During my very limited time in New Zealand (10 days, not nearly enough) I spoke to a number of people about investigating the deaths of learning disabled people and improving their access to healthcare. I asked all of them the same question ‘who should I be speaking with to find out about academic research in […]
I wanted to record some random thoughts generated through the exceptional Disability Matters Conference. You can visit the conference website here and see what was covered. I can honestly say its been a long time since I’ve been at such an eclectic and authentic conference. The three days brought together disabled people and self advocates, […]
So it’s Monday evening and I’ve not blogged since Friday so I’m going to do a quick post on my weekend as an aid memoire of the end of my time in Wellington. It was a busy week last week, split between Melbourne and Wellington, and I knew I only had one day in Wellington […]
Day 14 of my #WCMTLD trip and only Day 2 in New Zealand but it really feels like time is flying by. Today was a bit of a blur of meetings, walking to meetings and discussing how the deaths of intellectually disabled people are investigated in New Zealand. First up I met with Claire and Martyn […]
My first day in New Zealand today and it’s been great for setting the context. First up I met with Esther Woodbury from the Disabled Persons Assembly New Zealand followed by Cindy Johns from People First New Zealand (who I forgot to photo). Both disabled people’s organisations form part of the coalition of DPOs who […]
Today was a day of downtime, the meetings I’d hoped to pull off didn’t happen so I had some much needed nothingness before a flight to New Zealand. Last night I caught the tram down to St Kilda to see the fairy penguins, the most gorgeous sight. I didn’t even think I particularly liked penguins, […]
Day 11 #WCMTLD and it was an early start and a bus ride up to La Trobe’s Bundoora campus for a 9am coffee with Professor Chris Bigby. Chris is the Director of the Living with Disability Research Centre. A unit committed to not just conducting good quality research, but also to translating and applying that […]
Day 10 #WCMTLD today, feels like time is flying by. Today I visited the Office of the Disability Services Commissioner (ODSC) in Melbourne. I got to spend time with their Systemic Review Team, who are a very newly formed (still forming) team charged with looking into reviewable deaths. The Disability Act 2006 was amended in […]
I took the weekend off from blogging and just enjoyed taking in the rays, wandering the city (I flew down to Melbourne from Sydney on Saturday afternoon), people watching and musing on what I’d heard and thought from week one of #WCMTLD. I know I’ve already said it but I feel so totally and utterly […]
Last day of my first week in Australia, Day 7 of #WCMTLD. I had left my diary clear this morning which I was exceedingly grateful for, my head is buzzing with ideas and reflections and it was good to spend a couple hours in another cafe, Scout’s Honour with a stunning breakfast and some time […]