So, disability pride, I think, is about authenticity essentially. It’s about being authentic, being who you are and also really honouring that. I subscribe quite strongly to the social model of disability. I believe that my environment, whether it’s built or otherwise, disables me. I acknowledge that the social model of disability isn’t perfect, but I think it’s a really good place to start if we’re going to start talking about different policies, facilities, infrastructure, etcetera.
It's funny, I’ve always enjoyed big picture thinking, its just of the way that I naturally think. I enjoy looking at overarching policies and overarching trends and themes.
For my Master’s thesis I’m actually exploring community sport, but using it with the lens of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disability. It’s a UN instrument that Australia has ratified and it basically enables people with disability to have the autonomy, the social agency, the choice, and also full participation in the community in which they live.
The UNCRDP (United Nations Conventions on the Rights of People with Disability) has a whole host of articles, and I forget of the top of my head, 40 something, and one of them is devoted to participation in cultural life and within that is participation in sport… and within that again is whether that’s disability specific sport or it’s mainstream sport with your peers. So, where kind of exploring that as to how is that translated in mainstream community sport settings in Victoria. It’s interesting, we’re finding out a lot about what actually happens on the ground. Quite literally.
I’m actually really looking forward to my time on VDAC. I think they seem to be a fantastic group and I love the State Disability Plan and that also has a component on sport and recreation, but it also has some other really interesting components like tourism and public transport and all these other things that are part of everyday life for most people. So there is a section devoted to sport and recreation for people with disability in Victoria, so I’m interested in exploring that and also evaluating that down the track as to what the outcomes are and I know some of the targets are about infrastructure and funding and programming and of that, so I’m interested to pull that apart and see how the State Disability Plan is actually translated into community sport.
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