Audio Ability feature 2024

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Music

Jason Velleley 00:08

You're listening to the Audio Ability project, special broadcast brought to you by the Community Media Training Organisation. Hi, I'm Jason Velleley. Today, we're showcasing the graduates of this year's Audio Ability project. Since 2021 the Audio Ability accessible training and mentoring project has empowered people with disabilities by providing essential radio broadcast skills and personalised mentorship in the community broadcasting sector, the program has been delivered to 64 people with disability in the last three years. Some of the outcomes of the project include participants securing sponsorship for their stations, producing promos or securing programming slots. Another outcome is the audio features made by each participant, which is what you'll be hearing today. 

First up we have David Jobling, who worked with his mentor, Jared McLaughlin at Radio Adelaide.

David Jobling 01:11

You well may have heard of Sir Ian McKellen, the actor - he played Magneto in the X Men movies and Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings films. But did you know he has a very extensive website that covers his whole career? I asked him to tell me about it. 

Your website. You've got a fantastic website. You answer people's questions where you can tell us about the website? 

Sir Ian McKellen 

Well, it began because I met a man who started who does websites, and did a very small one for me when I was performing in Los Angeles on stage, and it was a form of advertising it. And he suggested that I have a permanent website. I couldn't really see the point. And then I did that I could put all the stuff that I got in my cellar, that I was saving for what were clearly going to be non existent grandchildren to look at, and make it available to anyone who was interested. And it would also mean that I wouldn't have to write my autobiography, because everything I knew about myself professionally, I could, could be there for and could continue to expand and grow. 

And what happens is that I've now got down on the website everything I've ever done with every documentation that I possess, and I'm gradually writing notes on the each of the productions I've been in. So eventually there will be a full catalog of this particular actor's career for anyone who's interested. Well, once we started doing that, admirers of Lord of the Rings and of X Men and Shakespeare and so on, began to access it and write to me, and I found myself as a well brought up boy replying, and then these public replies became a public discourse. And so it's it's now turned into a website that the people who visited wanted to be as much as anything that I was doing originally. 

But it can take up an awful lot of time. And although there's a full time webmaster who designs it and spreads it all out in a congenial way, and whom I'm in regular contact with, I can get easily lost in spending too much time on it, because although it's very gratifying when you know the webmaster says, Well, we had 40 million hits last month, 40 million, you think, Well, I'm doing something right. But rather acting, than writing about acting or cataloging about acting, and I found 67 different lists that were Ian McKellen lists. They're not Gandalf lists or Magneto lists, but they're Ian McKellen lists where people people say they have this ongoing dialog on these lists, and they say things like, one of my favorites was he could play a toilet seat and I would love him. 

Well, I'd been sitting in reading that play or film. Would it be, I don't know, maybe a radio play, sound effects. Thank you so much for giving me some time, no pleasure.

David Jobling 04:33

You can take a look at sir Ian's website. The address is mckellen.com - M C, K, E, L, L, E, N dot com.

Jason Velleley 04:49

That was David Jobling. David is the host of The Artthrob at Radio Adelaide. Radio Adelaide and their amazing staff have been a great partner in this process, project... providing inclusive environment and opportunities to the Audio Ability students and many other people with disability in the community. 

Next up we have Azrielle De Vor, a multidisciplinary artist who was mentored by Danny Stewart. Azrielle interviewed performance artist and founder of Big Thick Energy, Demon Derriere.

Azrielle De Vor 05:26

Demon Derriere is a performance artist and founder of Big Thick Energy, a space curated to promote body positivity and liberation through movement, creativity and community. They're also hard of hearing. I met Demon when entering an artwork for an exhibition they held last year as a disabled artist myself, I was really interested in how demon disability has shaped their life and work as an artist,

Demon Derriere 05:57

I grew up hard of hearing, deaf in the left ear. And I remember when I think about me being a child and my deafness, I always remember forever being in this little box with toys and doing hearing tests and doing surgeries on my ear and things like that. And I remember that so vividly, and always doing those lovely hearing test where you press the button, beep, beep, beep, you move the toy if you hear a sound, etc. But in that time that I grew up in the 80s, 90s, schools, teachers, doctors, didn't have the resources to care for people like me, because it's either you're completely deaf or or you're hearing. There's almost no in between. Because, no, I haven't realised it's suspected. Yeah, absolutely. So they go, it's black or white. 

And so I remember growing up, always getting in trouble by my teacher, and like, always having, like, those parent teacher interviews where the teacher always say, Oh, she was a naughty child. She gets easily disrupted. She doesn't listen to me, so she disturbs everyone else. The reality, and the reality is I couldn't hear what was going on. So of course, I run them up because I'm like, Well, I can't hear so I'm just going to do my own thing. But no one realized that what I actually needed was assistance. I needed to sit at the front I needed to see mouths, especially back. Then teachers were always just looking at the blackboard. So I'm like, I can't hear anything. I couldn't hear enough. So I missed out a lot. 

I also then remember during primary school, I would be so bullied by kids because kids are not nice. They kids would always come up to me and whisper in my left ear and say mean things because I knew that I wouldn't hear it. And then I remember seeing all the other kids around me, like laughing, like haha. And I was like, What is going on? In the end, I figured out it's because they were teasing me. But that was like, consistent all throughout primary school and high school. I still didn't identify as deaf or hard of hearing. I hadn't heard the term hard of hearing. I'd only heard of deaf. 

And then probably year five, year six, I started to engage more with the deaf community, because I had other deaf friends, deaf, meaning completely deaf. And so I was exposed to folks who were deaf, hard of hearings again, still not knowing that term and experiencing Auslan for the first time. And then so that's when I got a I got a taste of the deaf community. I learned a little bit more, but it wasn't until my adulthood, was when I actually heard the term hard of hearing for the first time. And I think what made me pay more attention to it was about seven or eight years ago, I had another test, another hearing test as an adult, and so a specialist, and he advised me that I have Otosclerosis. 

Otosclerosis is a form of abnormal bone growth within the middle ear that causes progressive hearing loss, and now told me that my right ear is now affected, and that, like, rocked my world, like it shifted my world. I was like, What the hell is going on, Tommy? Like, we can do two surgeries, but it means no more dancing, no more XYZ, because your equilibrium, your balance, is completely messed up. And I didn't want to stop dancing, but I was like, I gotta find another way. And that's what I was like, Okay, let's officially learn more. Auslan, so I know your dad has a cochlear implant. I was wondering if you use hearing aids or have an implant yourself. I don't have a cochlea. 

I've had, like, I've done test runs with hearing aids, I actually have to try on the newborn hearing aids because of how small I know it's stop it. It's so cute, but because of how small my ears and the ear canal is adult sized, hearing aids like hurt me, and I just found them very uncomfortable. Cool. I tried the hearing aids, and I didn't enjoy them. I don't like the feeling. I don't like the sensation you get of like the air and the hair and things like that, and brushing past it, especially while I was dancing. And so probably the last five years of my life, I've just accepted the fact that I can't hear certain things. I can't move the same way. 

And especially, like, as a performer, I'm like, Oh, I'm gonna miss music cues, but I've accepted that now, whereas before, I used to get so beat up, I used to just come off stage crying, and I was like, What am I don't just quit? Like... Why do I perform? Like, should I just give up. And also, if you like, go back years ago, then I would never speak on a mic because I can't hear myself right, and I just get really paranoid. So I anytime everyone was like talking to Mike, I was like, No, thank you. That makes and I steered cleared for so long. I see clear of that for so long, and then probably maybe just the past two years, is when I started hosting and talking into a mic with confidence and realise I'm like, you know, I don't care if I don't hear. Your dad has a cochlear implant. 

Azrielle De Vor

Is deafness something that runs in your family? 

Demon Derriere

Yeah, doctors have said that, okay... you know, I come from wild Arab families, immigrants, they never, we're loud. We scream all the time. So we don't think, we don't think anything of it. We're just like, Oh, we're just loud. We're passionate. That's how we talk. It's actually because can't bloody hear a thing. But no one wants to get that checked out. But I've had a lot of doctors say it to me, and the same with my on my mum's side map up, Oh, he's doesn't have the best hearing either. But again, like that, would never say I'm deaf or I'm hard of hearing, or I need to do something about this, because, you know, walk too proud. 

Azrielle De Vor

Do you incorporate deafness into your performances in any way? 

Demon Derriere

I guess the more subtle ways of me incorporating my deafness in my performances is me not following the music, or is it also you following the base of the music. Oh, absolutely. Like, there's something. Every time, like, I do a show, I let the music tech know, like, high level, heavy bass, no fade in, no fade out. Like I need that bass. And you will see me all the time if I do a tech run, it's to see if I can feel the music, but also to establish where the speakers are, because I'm like, what area is going to help me if I need to follow the music, whereas now I've the way I create my art is the music. Is there just another element? Instead of me following it, it accompanies me. 

So I just look at it a different way. Feeling it is amazing though. You know, when you sit down and you just like, feel it in your chest or in your stomach, you just like, oh, just vibrates and takes over. It's such a great way to like activate a different sense. 

Azrielle De Vor

Do you think art by disabled and fat people is taken seriously by curators and event coordinators? Or do you think that we're used, much like the LGBTQIA plus community, to tick boxes for government funding? 

Demon Derriere

Yeah, we're used, absolutely. And the reason why I say that is because any funding that I have been given, or any opportunities that I have been given and requested to do something with Auslan or, you know, worked for an accessible organisation. When it came to me requesting access and assistance. It was done with great difficulty. Or, you know, a lot of producers will book me and say We specifically want this Auslan performance. Yet there's no Auslan interpreters at the event. And it's like, So you want me here and what, I'm supposed to bring my deaf fam, but they can't really get involved. You're not going to give them accessibility. That's... I'm a token. It's performative. 

All organisations, all producers and cast and crew, everyone needs accessibility training, like, if you're on board for a new production, accessible training, and that needs to be repeated, and budget needs to be put aside for access. But it's it's not being done. It's still performative. There's still a long way to go. They think that just hiring a deaf person or hiring a different type of disabled person is enough, but it's not enough. And then they have a cry. If they do book an Auslan interpreter, say, and I'm booked, and they have a cry and say, but there are no deaf people here. 

And it's like because you haven't engaged with the community doll, you don't know any deaf people. You haven't put your money where your mouth is. You haven't gone to their events or learnt from them or connected with them. So why would we come into your space when for so long, we haven't been welcomed? We're not just gonna come running by and get a ticket and watch the show, because all of a sudden, for this one show, you have an Auslan interpreter. Also notice that. Majority of a time that when productions do have an Auslan interpreter, say, if it's like a week or two week two week long production, they will always book, or they did for a while, book Auslan interpreters on the off peak dates. You know, it's the Sunday matinee, it's the Wednesday night. What about the Friday night? What about the Saturday night? 

I remember when I went to Lizzo, Lizzo concert, and I booked an accessible, accessible ticket. There was no Auslan interpreter, and kudos. Response was, oh, we had one yesterday, but not today. We have one yesterday, but not today. And if you have an issue with it, it's Lizzo fault. I was like, Don't tell me it's up to Lizzo with this huge team that she has. Don't tell me it's up to Lizzo to book the oz that interpreter for every show, and that was so unapologetic about it, on top of that they would try to speak to me whilst Lizzo was singing with loud music. It's like people have no awareness, accessibility, training and access needs to be embedded in everyone's programs, and it needs to be continuous. 

Jason Velleley 16:20

And thanks Azriel for this really interesting discussion about tokenism and accessibility needs of people with disability. Azriel and Danny Stewart worked together at the FBI Radio studios in Sydney to produce this interview. Danny is an audio producer, artist and academic who has mentored audio ability students since the very first round of the program you're listening to - the Audio Ability project special, brought to you by the CMTO across Australia on the Community Radio Network. 

Our next audio feature was produced by Mark Warren, with his mentor and interviewee, Paul Price.

Mark Warren 17:10

Welcome back. This is Mark Warren with the Afternoon Drive show - today I've got a special guest: Paul Price, from Reading Radio. Paul, welcome.

Paul Price 17:19

Thank you, Mark.

Mark Warren 17:20

Can you tell us a little bit about Reading Radio? 

Paul Price 17:23

Reading Radio was started in 1984, that was our first year on air. Before that, we had some planning, and we shared some air time with four MBs of about an hour a day where we would go in and do information radio services for listeners around Brisbane. We are part of a network of eight stations in Victoria, there are three stations across the Vision Australia radio network that are interstate. We have one in Adelaide, one in Perth, and we have a digital radio service only in Darwin. There is no analog radio service up in Darwin. In addition to the stations, we have a station in Sydney, 2RPH, a station in Canberra, 1RPH, and a station in Tasmania, 7RPH. 

These are all independent stations, as we are here at reading radio in Brisbane. There are also stations around the community radio network that do radio reading services, but they only concentrate on that for a certain amount of time each week. They're not full time.

Mark Warren 18:19

Can you tell me what anything a little bit about what you do at Reading Radio?

Paul Price 18:23

I work in the audio studio, and I put programs together, whether it be those that are done remotely - people send information in, and then we put them together as a program - or sometimes they will come into the studio and they will record their reading, and then after that, I will edit it, if need be, but put music on it as they're recording and package it into a program. We have three days a week production, and we've got three audio producers, all who are totally blind. 

Mark Warren 18:51

What are the different ways people record for you? 

Paul Price 18:55

We have one person who records from an iPad. We have other people who will record using various microphones, iPhones, etc. These people have varying skill levels. Some can edit their own programs. Others can't do anything, so we have to do full editing, put music on, etc. The ones who can edit their programs will generally put most of their music on, fix up all the mistakes, and we just go through and listen to the program to make sure they haven't missed anything. 

Mark Warren 19:20

Do you feel like you need a good ear to perform your role?

Paul Price 19:23

You certainly do with any audio recording. There's a number of ways of finding out what level you have for your audio that you are recording to the computer. One of these is the screen. It will tell you how many decibels your audio is at, minus five, minus 10, minus 15. The other is the mixer. It will have lights on it to indicate that you are under a certain decibel level. These are red and green. I believe we don't get that feedback when you have a vision impairment. So we have a system in the studio recorder program where it will beep at us if we go over the zero decibels. If that happens, we'll then stop the recording, rewind a little bit, and re. Do that particular part where it's either the presenter or the interviewer has said something a little bit loud, we'll get them to say it again and bring the level down a bit, if we have to. 

Mark Warren 20:10

Given there are a number of stations around Australia, do you share programs?

Paul Price 20:14

We certainly do. Mark we have a system called Mediapoint. We will upload programs that other stations have indicated that they want, and they will download from our media point system, or they will use Dropbox. We have one station that uses Dropbox because they don't have a Mediapoint feed yet, and they do the same thing for us. We'll look at what they have on their scheduling, and we will download the programs we want and run them at the times that are suitable to us.

Mark Warren 20:38

What is it about in the radio industry that you love?

Paul Price 20:41

I think it's twofold, Mark. I think there is the pleasure of producing radio for people who want to listen and providing a service of reading information for those who can't have it through any other means. And I think the other part of it is just doing something that I enjoy. I love coming in here and working and producing something that I know people will listen to and has quality to it. And it's all about the quality, it's all about the comradeship I get when I come in and work with other volunteers. I love that as well, and making a difference in the community by doing community radio. 

Mark Warren 21:16

Can you pinpoint any rewarding experiences you've had over your long career? 

Paul Price 21:20

Best experience I've had was when I was doing the Station Manager's job here at Reading Radio. I had to take over because our Station Manager left with three weeks notice, and the board hadn't got anyone else in mind. Hadn't even thought about who was going to do the job. So on the Thursday night before our Station Manager left, we had a board meeting, and they said, We've got no one. They didn't even say, Will you do it? They just said, You can do it and we'll put you in the position. And I jumped in and learnt a lot. And I learnt a lot through experience. I learnt a little bit through speaking to other station managers, and also the station manager who had left here, him and I were close friends, so he did help me quite a bit. 

But the rest of it was doing the job and working out when you failed, how to fix your mistakes. Not that I made that many, but there were a few. And I think that was probably the most rewarding time that I've had in the sector.

Mark Warren 22:10

If someone's listening to us today and they thinking about getting involved, what would they need to do? 

Paul Price 22:16

The way to get into it is to call up the station, [07] 3831 1296, or write in through email, contact@readingradio.org.au - you'll talk to our volunteer coordinator, Jo, or our station manager Chris. They will be able to guide you through the process of actually getting into doing your program. But it's always good to have a programming idea before you arrive. Once you get into the studio, the guys will then help you to get that program idea to a program that is ready to go to air.

Mark Warren 22:43

For anyone who wanting to tune into Reading Radio, how will they find you?

Paul Price 22:48

We can be found on 1296 on the AM dial. We can also be found on digital radio. Check your digital radios, we will come up as Reading Radio or Reading Rad. We're on iHeart Radio, Tune In radio, and we're on the community radio Plus app. But if you go to our website - www.readingradio.org.au - you can stream us directly from the website. 

Mark Warren 23:11

Thanks for joining us today, Paul, in the studio, it's been great having you. Is there anything you'd like to leave us with?

Paul Price 23:16

For anyone who wants to get into community radio, don't hesitate. It's a lot of fun. We all enjoy coming in and working at the station. If you're not sure, there's a lot of help as well. So people in the stations will help you. They'll train you up. They'll get you into the swing of things, whether it be a music show or a reading radio service, if you decide to come here, all I'd say is Do it!

Mark Warren 23:37

And that was Paul Price... I have been Mark Warren, your host. Thank you for listening today.

Jason Velleley 23:53

That was Mark Warren interviewing Paul Price at the 4RPH studios in Brisbane. Paul has been volunteering at four RPH since 1999 and has also been involved in the Audio Ability project as a mentor since the first iteration. 

Now we're going back to Adelaide to listen to the interview produced by Lachlan Miller, who worked with his mentor, Chloe Warwick at the Radio Adelaide studios. A quick note that this interview contains reference to topics like life threatening injury and hospitalisation.

Lachlan Miller 24:28

Hi, I'm Lachie Miller. I used to be a diesel mechanic who played rugby union and lived in Humpty Doo. On the 11th, october 2013 on the way from work, car in front of me towing a boat with a queen size mattress, insecurely tied down, the mattress flew off the back of the boat, and I hit that losing control of the car and crashing, left in a coma for 38 days, coming out with a broken back and a broken neck and a traumatic brain injury that changed my life forever through mentoring, supporting and helping others in [?seamless two oceans]. I've heard countless stories that have aided in my healing and growth. Now I want to share these stories of people's new normals. 

This is life to be. Hi. Welcome to life to be. I'm Lachi Miller. Today I have one of my good friends, Holly Scott, in - and she's going to share her life-to-be story and what her life looks like now. But before that, let's get to know Holly Scott. hey, Holly, how you doing there today? 

Holly Scott 25:29

Hi, Lachie, thanks for having me.

Lachlan Miller 25:30

I'm glad you could be in here today. I love to hear your story in that... but before that, let's get to know who you were and where you grew up and how your younger life looked like.

Holly Scott 25:42

I grew up in Adelaide Hills in Mount Barker, on a farm with my brother, my dad and my mom. So yeah, country girl at heart, I went to a private school. I my parents probably divorced around maybe 12 years old, which that was quite hard going through that at such a young age, realising, you know, my parents weren't together anymore. 

Lachlan Miller 26:12

It would have made life different for you. I can imagine going between two families, that kind of stuff. Imagine that could have been quite tricky for you and your schooling and that kind of stuff, and for your brother, he...

Holly Scott 26:20

It was definitely hard on my schooling. Actually.

Lachlan Miller 26:22

How'd you go with that? Do you have any strategies that helped you keep going through school at this tough time for you?

Holly Scott 26:26

I was just kind of struggling a little bit through through school with it.

Lachlan Miller 26:30

Yeah. Can imagine your brother would have been a huge help for you, bouncing off each other, to support each other, this tough time of life...

Holly Scott 26:36

Yeah, he's been there through it all the ups and the downs. He's the number one that's been there.

Lachlan Miller 26:42

I can imagine out in the... you said, Mount Barker kind of area, you got out in the countryside and ran around a little bit in your spare time. You get out in the country, do anything fun, enjoyable sports on that...?

Holly Scott 26:51

Oh yeah, loved playing basketball growing up. I've always been very sporty. I loved water skiing, growing up on the river with my family and my family shack in Murray Bridge, yeah, loved, loved water ski. I've loved water skiing my whole life.

Lachlan Miller 27:05

Sounds exciting, water skiing. I've never got out and done that myself, but I can imagine that'd be good. You said you ever do a barefoot water skiing or just on the paddles?

Holly Scott 27:12

My mum was an SA barefooting champion, so I've grown up watching her compete at tournaments and just train her whole life, my whole life, just watching her. I have it myself. I don't like it's, it's hard. It looks easy, but it's very hard to do. So more, so kneeboarding, getting on the tube, just being kids, really. And then, yeah, we'll... let her do the competitions.

Lachlan Miller 27:36

Super cool. Yeah, sounds like you had a good time out doing that kind of stuff. So you went through school, and then did you have any aspirations after school or through the last few years that you wanted to go and do with your future and your jobs, that kind of stuff? 

Holly Scott 27:48

I kind of went job-to-job. I didn't really know what I wanted to do. I didn't really have, you know, I did a bit of hairdressing for a little bit. I worked in retail. I didn't really know what I wanted to do. I just wanted to save as much money as I could just to travel the world at that point.

Lachlan Miller 28:03

Could have been cool, yeah, and you had a partner at the time as well, and I think he was from overseas at some point. So he had, like I said, an aspiration - travel the world with him, I imagine...

Holly Scott 28:12

Yeah, he was German. He's he was born in Australia, but yeah, he was German. Yeah, he went to travel the world as well. At that point. I've always wanted to, even without him, I've always had that drive to travel the world and explore new cultures. And, you know, not be in this little bubble of Mount Barker and Adelaide Hills. I knew there was so much more out there in the world that I wanted to see.

Lachlan Miller 28:39

Yeah, cool. That sounds amazing. And so you got an opportunity to get into pharmacy work. And through the pharmacies, you're doing a bit of job there, I heard.

Holly Scott 28:49

So probably when I turned, yeah, around 2122 I just started a full time pharmacy job. So it was my first proper full time job out of school. I loved it. I kind of just got it because it was a first full time job, though, in my head, I just wanted to save the money so I could go travel at that point. 

Lachlan Miller 29:10

Yeah, I can imagine there's a bit of good pay there as well, like travel and you get a job anywhere with the pharmacy work as well. I can imagine, too.

Holly Scott 29:17

Yeah, exactly.

Lachlan Miller 29:18

So then you we'll go forward a bit now, there's got to know a bit more there going forward in life. So you had a car crash, yeah? So you said you've worked this pharmacy job, and then you knocked off work, and then you're about to go home, and you want to tell us a bit about that day,

So you had a car crash, yeah? So you said you've worked this pharmacy job, and then you knocked off work, and then you're about to go home, and you want to tell us a bit about that day,

Holly Scott 29:36

Yeah, so it was going back a little bit now. So in 2017 - feels like yesterday, but feels like a while ago as well. In 2017, the second of July. I just finished work one night in in Norwood, just finished my pharmacy job. It was around six o'clock, it was dark, it was cold. It was, you know, in the middle of winter. I called my boyfriend at the time that I finished. Work that and I would be on my way to his. He reached that time, and I should have been there. He kept calling me a few times. I didn't answer. He kept waiting a little longer. He was just waiting for my car to pull into the driveway, but I never did it.

Lachlan Miller 30:15

I can imagine that uneasy nerve for him, like you're saying, knowing that you should be home half an hour's time, half an hour's been, where's Holly? And then, so what's the next thing that happened with it? 

Holly Scott 30:24

So I think he walked out to the lounge room and was talking to his parents, saying, you know, she's not here. Yeah, I don't know what to do. And I think they prompted, prompting him to go looking for me, like, Go, just go see if you can find her coming up the other way. He was still expecting a drive, meet, for me, to drive past the other way, like, nothing is wrong, but he found my car. I was a straight away from his house, around the corner. My car had hit a tree. I took the full impact on my side of the car door, hitting the tree. I was trapped in that car. When he found me, he ran up to my car. He turned his lights on just to, just to see my car, because it was, it was dark by then. Luckily it wasn't raining. 

I knew it was him, but, yeah, I couldn't move. I was trapped in that car. Couldn't speak. He tried getting the seat belt off me to get me out, to pull me out of the car, but I was that jammed in there the way I was. And luckily, it worked out that he actually couldn't get my seat my seat belt off me, because he took my if he took my seat belt off me, he would have done more damage for my internal bleeding through the injuries I had.

Lachlan Miller 31:30

So from the car crash hit the tree, and you're saying that would have been a lot of internal injuries in this but by taking you out the car, it could have worsened injuries. They had spinal injury or blood running. You could have made it worse and possibly [?Q] at the time. So a slight saviour to some degree, being left in that car, being crumpled in there, but I can imagine that being quite horrific for your partner to find out that, and then for you going through that as well. 

Holly Scott 31:58

So I never would have thought being that broken girl that I was in a hospital bed, I'd be going and sharing my story, but I've turned it into a massive passion. I found my strength. I found my voice. I've you know, I didn't know what I wanted to do before my accident, but I definitely know what I want to do now. I ended up working, joining up with SAPOL and The Advertiser, no wait, sorry. Before that, I joined the RAA for their road safety event at the Adelaide entertainment centre, that is in front of 8000 school students, and they asked me to to speak at it. From a girl that couldn't speak after a coma. It was quite scary for me to get up and talk to a massive crowd of people. 

I hated public speaking growing up, but this is something I was so passionate about. I couldn't I couldn't say no to this opportunity. So doing the street smart high event, i The police commissioner, and the police commissioner tracked me down, and he he called me and he wanted me to be a part of their next road safety campaign. They wanted to base this campaign on my accident, filming everyone that was involved in my accident, just showing and highlighting how many people it takes to save a life and the rehab around it. People hear about the fatalities on the road. You see the numbers of the seriously injured, but you think the people live or die in an accident, you don't see what that person goes for. You don't see how our life has changed and what we have to live with and do to recover. 

So when I woke up out of my coma and I saw the 22nd headline of my car crash just showing like 22 year old girl fighting for life after a serious car crash, that's it. You don't see anything about me after that. And that started a fire within me, to kind of kind of show that I'm not a couple-second headline, and either are any of these other people that are mentoring, that are also in this same situation. So yeah, we did the campaign, and that was quite triggering. It's quite daunting for my own personal story to go. So live nationally, it ended up going to the Daily Mail in the UK. So it went quite far in the end, wow, yeah. And then from there, I've, I've become the South Australian road safety ambassador for the police, and I work with MFS, the the fire fire service. So my whole life has turned into sharing my story. 

Lachlan Miller 34:24

Well, that's really cool, how you've turned this negative story that's really true, like, you know, turn your life around in a sense that you wouldn't even thought was something that could have even gone wrong in your life, a young... 20-year-old kind of thing. So great chance to get out and share with other people who are in similar positions at the time and just give them that awareness on the soul - and sounds like it's giving you good opportunities to turn this like say negative to positive, and travel around the countryside and been into the state a few times too, to Victoria, Northern Territory with this work too? 

Holly Scott 34:53

Yeah, I've gone to Melbourne a few times. I've gone to Darwin probably four times now. I've been in two roadsafety.com Entries, I live and breathe my accident now. I now work as an assistant nurse at the same brain injury ward I once was as a patient. Not many people can say that they know exactly what the patient is going through. Yeah, I my whole heart is in everything I do. I love being able to be there for the people that that need it. 

Lachlan Miller 35:23

That's really cool to hear that, like you're saying, have somebody on the wards there who's physically lived the experience. Rather than just read a book about what you're going through, you can say, I've been the exact same position as you, that can be really motivating for those people and really strong of yourself to get back to those places too, and where you literally were laying in a bed to try and murder people to get out of it. Wow. So is there anything else that you'd like to share about? Because you've recapped on how you've managed to get back into brand new community, helping out and road safety space, they're now even working in the brainery field. Are there any other cool things that you'd like to share with us about the future going forward with exciting Holly Scott, road safety?

Holly Scott 36:00

I have a lot I'm still working on and still wanting to do. I just signed my next, my third year for the South Australian police. I'm loving my the fire service. I have another trip coming up to Melbourne soon with the police up there in Mildura. I just got back from Darwin last week at the street smart event at that entertainment centre in Darwin. That'd be good to get out of winter for a few days. Oh, he was the best, because with my injuries, I suffer a lot in the cold, so it was really nice to leave. I'm finally travelling. I'm going on a massive holiday this year for three months with my partner now.

Lachlan Miller 36:39

So you have a partner now as well. 

Holly Scott

Hey, yes, I do. 

Lachlan Miller

That's another progression that's going on really happy. Because I know after brain it can be very hard to invest yourself into another person, outside of your own recovery, that kind of stuff, and then for the person to accept you as you are too, to go forward in the the differences you have in life. So how's that going with your partner, Nick

Holly Scott 36:58

Yeah, it's great. He's... beautiful. He's a beautiful soul. It was really funny when we first started talking, like my whole life is my accident. Now everybody knows that my life is my accident, so when we first started talking, it's easy to find that I had been in a serious car crash. And I think that was a bit of a... to know me without head injury. You know I wanted, I wanted... Nick to know me before he knows that. Because I think some people kind of labelise you and have this stigma on you. Sometimes it was great for me to be single for a while and find my own two feet not be this. Holly Scott, Road Safety Car Accident girl and brain injury girl. I needed to find me through that process. 

But now, you know, I'm just about to turn 29 actually, next week, it's I'm from being that broken girl at 22 I've come a long way. Yeah, I met the love of my life, and now we're going to go travel for three months. So yeah, I'm excited. Finally, after eight years from what I've been through, I finally get to do, yeah, that... big holiday. Wow.

Lachlan Miller 38:03

Thank you so much for sharing with us, first, Holly as well, through the all the ups and downs, through life and well and and to even hear that the beautiful progressions of where you are now and then, like saying, just come back from your beautiful holiday with your partner, and then also gonna go for another big, exciting holiday around the world. It sounds pretty cool and exciting. And I like to thank you for sharing all them with us there, Holly and yeah, I hope that it all goes forward well for you and that kind of stuff, and sharing these kind of things helps you, too. 

Holly Scott 38:30

Yeah,thank you, Lachie, thank you for having me today.

Lachlan Miller 38:32

Is there any way that people can keep up with Holly Scott, I suppose, and love to see the progression of your life story, because I've heard an amazing story. I'm sure everyone else said, listeners love to hear how it progresses. On here. Is there a way we can keep up?

Holly Scott 38:43

So I share my all my road safety things, what I do, I share my own personal struggles... I am quite open. I'm an open book. So on my social media, Holly Scott dot road safety... you can follow me on Instagram or Facebook. I'm on everything. I'm I've got Tiktok and all of that. So any other social...

Lachlan Miller 39:03

Yeah, that was Holly Scott dot road safety.

Holly Scott 39:07

Holly Scott dot road safety. Nice, awesome. Yeah, brilliant.

Lachlan Miller 39:11

Thank you so much, Holly, and I appreciate you for coming in here today and sharing your your soul and everything with us here. And it's very, very touching how much you share with you today, and I appreciate that, and hopefully you can help some of the listeners. Some of the listeners going forward. Yeah, all right, thank you. Thanks for tuning in.

Jason Velleley 39:32

That piece was produced by Lachlan Miller as part of his show Life to Be - where he gives a platform to people to tell their stories. You can listen to the rest of the interview on the CMTO website. You're listening to the Audio Ability special broadcast brought to you by the CMTO, the Community Media Training Organisation, and broadcast around Australia on the Community Radio Network. 

Our next graduate is Cameron Bradshaw, for... who has great skills and experience with public speaking.

Cameron Bradshaw 40:12

Hello. My name is Cameron Bradshaw. I am 28 years old. I am autistic, and I live in Adelaide. I'm going to tell you a story about an 18 year old girl called Bella and her search for finding a job. This is Bella's story. Bella is an 18 year old girl who lives with Down Syndrome and autism. Bella loves her family and friends, music, art, animals and basketball. Bella is very friendly, caring and has an amazing memory. Bella lives with her parents and two siblings, and has just finished year 12 at a very good mainstream school. 

Bella was very eager to increase her independence and wanted to look for work on her own. She started doing this by looking at newspaper clippings and job advertisements online. Bella attended two job interviews and she didn't get the jobs after being told she didn't get the job the second time, Bella was very sad, frustrated, discouraged and disheartened, and she didn't want to go to any more job interviews or search for jobs anymore, and she believed that she would never find a job. 

After about a month of Bella feeling upset and discouraged, Bella got in touch with a job agency that is really good for helping people with disabilities find employment. Bella found out about this job agency through a teacher from school. She keeps in touch with Bella agrees to give this a try, and she is connected with a lovely lady called Jenny. Bella begins to feel hopeful about the future again after meeting Jenny. Together, Jenny and Bella find a job at an arts and crafts store. Jenny helps Bella with writing her resume and cover letter on the day of Bella's job interview, Jenny goes with her and meets Sam, the manager. Sam speaks with Bella, and Jenny also tells Sam where Bella is really good at and where she might need some extra help. 

A week later, Bella is told that she got the job at the arts and crafts store, and she was so excited. Bella begins working every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Bella loves her new job and has made some new friends and met some amazing people who are diverse in culture and age. Bella also has catch up with her friends from work outside of work. Bella has days at work that she loves and days she would rather forget, but more good days Sam and Bella workmates have worked hard to accommodate Bella's needs and have made sure that the jobs she does go at a good pace for her. Every Wednesday, Jenny comes to visit Bella and talks to Bella and Sam to make sure everything is going well for Bella and to address any challenges she is facing. 

Bella is really excited about her future with the arts and crafts store. After seeing the amazing job Bella does at work, the arts and crafts store decides to enable job opportunities for more people with disabilities. Six months after Bella starts, the store hires a nice young man called Nicholas who has ADHD just like Bella, Nicholas also does an amazing job at the store where they accommodate to his needs. 

Now I'm going to share with you my story. Whilst I am a different person to Bella and I have faced different challenges in my life, her story is one that I can relate to. As I mentioned before, I am 28 years old, and I have autism, and I live in Adelaide. I love spending time with my family and friends, meeting new people, public speaking music, 10 pin bowling and going for walks. I attended colonelite Gardens primary school from 2001 to 2009 and cabra Dominican College, from 2010 to 2014 and I loved both schools. When I completed school, I joined a very good job agency who helped me secure my first job at Hungry Jack's Oakland's Park, where I worked from April 2015 to march 2016 and I worked at Hungry Jack's Everett Park from march 2016 to October 2022 I was with this job agency until 2021.

In 2022 I was really keen to start a new job and gain some new skills and knowledge. I contacted a different job agency that is really excellent. I was paired up with an amazing support person after being unsuccessful in my first two applications, I applied for a job at a garden and hardware store. My support person went with me to the job interview. The following week, I had two days of work experience... and two people from my job agency came to support me. A week later, I got the news that I got the job at the garden and hardware store. I started the job the following month, and my job agency did an outstanding job at helping me settle in. 

Once I had settled in, my support person has visited me once a week, my support person speaks to myself, my workmates and my manager, and together, they help me overcome any challenges I am facing at my job, I have met some really amazing people, and I have learned some valuable things from working in the garden and hardware store. I have more good days and challenging days at work, and I enjoy my job. I hope these stories encourage all people to never give up on looking for employment. If Bella and I can do it, then so can you.

Jason Velleley 46:00

Thanks to Cameron for that great story. Cameron was also mentored by Chloe Warwick at the studios of Radio Adelaide. Our final feature was produced by Sue McKenzie, who recorded a poetry show with her mentor Vivian Michaeli.

Sue Mackenzie 46:20

Yes, I hope you are feeling groovy this fine morning. I would like to thank Community Media Training Organisation and Vivian, my mentor, disability elders and advocacy Association, my support worker of genuine Support Services Australia, Murray Bridge, a special friend and NDIS for this opportunity to learn radio dedication. 

A thought to ponder... Beauty from the internet. Google faith, view, a matter of personal preference and cultural interpretation. So next time you criticise, point or laugh or stare, please don't and please be inclusive. Internal beauty can be far better and honest. So please don't judge a book by its cover. I dedicate this community radio program to my beautiful daughter and granddaughter, to my sisters, aunt, sister, auntie, uncles and cousins and also friends. To all people with disability. And on our day of celebration for International Day of disability, third of December, now I'd like to introduce my community radio mentor, Vivian, who is... radio presenter dedicated to this voluntary position for the last six years. Welcome to the program, Vivian. 

Vivian Michaelis 48:20

Well, thank you for having me, Susie, it's a pleasure to be here.

Sue Mackenzie 48:22

How did you begin in Community Radio? 

Vivian Michaelis 48:27

Well, I've always been an avid radio listener, and I love music, and I find that a lot of the music on the radio is the same old thing, and there's just so much great music in the world, I feel that people have to hear it or their lives are incomplete, so I thought I would play some of the more unusual and lesser-heard songs for people to enjoy.

Sue Mackenzie 48:52

Oh, for sure, to be true, we certainly need a change in variety in the music world, and there's so many new voices and instruments and pieces out there, it's wonderful, isn't it? Yes, what are some of the memorable highlights in your career of radio?

Vivian Michaelis 49:15

Well, playing the music is the most fun thing, but also, I'm involved with the port Noalonga Blues Festival, and I've been lucky to be able to interview some musicians and have them come and play in the studio, some very well known Adelaide musicians, such as Chris Finnen and the Bluescasters. And, yeah, lots of really good musicians have come in and played in the studio, which is a real privilege to have them there.

Sue Mackenzie 49:46

It is a privilege. Oh, how wonderful. What a life you have. And I've actually heard Chris Finnen a few times, very good. Yes. Okay, how would someone become involved in community radio?

Vivian Michaelis 50:03

Well, you first, you become a member of your local station. Hopefully you have a local station. They are scattered all around Australia. Become a member. Inquire about training. Most of them will offer free training if you'd like to be a presenter. And then what you need to do is come up with an idea for a program, a name or a theme or a genre, and fill out a programming application and present that to the programming committee for approval. Most likely they will approve it, unless, for some reason, maybe they already have a show like that, or maybe there's they might offer some suggestions or something, but they will certainly try to support you in making your show happen, and hopefully there'll be a slot available. 

They do prefer you to do live radio in the studio, but it is possible to do pre-records as well.

Sue Mackenzie 51:04

Oh, really. How terrific is that listeners. 

Vivian Michaelis 51:11

So if you're late... whoops, that was my fault.

Sue Mackenzie 51:15

Sometimes we have a little glitch or Oopsies. That's okay. What a great thing to be opportunity to be able to do so if you're thinking about trying radio out for yourself, come and join in and ask the questions. Thank you for joining us today, Vivian, you've been a delight. Would you like to recite some poems? 

Vivian Michaelis 51:44

Yes, I have one that is one of my favorites. It's called Jabberwocky. It's by Lewis Carroll, and it's from the book Alice in Wonderland.

Sue Mackenzie 51:56

Here we go,

Vivian Michaelis 51:58

Twas brillig and the slithy toves did gyre and gimble in the wabe 
All mimsy were the borogoves,and the mome wraths outgrabe.
Beware the Jabberwock, my son, the jaws that bite, the claws that catch
Beware the jubjub bird and shun the frumious Bandersnatch!

He took his vorpal sword in hand, longtime the manxome foe he sought
So rested he by the Tumtum tree and stood awhile in thought
And as in uffish thought he stood the Jabberwock with eyes of flame
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood and burbled as it came.

One-two, one-two, and through and through, the vorpal blade went snicker-snack
He left it dead, and with its head he went galumping back.
And hast thou slain the Jabberwock? Oh, come to my arms, my beamish boy!
Oh frabjous day, calloo callay, he chortled in his joy.

Twas brillig and the slithy toves did gyre and gimble in the wabe
All mimsy were the borogoves, and the mome wraths outgrabe.

Sue Mackenzie 53:22

Wasn't that a bit of fun, listeners, what a great poem, and Vivian introduced me to that one. So that was great, and that was Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll.

Jason Velleley 53:38

That was Sue McKenzie. Sue had no experience in broadcasting until she started her Audio Ability journey. Sue and Vivian had to overcome so many challenges together to produce this audio work - big shout out to them. You can listen to the rest of Sue's work on the CMTO website. 

You have been listening to the Audio Ability special feature, brought to you by the Community Media Training Organisation for the community radio network across Australia. The CMTO would like to extend our thanks to the Audio Ability project team, the participants, the mentors and all the stations involved. Thanks so much for listening. 

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