00:00.
00:05Nick Parsons is now a senior lawyer at a Sydney law firm.
00:09He specialises in litigation.
00:12Nick is blind and uses a cane to navigate physical spaces
00:17and a screen reader for digital ones.
00:21But things haven't always worked smoothly.
00:25Nick's screen reader was incompatible with the computer systems
00:29at the government department he worked at a decade ago.
00:33It meant he needed help from others to file important documents.
00:37Six pages and then affidavit of the director.
00:41Nick was frustrated to have to rely on others to do his job.
00:45Just anywhere.
00:47Which he felt he was otherwise more than capable of.
00:50Like up there? Yeah.
00:52I felt like I was letting people down
00:54because I was unable to do fairly simple things.
00:58Nick then went to work at a small firm.
01:00But there were similar issues there.
01:02He learned to code,
01:04creating a new accessible file system for the whole organisation.
01:09At that point in my career, I was young.
01:12I was very enthusiastic.
01:14As I've gotten older, I don't want to spend my time doing that
01:18because my time's more valuably spent actually doing,
01:21you know, the legal work.
01:23Many people would see Nick's struggles as a result of his blindness.
01:27That's known as the medical model of disability
01:30where someone's barrier stems from a medical difference.
01:33But that's not how Nick felt.
01:35He says it was because of his environment.
01:37That's known as the social model of disability
01:41that says that people are disabled not by their impairments
01:44but by the world around them.
01:46We're thinking here about both kind of cultural factors
01:50like attitudes towards people with disabilities, discrimination,
01:55as well as physical kind of barriers like ramps,
01:59lack of ramps for people.
02:01Professor Anne Kavanagh says society has over-medicalised disability
02:06to the point where many people view those living with it
02:09as needing to be fixed.
02:11That sees someone with disabilities as inherently lesser, if you like,
02:16than someone who doesn't have a disability.
02:19The social model of disability is really important,
02:22has a lot of merit.
02:23However, it does not take away from the fact
02:26that people still experience that disability.
02:34A wheelchair user for more than 40 years,
02:36Jeremy Muir knows how much easier society is to navigate
02:40when it's been designed to include everyone.
02:43I live a very independent life, or I try to,
02:45and my independence is only restricted by my surroundings.
02:49Jeremy's home has been fitted out with various modifications,
02:54but just 50 metres beyond his front door,
02:57it's a different story.
02:59This kerb cut is non-compliant,
03:02which means I, in my manual wheelchair,
03:05could not safely navigate this kerb cut.
03:08This one also, you can see, has lots of mud and dirt in there,
03:11which also means that it would be impossible for me to get through
03:14even if it was compliant.
03:16I have to go down onto the road, along the road,
03:19and then try to access the footpath from a driveway further up.
03:23Jeremy used to work as a disability advisor,
03:26helping people access resources, common spaces and adjustments.
03:31Ironically, his team was moved to an old, inaccessible building.
03:36To go to the toilet, Jeremy had to wheel into a different building.
03:40It felt like they didn't want me to be part of the team.
03:44Jeremy is now the CEO of Physical Disability Australia.
03:49He's witnessed lots of change around accessibility
03:52over the last few decades, but wants to see more.
03:55Unfortunately, it still takes a willingness
03:58and it still takes the right attitude.
04:00I would like disability to be viewed
04:02as just simply part of the human condition,
04:05not a tragedy, not necessarily a superpower,
04:10just part of being human in the world.
04:13I would like to see more.
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