, family members support workers, people they know could be. And uh, whilst not going to say it's going to it's going to turn an election, but it certainly could be something that at worst can be put into the public forum, which would be good for general awareness anyway.
00:54:15
S7: Yeah. And look, let's hope that the, um, the, the current opposition come up with some realistic and they, you know, they they talk to those that need answers and want a better scheme because this, you know, it it might not be a big issue for each individual, but it's certainly a big issue for, um, South Australians with disabilities and South Australians with disabilities have family members, have friends. And, you know, if they're aware of this issue, then that could influence their vote. And I think the other point that I'd really like to make is remembering that the number of people with disabilities that use access cards in Adelaide or South Australia, whatever that number is, we don't really know. But remembering again that we don't have the option to use Uber or other ride sharing facilities. So the demand for those services is certainly there. It's just how is it, um, better utilised.
00:55:08
S1: Or indeed public transport? One of the points that was made by the minister was that people could email or ring and say, look, I'd like Jeremy to pick me up. But again, that's okay for a lot of people, but not for everyone. Now, some people might not either have the ability to send an email or indeed choose to. I mean, that's that's again a personal right.
00:55:28
S7: Well, you shouldn't have to go jump through more hoops to get a cab, should you? You should be able to call, get a cab like everybody else and know that your journey is going to be safe and reliable. Why make people disabilities have to jump through more hoops just to get a cab, you know, and they're trying. We're just trying to meet our everyday needs and live our lives. Why make us jump through extra hoops to do that?
00:55:53
S1: Well, my next door neighbor who doesn't use access cabs doesn't have to do that.
00:55:56
S7: Exactly. And and do you know anybody without a disability that has to do that? Peter I don't.
00:56:02
S1: Know. No. So, Jeremy, you've put this media release out there. I guess you kind of wait and see what the response is to this new minister in the chair. Uh, an election coming up. You know, we stand by for maybe some responses.
00:56:13
S7: Yeah. Um, usually we get a response. We haven't yet, but I'm assuming that we will, Um, you know, we've we've had some little inroads in other states around different, uh, transport issues where we see responses. So, um, we look forward to hearing from the minister and the government shortly.
00:56:28
S1: There's nothing like an election to get people motivated, Jeremy. But on both sides of the, uh, voting slip, if I can put it that way. So we'll see what happens exactly.
00:56:37
S7: Peter, let's let's hope we get some positive outcomes with this.
00:56:39
S1: Thanks, Jeremy.
00:56:40
S7: Thank you Peter, much appreciate it.
00:56:42
S1: Jeremy, who's the CEO for the Physical Disability Council. If you've had some experience in this area, we'd love to hear from you. So get in touch and we will chase up the minister and the Shadow Minister. We'll at least put in a request and see where we go to from there. Our audio description of the week. Perfecto. It is coming up this Monday evening. 649 TV part of the SBS network Great Parks of Africa. Africa has a wonderful tapestry of habitats and hosts a variety of incredible creatures. Its natural beauty is amazing. This is all featured on this documentary writer G. This Monday Evening 640 SBS, NITV channel and it is great parks of Africa. Check it out. Certainly sounds fantastic. Kind of an Australian. Kind of an African version of Australian Geographic's that Vicky Cousins presents. So that is certainly worth a while. A bit of a check in some birthdays before we go. Vanessa Radford having a birthday down in Tassie. That young lady that made a bit of a scene. Uh, I say that very much tongue in cheek at the Stanford, uh, down at Brighton, uh, a few years ago when, uh, she won her a drink and I said, well, he's blind. He's sure he can handle a drink on your own. Anyway, happy birthday Vanessa. Well played then and well played now. Also, Sue Ellen Lovett, happy birthday. Tremendous Paralympian on the back of a horse doing wonderful things. So happy birthday to you, Sue Ellen and Craig Gordon having a birthday. What a champion a person. Craig is done some great work in the area of technology. Also a real whiz with cars and engines etc. so Craig, a very big happy birthday to you. That is it for the programme. Sam. Richard, thanks so much for your help. Pam. Thanks so much for your support. Reminding you that support is available wherever you get your favourite podcast. If you like the programme, please tell a friend. On behalf of Philip van der veer. This is Peter Greco saying be kind yourselves, be thoughtful and look out for others. All being well, focal point back at the same time. Next week on Vision Australia Radio and the Receiving Radio Network. This is focal point.
