LivedX
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About the LivedX papers
In September 2021, a group of young people with disability worked with CYDA to design a series of consultation sessions. In the sessions, young people with disability spoke about issues that are important to them. CYDA has developed a series of papers and recommendations based on those sessions.
Tertiary Education and Learning
“Always have captions on. Always have signage. Just assume we’re going to be there.”
Young people with disability talk about the ways TAFE and University could be more accessible. They describe how they have been excluded from many aspects of tertiary education and campus life. They also discuss what has worked well for them in tertiary education and learning.
Financial Security and Employment
“I was advised to choose a course that wouldn’t require a face-to-face interview as I was unlikely to get through the interview process as a person in a wheelchair.”
Young people with disability talk about their experiences with disability employment services, and the barriers to finding and keeping employment.
Healthcare Settings for LGBTQIA+ Youth
“When a service knows that you’re trans, they then are more likely to infantilise you, and not believe you can make your own decisions, and get your parents to play a larger role in decision making.”
LGBTQIA+ youth with disability discuss healthcare professionals being unaware of how to approach diverse gender identity, sexual orientation and disability, from both a cultural and a logistical perspective. They note the lack of lived experience in health care professionals and the need for ongoing professional development.
Community Spaces for LGBTQIA+ Youth
“I've noticed in a lot of queer spaces, when I say, ‘Oh, I'm autistic’, I'll get like ‘Oh, bless. My cousin's autistic. He's so cute.’”
LGBTIQA+ youth with disability talk about feeling marginalised because their disabled identity is not considered in queer spaces, and their queer identity is ignored or erased in disability spaces.
Many liked the idea of establishing spaces specifically for queer and disabled people. They also felt that people who identify as queer, disabled, and both, should be in more leadership positions, in and outside of these communities.
Inclusion and Decision Making
“Just because you're disabled you get talked to like you're five, even when I’m twenty-two.”
Young people with disability talk about the ways in which opportunities to make decisions are reduced or taken away from them. They speak about being infantilised or underestimated. They make suggestions on how to address bias and power imbalance while still providing support where needed.
About the LivedX talks
Five young people with disability spoke about their lived experiences in recordings shown at the 2020 National Youth Disability Summit. Watch the videos below 👇
These videos feature open captioning and Auslan. If you would like to watch the LivedX talks without these, there is a distraction free version on YouTube here.
Developing confidence in yourself and your abilities
Tim Lachlan shares his journey to building his confidence and abilities through learning WCMX (wheelchair skating!).
My travels with Autism
Tim Chan shares his story and experiences of education.
Kindness matters
Allycia Staples shares how kindness and creativity have guided her throughout life.
Veiled inequality: Deconstructing the ‘one size fits all’ approach in inclusive education
Poppy Mullins calls for genuinely inclusive education.
A disability introduction to transformative justice
Kochava Lillit gives a powerful speech on transformative justice and disability.
