After a spinal injury at age 19, Katherine Reed has used a wheelchair and understands that even most difficult circumstances give unique perspective allowing us to lead and support others.
She played wheelchair basketball for several years at an elite level, with a group of women who taught her not only about the sport, but working as part of a team, many different types of disability and how to reset her own (and others) expectations of her different capabilities.
Since her basketball career, she has worked as a support worker, before taking time away from her career to raise a family. Throughout this time, she continued to contribute to the community, writing about her experiences as a mother with a spinal cord injury on her blog ParaParenting.
Throughout this time, she periodically visited local schools and community groups, speaking about her experiences and educating on the impacts of living with a disability. She has also been a peer mentor with both AQA Vic and ParaQuad Tasmania for many years.
She has returned to employment this year with ParaQuad Tasmania, as a physical disability sports officer in Northern Tasmania. This is alongside her work as a school’s speaker for Paralympics Australia and her role as a regional coach for the Australian Gliders (women’s wheelchair basketball).
ParaPregnancy: https://parapregnancy.blogspot.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paraparenting/ (not currently updated regularly).