Sharon's Speech Transcript
Thank you very much for that introduction, and I feel very honoured to be here and have accepted this award today, and again I’d like to acknowledge the traditional owners of this land, and also distinguished guests today, and everyone who’s come along to support this really important time, 60 year anniversary, and our … (Inaudible) because I think that’s what we’re living and that’s why we’re here, and we’re supporting it, and that’s what we, in our very small way, in our program, discovering disability and diversity hopes to do, we’ve seen I guess, things … locally, like we’re sort of travelling more and more in our mobile disability … program.
And it’s more than just disability, we’re actually providing diversity and we start working with young children in schools and right across the board with their teachers, with the principals, and engaging whole school communities and whole communities to actually create and break down barriers by getting a whole lot of activities out, simulating a whole lot of different disabilities, putting people into wheelchairs, putting people … with vision problems, actually blindfolding them and getting them to try different white canes. Similar with the hidden disabilities, like autism and Asperger’s syndrome, and challenging them to be part of a classroom or part of a community.
We work with … organisations, with real doctors, and by having a walk in the shoes, we encourage people to create change. And I’m saying we in a lot of these things, because my work would not be able to be done without … (Inaudible) amongst the … and sitting down at tables there with my dad as well, and Michael and I actually developed this program and my sister put a nomination in, quite surprisingly, and I really thank her for doing that as well, because I think the more that we find out about and learn about disability and difference, the more we break down the barriers, the more we can create inclusion, the more we can live inclusion, because I think a lot of times fear, fear of the unknown, is fear of what or how someone might react, and if we break those things down - and I always encourage, the workshops today, we actually do the biggest thing – so, think like young kids, because young kids are never fearful of what they should ask or how they should ask it, they just come out and ask it. And I have some of the most amazing questions asked of me. And I know that often the older people in the room often flinch – ooh, how are they, how is she going to respond to that, what should we say – and I say let them ask it, and if you don’t answer it, they just get louder. And I think that’s what we’ve got to do, let them ask those questions, break down the barriers and live social justice, and live inclusion, and I think that’s what human rights are about. Thank you so much.