Some of Our Parts

With a newly appointed Acting Disability Discrimination Commissioner, the Australian Human Rights Commission is seeking your views about:

• The key human rights issues facing people with disabilities;
• Priorities for improving employment outcomes for people with disabilities; and
• The most strategic way to focus the resources of the Commission to advance the rights of people with disabilities.

This survey closes on Friday 5 September 2014 and should take about 15 minutes to complete.

People who complete the survey will not be publicly identified. If you would like to understand how the Commission will deal with your responses to the survey please read the Commission’s Privacy Policy which can be found at http://www.humanrights.gov.au/privacy.

• Are you an elite athlete in your spare time?
• The Guide Dogs new clicker methods radically improve training methods for our furry friends.
• NDIS update – does this effect you?
• Calling all artists! The Lesley Hall Arts & Disability Scholarship applications open NEXT WEEK!
• Prue Hawkins on the diversity of disability.

HAPPY WEEKEND!

Is it almost spring? The sun is out, the air has a hint of wattle and slowly we’re starting to shed our winter layers.

• ‘An insulin pump doesn’t make you less beautiful‘
• Disability is not just a metaphor – Able-bodied actors can do research. But they can’t draw on direct experience.
• “Whatever the reason, I have found a greater acceptance of my disability by photographing it. … My life has become normal in its own way”
• Despicable memes and inspiration porn
• Weston-super-Mare takes on “reasonable physical adjustments”
• It’s magic! For students with cerebral palsy
• Want to hear some Strange Stories?
• An invitation to attend ArtWORK/Pathways info sessions

From our friends at the I CAN Network:

Dear Friends,

At the I CAN Network, we’re all about recognising and celebrating the many gifts that people on the Autism spectrum have to offer.

Our blog, Grapevine, offers a sampling of these ‘fruits of AWEtism’ in our I Can stories, as well as a look at what the network has been up to, what we have planned for the future, and how we can work with you to support people on the spectrum. You can also learn more via our video.

Our vineyards await; come and taste the rainbow!

Max
Grapevine Editor

UPCOMING I CAN NETWORK EVENTS

‘We Can’ Gathering:

A gathering for anyone wanting to help lead a rethink of Autism, away from ‘I Can’t’ to ‘I CAN’
When: Saturday 30 August, 2pm (for 2.15pm) – 4.30pm
Where: Vincent 2, 349 Lt Bourke St, Melbourne (contact 0432 405 384 if you need help with directions)
RSVP to hello@icannetwork.com.au
*Light refreshments provided
**Please note the program will be available closer to the date via our Facebook

Worlds of Work Program (WOW, presented by Foundation for Young Australians)

A week for Year 10 students with Asperger’s that will focus on making successful transitions to work and life beyond school through exploring topics such as personal development, capabilities and self-confidence in the workplace, work-life balance, etc.
When: Monday 15 September – Thursday 18 September
Where: Melbourne CBD
Contact hello@icannetwork.com.au for queries

The Vision Australia Further Education Bursary 2015 is now open for Applications

In 2015, Vision Australia will award Further Education Bursaries to a select number of students who are blind or have low vision. The Bursaries provide adaptive technology to help ensure that these students can fully participate and succeed in their chosen studies.

Eligibility Criteria

Students of any age can apply for a Vision Australia Further Education Bursary.

Applicants must:

• Be or become, a client of Vision Australia
• Be an Australian citizen or permanent resident
• Be living or moving to Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Queensland, the Northern Territory or Tasmania
• Be enrolling to study at an institution in Victoria, ACT, NSW, Queensland, the Northern Territory or Tasmania
• Be enrolling to study in at least Certificate IV or higher accredited courses including undergraduate and postgraduate degrees (not a Foundation or Enabling course) at the start of the year or be already enrolled in such a course (preference may be given to those in the early stages of a course).

Each year a Victorian Bursary recipient selected by our committee to have best met these criteria will also receive the Fairhall Memorial Scholarship of $150.

See the Vision Australia website for more information regarding the bursary and applications.

‘A Voice for People with Disabilities’ is a campaign aimed at giving people with disabilities a voice again following the closure of ABC’s Ramp Up. It was announced in the Federal government budget that funding for ABC’s disability news and opinion website, Ramp Up, was discontinued. Sadly, the ABC decided not to incorporate Ramp Up into their core operations. Therefore, Australia’s only legitimate media outlet for the Voices of people with disabilities has been axed.

This project will take action to give people with disabilities a voice again by creating a news and opinion website that will continue the important work of Ramp Up. It will also create employment opportunities for people with disabilities by paying for content and engaging people with disabilities in editorial and marketing roles.

See more on the A Voice for People with Disabilities campaign website.

Do you know a woman with a disability or a group of women with disabilities who have inspired you, or provided and enhanced opportunities for women with disabilities to participate in a safer and more inclusive community in some way?

Women with Disabilities Victoria is proud to offer the Brenda Gabe Leadership Award again this year. The award recognises and celebrates the contribution that women with disabilities make to improve the status of women with disabilities, with a secondary focus on their contribution to their local and/or wider community.

Eligibility:

• Individual women being nominated for this award must have a disability and be a resident of Victoria.
• Groups nominated for this award must have a majority membership of women with disabilities and be residents of Victoria.

Selection Criteria:

• The contribution the woman with a disability or group has made to improve the individual or group status of women with disabilities.
• Secondary selection criterion The contribution the woman with a disability or group has made to their local and/or the wider community.

Nominators are welcome to represent their nominees from last year. Their nominations will be viewed favourably.

We encourage women from diverse backgrounds and/or life experiences to be nominated.

The winner of the award receives $2000 toward a capacity building project or professional development.

Battle of the Brains is Employment and Career Development’s brand new showcase event for Semester 2, 2014. Not only will students have the opportunity to network with employers and build their employability, but as a team, have the opportunity to win up to $4000 in prize money!

It is a competition through which student teams will compete against one another in a set of two challenges designed to build employability skills, including innovation, problem solving, team work, communication and resilience. Top teams are invited to take part in the final assessment centre style battle attended by employers and followed by a networking hour.

Further details about the competition can be found online and on the Facebook competition page.

Leadership training helps to unlock your potential – enhancing your ability to have a positive influence on your peers and on the world. We seek participation from students who come from a diverse range of backgrounds, interests and courses, who wish to improve their community and their own leadership skills. If you are a first year student who has a vision for constructive change in society, then we encourage  you to apply.

Applications for positions in the Vice-Chancellor’s 2015 Ancora Imparo Student Leadership Program are now open and close on Monday 4th August 2014.

The Ancora Imparo Student Leadership Program kicks off with a three-day residential in mid-February 2015 followed by eight evening seminars spread over the academic year and a graduation ceremony in mid-October 2015. Commitment to each of these events is compulsory but other events such as attending lectures, forums and social events are optional. Best of all there are no exams or assignments to complete!

Visit our website to apply and to find out more about the Ancora Imparo Student Leadership Program.

See our profile of Shaz Sturk, Ancora Imparo alumni and Disability Services student on our website.

Hope everyone’s enjoying their (cold) holiday break! Here’s a little disability-related reading to read under while snuggling under your blankets.

• 4 Wheel City – rapping their way through rehab
• Solving the Beauty Equation – Wendy Crawford’s TEDx talk
• Nordstrom seems to be taking on Crawford’s message in their new campaign
• Thinking about travelling to New York one day? Wheely is a new app being developed to a provide a wheelchair accessible guide to the Big Apple

Happy Friday!