Access with Tayla

This week, Tayla Taseff, disability content creator, returns to the program for a positive, interesting chat with Simon. We first heard from this dynamic advocate back in November 2024, and she made such an impact we had to have her in again and find out what she's been up to.

We discover that sharing important information about accessibility can be delivered with a smile, from a star. Tayla is not your typical 'influencer', but something much more. 

Active on social media and in person by attending an array of events and participating in different activities, Tayla dedicates a great deal of her time to trying to educate and inform people about the benefits of accessibility and inclusion. 

Tayla is diving into the Super Swim this February to raise vital funds for the Starlight Children's Foundation.

Did you know that every minute of every day, a child in Australia is admitted to hospital? For many of them, it's a scary and isolating experience – but with your support, we can help bring joy, laughter, and comfort to sick kids when they need it most.

Tayla will be swimming two kilometres to brighten the lives of children in hospital – and needs your help to reach her fundraising goal. Find out more and donate here.

Find Tayla on Instagram: 'accessibility_with_tayla - Tayla Taseff'.

Support Vision Australia Radio: https://www.visionaustralia.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

S1 (00:17):
Hello and welcome to In Plain Sight, a program where
we highlight people who are making a positive impact in
the community and disability sector.

S2 (00:25):
Shining a light on those who would be otherwise hidden
in plain sight.

S1 (00:29):
And it's a pleasure to bring you these stories on
a weekly basis with you here on Vision Australia Radio.
Hello Simon, how are you this week?

S2 (00:36):
I'm great Andrew, it's good to be here and it
is always a busy time of year. There's a lot
going on and there's a lot of really interesting community
events happening at this time of year, and lots of
interesting and important recognition dates happening at this time of year.
And I do like to acknowledge those special dates. And

(00:57):
the date where we recognise for the 10th of December
is International Day of Human Rights. Now, Andrew, this was
declared by the United Nations, and they've got a really
great explanation of what this day is and what it
means and what this year's theme is. Can you tell
us what that is for this year. Andrew.

S1 (01:14):
Sure. This actually comes from the United Nations website. The
theme of the Human Rights Day, International Day of Human Rights,
is to reaffirm the values of human rights and to
show that they remain a winning proposition for humanity. So yes,
that's the word straight off the. And what's this year's theme?

S2 (01:32):
It's something to do with everyday experiences or something, isn't it?

S1 (01:35):
Yeah. The overall theme is human rights, our Everyday essentials.

S2 (01:40):
And that ties in really neatly with our overall theme
here on this program, In Plain Sight, because I'm all
about advocacy in different forms, which enables people with or
without a disability to go through life with dignity and
their human rights respected, and to have their everyday experiences

(02:02):
valued and allowed for. And that's particularly important in the
world of disability accessibility and inclusion. And Andrew, what else
does the United Nations say about International Day of Human Rights.

S1 (02:17):
Well, the overall campaign is actually looking to just re-engage
people with human rights just by actually showing how they
shape our daily lives in ways that you don't always
necessarily notice. So there's a lot of things that might
be taken as an abstract idea, but it is actually
a human right, and they impact our lives every day.

S2 (02:39):
And something really worth considering that every human should have
the right to not only exist, but to live with
pride and dignity and to be respected. And that's what
we're all about here in this program.

S1 (02:53):
And just adding on to the idea of the you
might think human rights are an abstract idea. What exactly
is a human right? But you can think of it
in just even single words that that human rights are
actually they're positive, they're essential and they're attainable. So it's
not hard actually to, you know, to think of human
rights as is something that it's an easily attainable thing.

S2 (03:16):
It definitely is. So this program is all about the
International Day of Human Rights. Of course, human rights are
very important, and even more so for a person with
a disability. I'd like to acknowledge that last week it
was International Day of People with a disability, and I
was really pleased to see within my Facebook feed, at least,

(03:38):
so many great events that took place on this important
and interesting day that acknowledges and celebrates the great achievements
that people with disability have made, and some of the
things that we still need to accomplish as a person
with a disability. Myself, being visually impaired. It's wonderful that
there are so many different things happening to acknowledge this

(04:00):
date and try to accomplish further movement within a greater
rights for people with a disability, and in this case,
we are also talking about human rights. And it's a
natural human right for a person with a With disability
to be included within all aspects of life. We talk
about that within the interview with Taylor that's coming up,

(04:21):
and Taylor is really great at expressing herself and getting
past those barriers. And Taylor has a lot of little
videos that she puts on Instagram and TikTok and other
places that she calls access with Taylor, and it is
her demonstrating her human right to be able to access

(04:45):
physical spaces and go to places that she enjoys, including theater,
restaurants and other places and the beach and swimming pools.
So it's a it's a natural human right that everyone
should be included wherever they are. And I also like
to say to people listening, if you have any things

(05:07):
that you would like to contribute to the program, please
contact us on our email which is in plain sight
at Vision Australia. Org. Once again, our email at station
here for this program is in plain sight at Vision Australia.
And for whatever ideas or contributions or thoughts you might
have about this particular episode or anything else, please get

(05:31):
in touch. And that leads us really nicely into our
feature interview for today, which is with Taylor Tazieff, who
is a really strong and proud disability advocate, and as
she calls herself, a disability content creator. And she uses
that as a form of demonstrating that accessibility is an

(05:51):
essential human right and will lead into that interview for
you now. This week, we've got the wonderful Taylor Tazieff,
disability content creator and disability advocate, and it's wonderful to
invite Taylor into the studio to speak with us now. Hi, Taylor.

S3 (06:11):
Hello, everyone. I'm back. I'm back. Did you miss me?
Did you miss me? Of course you did.

S2 (06:17):
And if you haven't noticed by now, Taylor is a
very impressive woman who has lots of lots of energy
and does lots of one off things in the community
to advance the rights and abilities of people with a disability. Now,
just to refresh people, Taylor, you have cerebral palsy, which
you refer to as cool people syndrome. Is that right?

S3 (06:36):
Correct, correct. Because having a disability is cool.

S2 (06:41):
It is cool. And you're one of the coolest people
going around now. Taylor, how old are you currently?

S3 (06:46):
I'm currently. Last time I checked, I'm 26 years old.

S2 (06:50):
26. And you've been on this trail of helping other
people pretty much since you were a little kid?

S3 (06:56):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I've been, um, trying to improve my
my advocacy skills and ways that I can get my
message out there ever since I was little. So, yeah,
I've been doing as much as I could.

S2 (07:10):
Because you have an affiliation with telethon.

S3 (07:14):
I do. So I was the little television star, as
they call us these days. I was the little telephone
star in 2008. I have grown out, apparently, of my
adorable face. I still think I'm adorable. But. So I
just support television as much as I can. Um, I
go to the live broadcast every year. I do not

(07:38):
stay for the whole 26 hours because I need my bed.
But I support it as much as I can and
did lots of different things this year to support it.
So I'm very proud of being a part of the
telethon family.

S2 (07:53):
For those listening, telethon is a really highly established TV
fundraising event held here in Perth. I know most places
have some kind of telethon in their capital city. I
know in Melbourne they have the Good Friday appeal to
help children's hospitals and the like. And that's what the
telethon here in Perth is all about. It's raising much

(08:15):
needed funds for children's hospitals and other services. What other
things does telethon raise money for? Taylor?

S3 (08:21):
Do they raise money not just for the hospital, but
like for speech therapy services, for children, for, um, co-parent services,
which is part of the hospital. But they give like
parental advice and things like that. They basically help out
any organisation that is associated with children with disabilities. They

(08:46):
give them the money and the resources to be able
to provide high quality and most of the time, world
class services for kids with disabilities and their families.

S2 (08:58):
And you tell her you were telling me you raised
a considerable amount of money for telethon this year. How
much money did you raise?

S3 (09:04):
I did I did raise a considerable amount of money
of $4,300.

S2 (09:11):
Wow. That's fantastic.

S3 (09:13):
That was insane. And the overall total of $19 million
just like, baffles my mind. I had hopes that we
would break it, but considering like everything that's going on
in the world right now, I didn't honestly think we
would break it. But we did. And that's what makes

(09:33):
me really proud to be part of the white community
and the whole family, because it just shows regardless if
you if you donate $0.50 or $500, it still counts
towards the massive, amazing total that we always seem to break.
And it's fantastic.

S2 (09:51):
Considering West Australia's population of somewhere between 2 to 3
million people. It's a pretty amazing result for such a
small population.

S3 (10:01):
Absolutely.

S2 (10:02):
We do have some pretty big companies here in Western
Australia that make lots of money. I'm glad they put
some back into that. That type of fundraising. You're really
into fundraising now. I'll get you quickly to tell me
about this fundraising event that you've got coming up in February.
It's a swimathon, shall we say. Yeah.

S3 (10:21):
So I love being a fish and I love the water.
I'm still yet to grow my my mermaid tail and fins.
But we will work on that. We will work on that.
But yes, throughout the month of February I am participating
in the Starlight Super Swim, which is basically a challenge

(10:42):
for people throughout the month of February to swim as
much kilometres as they can to raise money for the
Starlight Children's Foundation, and the Starlight Children's Foundation has a
really special place in my heart because I knew them
through Pmh and now also PCH. I'm actually Captain Wheels,

(11:06):
a part of that Earth Captain crew, which is really good.
So every time I go up to the Starlight Express
room in the hospital. I put my cape on and
I'm known as Captain Wheels. So to be able to
bring smiles to the kids as a captain like they
did for me, is a really surreal experience.

S2 (11:28):
That's fabulous. Can you just briefly tell us what Starlight
does generally for the Starlight?

S3 (11:34):
Starlight is a remarkable organization. So Starlight, um, they do
like events, but also they have, um, captains and Starlight
Express rooms in all the major hospitals. And their job
is to bring smiles and joy to seriously ill children
and their families so they can go to the wards.

(11:57):
If the kids can't get to the rooms, they can, um,
FaceTime them on the TV. The kids can ring up
and say, hey, captain, can you do a handstand? Or
can you eat peanut butter and chocolate together? And they
they have to do it because it's the kids. So
they really, they really enjoy, um, making a fool of themselves.

(12:20):
And I also like making a fool of myself, but
I'm so glad to be part of the Starlite Crew.
It's really awesome.

S2 (12:27):
Just clarifying something. Is that linked at all with the
wish wishing thing?

S3 (12:31):
Make a wish? No.

S2 (12:32):
But they do.

S3 (12:33):
It's similar, but it's a different organization.

S2 (12:36):
Yeah, sure. If you're listening to the podcast, we will
have a link to, um, Taylor's fundraising page and also
to the Starlight Foundation's general page so that you can
help Taylor with her swimathon and donate money to her page,
but also go to the Starlight Foundation and find out
more about that. And please donate to that cause if

(12:58):
you can. Now, Taylor, you do lots and lots of things,
but I have been following you on social media. I'm
a boring old man. I just go on.

S3 (13:07):
No, you're not that old, Simon. You're not boring either.

S2 (13:11):
Thank you. Tyler. That's a great compliment on both fronts.

S3 (13:13):
Sorry I made you lose track. Sorry, guys.

S2 (13:16):
That's right, that's right. I'm only on Facebook mainly, but
I am on Instagram as well. Now you have an
Instagram page and I believe on other platforms as well
called accessibility with Tyler, what do you actually call it.

S3 (13:28):
So it's called accessibility with Tyler. Yes. Yeah. And I
originally just had a Instagram page, but now I also
have a TikTok because I was like, TikTok is the
cool way to go. Clearly, I want people to be
able to create the mindset of, hey, if Tyler can
do that, or if Tyler can go to this, this

(13:50):
place or this event or this venue, so can I
like it may take a little bit of a research
and adaptions, but I can also do what Taylor's doing.
So yeah, that's my aim of the page.

S2 (14:02):
And because we're on radio I should describe that. Tyler,
you are in quite a big wheelchair. A electric wheelchair
due to your cerebral palsy.

S3 (14:11):
Yes.

S2 (14:12):
And very limited physical movement.

S3 (14:14):
And I like to call it a power wheelchair, Simon.
Because it's not an electric wheelchair. We are not. We
are not dying. We're not in the electric chair. I
like to call it a power chair for future reference.

S2 (14:27):
Everything about you exudes power, Taylor. Um. And the power
in the most beautiful sense. And it's a wonderful thing.
I have some nerdy questions to ask you about.

S3 (14:37):
Some nerdy questions. I love nerdy questions.

S2 (14:40):
Because I love your little videos. Because, like a recent
one I saw on Instagram, you were going to this house?

S3 (14:47):
Yes.

S2 (14:47):
It looked like a display home for, uh, especially built
for people who have a disability. Yes. Now you're touring around.
So I'm assuming that your support worker or somebody is
filming it. How does it all take? How does it
all take shape?

S3 (15:00):
So? So my support worker or the person with me,
they film.

S2 (15:05):
Using a phone.

S3 (15:05):
Just using a phone. Yes. And then after we get
back from whatever we were doing, We look over the
footage and then I do the voiceover, and then they
also help me with the editing process. But I do
like all the talking and all the, I can need
you to film this film, this film, this. Yeah, I do,
I do all of that. They just do the physical

(15:27):
side of things.

S2 (15:28):
And then you put out those little short reels with
the captions in the middle of it, and.

S3 (15:33):
Yeah, and I tag all the, all the, um, businesses.
And so then hopefully they can promote it on the
page and get more exposure for the event and things
like that. So that's what I aim to do.

S2 (15:46):
What was your motivation to create that?

S3 (15:49):
Um, basically I wanted to be kind of like the
cool influencers you see on TikTok, but not as blonde
and as bimbo as most of them, um, frankly speaking.
So I wanted to be, like, engaging in a good
way for people. And I wanted not necessarily gain a

(16:12):
following because I'm not about getting followers or, you know,
popularity or things that, I mean, it's great. But my
aim is to just create awareness and let people know
that having a disability is not bad.

S1 (16:30):
You're listening to In Plain Sight on Vision Australia Radio
with Simon Cheng and me, Andrew Williams. Our guest this
week is disability content creator Taylor Tazieff, and now it's
back to Simon and Taylor.

S2 (16:44):
In your everyday experiences, do you still come across many
examples of poor accessibility or services that say they're inclusive
and welcoming, and you find that they're not?

S3 (16:58):
Yes.

S2 (16:58):
Without naming names, can you.

S3 (17:00):
Give.

S2 (17:00):
An example?

S3 (17:01):
So I went to a place the other day, and
I googled the business on Google to see if they're
accessible and they're like, yeah, we're like this. I got
there and there was a step to get it. And
I'm like, okay, I came here for food. But clearly
I can't go for food. So I have to go

(17:21):
somewhere else. But yes, I can't remember a specific example
besides that one, but yes.

S2 (17:26):
Do you sort of reenact that and show that? Well,
as accessibility with Tyler, you've also got to show the negatives.
You could film that without naming and shaming the business,
I guess.

S3 (17:37):
But I have had suggestions of that. But I also
don't want my page to become like negative. I in
the videos that I do, I do say, okay, this
was this wasn't good, but this was. But I haven't
done a negative.

S2 (17:55):
Um, okay.

S3 (17:56):
So accessibility review yet, but I do understand what you mean.
And I do try and describe if something needs improvement.
I do try and describe that in the caption when
I when I do put it out there on the platforms.

S2 (18:09):
I've talked about this before and particularly on this program,
a number of times when a service, a building or
a an event, if they can say what is accessible
and what's inclusive and what's not. For instance, if they say, oh,
we have accessibility features that will be accommodating to someone
in a wheelchair, and there might be 1 or 2 accessible,

(18:33):
suitable toilets, but the terrain might be a bit rough.
So be aware of that and make it fully known.

S3 (18:39):
Fully transparent. Yeah.

S2 (18:40):
Transparent. That's the word. Yeah. I'm interested in your view, Tyler,
about should accessibility be considered a special feature or should
it be a natural human right?

S3 (18:51):
Well, as much as I would like to be an
alien on wheels, I think that everyone with disabilities is
a human. So therefore, um, accessibility is a human. Right? So, yeah,
it's very important.

S2 (19:06):
It is very important. And too often it accessibility. and
I'll use the word inclusion is thought to be a
special feature.

S3 (19:15):
Yes. Because like people say, oh, we have, um, inclusion
sessions or like special sessions, which is great. I do
value that. Some places do have like sensory sessions and
different types of experiences with different types of people with disabilities,
but everything should be inclusive. In an ideal world, regardless

(19:39):
of what challenges a person may have like, yes, it
might take them longer to get there. Yes, it might
take them longer to actually go through and have the
whole experience. But it is also a human right to
be included. So very, very, very important to me.

S2 (19:56):
And what other kind of advocacy roles do you play
within your community? Taylor.

S3 (20:02):
Um, I am the ambassador for Children's Hospital Foundation and
Children's Hospital in general. I am a Starlight Captain, as
I just said before, and I always keep my eye
out for advocacy boards or different advocacy organizations that are

(20:25):
looking for individuals to join their advocacy organization, or even
if there is some, some organization which I haven't come
across yet, but I hope I do, which is looking
for the input of people with disabilities. I, I always
like send them an email and things like that to say, hey,
this is my story. Like if you want me to

(20:47):
get involved, I'm happy to. But in terms of different advocacy,
I actually came across this website last night actually, and
it's called, um, Accessible Beaches. Yep. And what you do
because I love the beach. I love, like seeing all
the lifeguards and good looking swimmer boys. But you did

(21:10):
not hear that from me. Um, but basically the, the
website you put your post code in and it says what, um,
beaches are accessible in your area and like what features
they have. So it says it has like an accessible bathroom,
a beach running beach wheelchair.

S2 (21:30):
I've seen similar ones. I follow a page on my
Facebook page that is called something like traveling with a wheelchair.

S3 (21:38):
Oh yeah, probably that one too.

S2 (21:39):
It's about, um, international travel and travel on planes and whatnot.
It's really interesting the interaction that people have on that
particular page. Yeah. And it's sort of, um, also all about, um,
peer support, you know. Yeah. We all, we all whilst
I don't have a physical disability, but I'm learning all
the time what is good practice, what can be acceptable

(22:03):
and what can't be acceptable.

S3 (22:05):
That's when I think that, um, social media is a
very powerful tool that can be used in advocacy to
the maximum extent. Because if you want to get your
your advocacy and if you want to get your voice heard,
then social media is the place to go because you
can just you can just do one post or one

(22:27):
video or one photo, um, saying what you want to say.
And then that can create a conversation which will lead
to like hopefully discussion and say, oh, I agree with this,
this should be included or this should be the way
of things going. So it increases the awareness and the
community participation on a certain topic, on disability or disability

(22:54):
in general.

S2 (22:54):
And I'm all about community participation here and harking back
to what I was just asking you before about your
community involvement in other areas. I would really, um, recommend
to people, if you want to get involved with something,
Give it a go. It's like what Taylor is representing here.
If you think you can try it, and if you

(23:16):
want to get in touch with Taylor, contact me here
at the studio. Our email address is in plain sight
at Vision Australia. It's in plain sight at Vision Australia
and I can highly recommend. There are a whole bunch
of organizations that are looking for people who have a
disability to help represent them on boards and other places

(23:40):
to further their goals. Like Taylor is a great example.
Give it a go and do. You don't have to
be as out there as Taylor and I, but you,
you can get your voice heard by participating in these
types of activities. Now, Taylor, unfortunately, our time has quickly

(24:00):
run out.

S3 (24:01):
Oh, no.

S4 (24:03):
Amen.

S2 (24:04):
What else would you like to tell everyone out there
about Taylor and what's going on for you at the moment.

S3 (24:11):
So every Thursday in Scarborough, um, is the Scarborough Sunset
Markets from 5 to 9. So they have like live
acoustic guitar people. They they used to have DJs but
this year they, they slowed it down a little bit.
And there's like food vendors, the most delicious German homemade pasta.

(24:35):
I highly recommend German homemade pasta is the way to go.

S2 (24:38):
So that's on the foreshore at Scarborough Beach.

S3 (24:41):
Uh, just in general Scarborough Beach area. They have like
over many, many, many, many food trucks. So from 5
to 9 every Thursday I go down there because I
love food. Yep. So I've already been down there for
the for the launch, but it's on from now until April,
so make sure you get down there, okay.

S2 (25:04):
And watch out for Taylor on TikTok and Instagram at
give us your Handle again on TikTok and Instagram.

S3 (25:11):
Accessibility. Underscore with underscore. Taylor.

S2 (25:15):
Okay. That's excellent. It's always a pleasure to talk with
you at any time, Taylor. And it's so much fun
having you in the studio. You're a ball of energy
and a delight to be with, and it's great. I
love your passion, your dedication and the really strong messages
that you put out. So thanks so much for being
in the studio with us here today and Vision Australia Radio.

S3 (25:34):
No worries. Thank you so much. Thanks guys for listening.

S2 (25:37):
You're a superstar. Really appreciate it. And thank you for listening.
We are winding up the year very quickly and leading
into the Christmas period, and I hope everyone has a
wonderful Christmas. We will be airing a few different programs
throughout the Christmas period, including some revisits of some really
impacting shows that took my attention throughout this year, and

(26:00):
a couple of other shows we've put together, especially for
the holiday season. Then in the new year, we are
looking forward to bringing some interesting programs to you that
I will try to develop throughout the next few weeks ahead.
And again, if you have any ideas or if you
have any people that you would like to bring to

(26:20):
my attention. Contact in plain Sight at Vision Australia, I'd
like to thank everyone that has supported us throughout the
time of being on the program, and I'd like to
wish everyone a great holiday Christmas season. And if you,
for whatever reason, find Christmas and the holiday season are
a bit challenging, a bit daunting, a bit isolating, or

(26:43):
whatever it might be, know that you're not alone and
please reach out to any kind of professional or service
that you think might be relevant. That might help, because
I know personally that it can be quite challenging, and
a lot of special event times can be challenging for
those of us that are alone, or those of us

(27:05):
that feel lonely or those who have different kind of
emotional or mental health struggles. So I hope you travel
okay through that period, and I hope you find a
way of connecting with others and doing something that brings
some kind of spark into your life. And thanks for
joining us once again on In Plain Sight and Vision

(27:25):
Australia Radio. Speak to you again very soon. Bye for now.

S1 (27:38):
That concludes in Plain Sight for this week. Join us
at the same time next week on Vision Australia Radio,
VA radio, digital and online at VA Radio.com. You can
also listen on demand by searching for In Plain Sight
by Vision Australia Radio. Wherever you get your podcasts, or
ask your smart device to play in Plain Sight by

(28:00):
Vision Australia Radio. Thanks for listening.

S5 (28:02):
Thank you.