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Written by Andrew Fairbairn, PDA Director

Let’s talk about PERCEPTION.

I Work for an organization called Limbs 4 Life as a Project Coordinator.
One afternoon I was driving home from a meeting about 15 kms from my house. Most of that journey there are roadworks being done. It is normally an 80 km/h speed limit, but because of the roadworks, it was down to 40 km/h.

As I was cruising along at 40km/h, I happened to glance over and noticed new looking white Toyota Prado with a roof basket and side awning, you know, your usual 4wd set up, parked on the side of the road with another car in front. Not unusual you may say, and you would be correct, BUT, as I got closer, I noticed that said Prado, had some other, hidden additions. It had blue and red lights flashing in the front grille and also in the rear windows. It was an unmarked WA Police car. Now my perception of the vehicle had totally changed.

What you perceive is very much guided by how you think and can be defined by your recognition and interpretation of a sensory input. For an example, if at a set of traffic lights, you have a green light, you perceive, through your sense of sight, that it is ok for you to proceed.

What does it mean for those of us with physical disabilities? We may need to have additions made to the “normal” for us to be able to process that sensory input. Things like flashing lights, sounds, alarms etc. will assist hard of hearing and vision impaired people. For people with mobility issues, obvious things such as ramps and rails assist when we are navigating the community.

BUT………perception goes both ways. What able body people perceive good for us, doesn’t necessarily equate to what works for us. We, as a community of physically disabled people, need to be in the forefront of planners and designers’ thoughts and minds when they are building anything in the community. You can do this by getting involved in your Local Government Area Disability Action and Inclusion Group. You can have input through State and Federal Government Planning Groups, such as those that are put together when they build new sports stadiums, shopping centers and recreational facilities.

The more you go out in your community and exercise your right of place to that community, people’s perceptions will change, and they will see you as valued and important.

Lastly, don’t let other people’s perception of you, or our community, be the thing that stifles you. You are unique, and you bring to the table a wealth of perception and experience that only you can have.

We have some exciting things going on behind the scenes that we will reveal very soon, but in order to make the greatest impact we need your help and want you to be part of our journey.

Click on the link (pda.org.au/membership/) and fill in your details.

Couldn’t be easier…

…and you will go in to the draw to win a $50 Coles gift cards.

If you’re already a member and want to go in a members’ draw for a $50 Coles gift card, follow the same link and update your details.

We have 14 $50 Coles gift cards to give away – one per state/territory for new members and one per state/territory for existing members who update their information.

This campaign will run until close of business AEST on Friday 7th February 2020, with winners drawn at random as per the groups outlined above.

Winners will be contacted by PDA on Monday 10th February 2020 and announced on our Facebook and Instagram pages.

Sign up and together let’s make our voices louder.

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PDA is looking to hire someone with great connections to the disability community and experience in managing social media pages and publishing online content.

If you have a lived experience of disability and think you’re up to the challenge of publicising PDA’s self-management project, generating broad interest in self-management as a strategy for NDIS participants to manage their supports, and building PDA membership amongst Australians with physical disabilities using PDA’s social media channels, website and other online platforms available to you then we want to hear from you!

The job is part-time for 14 – 20 hours per fortnight in a work from home, use your own technology situation, and it pays between $34.05 and $36.64 per hour (SCHADS Modern Award level 4) fixed term to 30 June 2020.

For more information about the role and how to apply for it, please download the position description or call Simon Burchill, PDA Manager on 1800 732 674.

Applications close 5pm AEST Friday 30 August