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[Guitar music]
I really like the notion of wellbeing,
and it's something that I really relate to.
I remember feeling for a long time, during my teenage years, very disconnected,
and I think a lot of that had to do with an enormous sense of frustration
at not being able to do what I wanted to do in the world.
Like, I knew I had a number of skills and abilities,
but because my environment, I guess, say, if we take an education environment,
often excluded me from participating to my fullest or proving my full ability.
It was easy to take that on as not being good enough.
I am the Program Advisor - Disability [laughs] within Community Services at Auckland City Council.
Essentially my role is to work across the council and across Auckland City
to try and create a city and a community where disabled people
are able to participate and contribute as full citizens.
When we think about disability
people often think about someone being deficient in some ways or having a deficit.
So for myself I am legally blind, I am partially blind, and I am that, you know, 24 hours of the day,
but I'm only disabled when my environment doesn't work for me.
Basically as you can see I have got a fairly large monitor [laughs]
And what it does is there's a program called ZoomText,
and that's the magnification, so you just sort of see a part of the screen at a time.
And what I also then have is a speech program which reads out
[screen reader program reading words very quickly]
And yes, I can understand that. [laughs]
But often other people can't.
I just have a few other simple bits and pieces, like a cellphone that also has a screenreader on it,
so I can send and receive texts but I listen to them,
and a phone with large font buttons.
And this here which is also kind of an interesting device
which if I receive a... say like a meeting agenda or an invitation
to a fabulous event that I simply must go to
I can put it under here and actually magnify it.
[reading] "See you around 4pm today"
As a council of course, a lot of our work is to do with infrastructure
and be that physical, social, cultural community infrastructure.
When we upgraded Queen Street, we had a really key role
in ensuring that the design of the footpaths and the kerb cuts
and the pedestrian crossings
considered the needs of disabled people.
For me, I think keeping a really rich, textured life
is enormously important.
And one of the wellbeings that I really like is the notion of giving.
There's a perception of disabled people being the recipients of charity
and the recipients of giving.
I think disabled people do give a lot
but sometimes it's not recognised.
Because perhaps it's a type of giving that perhaps
takes a different form, at times.
I think that's something through my job,
that notion of being "of service":
how do I serve my disabled peers
in terms of creating a more inclusive society?