August 27, 2025 • 28 mins
Lizzie Eastham and Sam Rickard present Studio 1 - Vision Australia Radio’s weekly look at life from a low vision and blind point of view.
On this week’s show
“Camp Abilities Part 1”
In the first of a two part special, Lizzie talks to Lily Piccolo, an old friend of the show, about her many adventures and her experience as a coach at Camp Abilities in the US.
Sam also talks about a quick jaunt to Melbourne and opting for priority boarding on the flight there and back again, instead of simply going onto the plane with everyone else.
Studio 1 welcomes any input from our listeners. If you have any experience or thoughts about issues covered in this episode or believe there is something we should be talking about.
EMAIL: studio1@visionaustralia.org or leave comment on the station’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/VARadioNetwork
A special thank you to Lilly Piccolo for agreeing to talk to us.
Camp Abilities: https://www.campabilities.org/
This program was made possible with support from the Community Broadcasting Foundation. Find out more at https://cbf.org.au/
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
S1 (00:14):
This is Studio One with Sam Rickard and Lizzie Eastham
on Vision Australia Radio.
S2 (00:25):
Hello, I'm Sam and I'm Lizzie and this is Studio One,
your weekly look at life from a low vision and
blind point of view. Here on Vision Australia Radio.
S3 (00:32):
This week we chat with Lily piccolo, an old friend
of the show, about her many adventures and her experience
as a coach at camp Abilities in the US.
S2 (00:41):
This is a two part special, so please stay tuned
at the end of the show for more details.
S3 (00:47):
As we always say at this point, please do get
in touch with the show. Whether you have experience of
any of the issues covered on this week's episode of
Studio One, or if you think there's something we should
be talking about. You never know. Your story and insight
may help someone who's dealing with something similar.
S2 (01:03):
You can contact us via Email Studio one at org.
That's studio number one at Vision Australia.
S3 (01:08):
Org or of course, you can drop us a note
on the station's Facebook page by going to facebook.com. slash
radio network. Well good morning Sam. Oh, maybe I shouldn't
say good morning.
S2 (01:20):
Yes, well, at the time of recording, it is the morning.
But this is the the magic of radio. Dear listener.
So a fun good afternoon to our listeners in most
parts of Australia and a good evening to anyone in
Darwin and Adelaide. Yes, we're sort of several places at
the same time.
S4 (01:38):
So we can time travel.
S2 (01:40):
Exactly, exactly. So I've had a rather relaxing, well, sort
of relaxing time in Melbourne. Um, just got back from that, um,
just yesterday and we did something also that we don't
usually do when we're traveling, and that is we use
priority boarding on the planes in both direction. We hardly
(02:02):
ever do that. We go on with the rest of
the plebs. But this time around, no, we took advantage
of the, um, announcement that if anyone needs assistance, uh,
boarding the plane, please come forward now. We came forward
now and I'm a convert. We'll be doing that from
now on.
S3 (02:17):
Good. Yes. I must admit, it is very handy. Uh, very,
very handy indeed. And it just means that you are
already seated when the hustle and bustle and fight for
overhead space happens. So. Yeah. I'm glad that you are
finally converted. Sam. Welcome to the choir, as it were.
S2 (02:34):
Well, usually what happens because we usually book tickets close
to the back of the plane, and there's not really
a problem following other people that might be doing the
same thing. So we just follow the crowd and get
on the back of the plane. But you usually find
there's that one person who hasn't listened to the announcement,
and they're coming in the opposite direction. And because they're
(02:58):
special and we're not, we have to move aside to
allow them to get past us. And then there's this
inevitable thing where someone's settled down in, because usually we book, um,
a window seat in a middle seat. There's somebody settled
down in the aisle seat, completely comfortable seat belts on,
who are utterly surprised when it turns out that the
(03:21):
two empty seats next to them aren't empty after all,
and that people actually want to go through and sit there.
So this time around, no, we did not have to
worry about that.
S3 (03:30):
Oh, the plane's fully booked. Shock, horror. We are getting
completely sidetracked here. This week's episode covers what I think
is a really interesting camp in the US called Camp Abilities.
And this one takes place in Rockport, New York. Now
we are chatting to Lily this week and Lily's been
(03:51):
on the show several times. She's talked about her journey
on the Camino in Spain, and of course she was
part of our tandem cycling episode. But one thing that
stood out, you know, in the interview to me, Sam,
I wanted to just touch upon, is the long lasting
friendships that come out of participating and being involved in sport. Because,
(04:13):
as you will learn in a minute, Camp abilities is
an educational sports camp. So I was thinking, Sam, are
you still friends with the people that you participated in
sport with?
S2 (04:22):
Indeed I am, yes. Um, we've got, uh, mainly through
the medium of Facebook, of course, but, uh, people like, uh,
Jodi Willis and, uh, uh, Shane Allen, uh, just to
name a few. And, uh, yes, uh, you've met a
few of my friends that have I met through sport, uh,
as well, in South Australia here. I mean, uh, I
(04:43):
would not have known these people had it not been
for Australian Blind Sports Federation nationals. And the wonders of
modern social media mean that, yes, you can keep in
touch with these people when they're scattered all across the
country or even indeed across other parts of the world,
as yes, I'm still friends with a couple of, uh,
people that I met overseas as well, and, um, still
(05:06):
keep regular updates on them as well. So it's it's
an amazing modern world. And my phone is blinking and
that probably is from social, media stuff as well. So, yeah.
S3 (05:16):
There you go. Probably one of your sporting friends contacting
you to ask what we're talking about on this week's show. No,
but I'm in much the same boat, Sam, in that, um,
you know, I've been involved with tandem cycling for a
couple of years now. Uh, and even before that, I was,
you know, I dabbled in some other sports and stuff
in school, and, yeah, I've made some really long lasting
(05:37):
friendships that I value highly still to this day. In fact,
one of my pilots and I were still really good friends.
We still catch up for coffee and stuff. Then there's
people like Lily and her pilot, Jay, who I met
at nationals a couple of years ago. You know, we're
still really good friends and yeah, people like Jody and
Sonia and Stephen Kemp, who we've also had on the show.
(05:58):
You know, a lot of these friendships last forever or lifetimes,
and it all comes about through the common interest of sport.
So that's just one of the ways in which this
camp is impacting young kids. But we'll go on to
hear from Lily a bit more about what else is
involved in the camp and how she became involved as well.
S2 (06:19):
But I wouldn't necessarily say even. It's the magic of sport.
It's a case of sending people away to, well, camp,
as it were. I mean, I'm sure you've made plenty
of friends, say, at Real Music Camp and things like
that in the past.
S3 (06:31):
You know, it's not only just because it's a camp environment,
but you're stuck with each other for seven days. There's
no getting away from each other. And, um, you know,
there are a lot of kids whose this is their
first time meeting other blind and vision impaired people. And,
you know, you learn different things from each other and
you compare notes. And, yeah, I think friendships come just
(06:52):
out of that itself, just the camp environment and connecting
with other people. It's such an amazing thing. Camps, I
love it. We should do it more often.
S2 (07:01):
Well, I mean, I remember a quote from this is
again showing my age. This was the 1988 Pan Pacific
Games in Darwin. And yes, the local media had covered
it quite nicely. And one of the kids that was
talking to the media said, I kind of feel normal,
and that's not something I normally feel.
S3 (07:18):
That is so true, Sam. You know, a normal comes
from a feeling of having acceptance and belonging, which is something, again,
that we'll touch upon in this interview. But I think
without further ado, we should, uh, get cracking and, uh.
Excuse me.
S5 (07:36):
Ah, thanks, Lizzy. It's so nice to be speaking to
you again. And, um, I get excited speaking to you, too,
because I think we're on the same page about a
lot of things that we're doing with our lives. So, yeah,
super excited to talk to you today.
S3 (07:49):
Now we're going to get to camp Abilities in a minute,
because obviously that is the big thing that we're here
to talk about. But I've been following you on Facebook,
on your website, and you have been up to so
much this year. So tell us a little bit about
some of the things you've been up to.
S5 (08:05):
Yeah, it's been a big year, Lizzy. It's been a big,
big year. So I guess the biggest thing I did
was in February this year, I went and cross country
skiing in Utah, something I've never, ever done before. And
that came out of a connection I made on the Camino.
They asked me, you know, have you ever skied? And
I said, no. You know, coming from Australia, growing up
(08:26):
in the country, I'd never skied. Certainly not cross-country skiing,
you know, I didn't know what that was about at all.
So I bit the bullet and I decided to do it.
So I applied to go over. I was the only Aussie.
This program was phenomenal. It was amazing. They were like
150 blind and low vision skiers, matched with 150 guides
(08:48):
and a whole bunch of volunteers. And the program was
called ski for light. And they do it in different
parts of America every year. And this one just so
happened to be in Provo, Utah. We were at Soldier
Hollow Nordic Center, and that was previously used for a
Paralympics or and an Olympic Winter Olympics. And I believe
they've just won the 2034 Olympics again. So it was
(09:10):
a difficult and technical course and probably one of the
hardest things I've ever done in my life. Cross-country skiing
is just a hard sport, you know? I fell a lot. Um,
but the first thing I had to learn was how
to fall. That was the first thing they taught me. Um,
because you fall a lot. But it was extraordinary. We're
in these groomed trails, and, uh, I wasn't tethered or
anything in any way to my guide. I was in
(09:32):
these groomed trails, like these little grooves in the snow.
When your skis go in, these skis are only about, oh, gosh,
less than ten centimeters wide, each of them. And, uh,
so you're in those and, and you've got a guide
in another set of tracks beside you and you're probably, oh,
I don't know, only a meter or so apart. And
they're just giving you audio cues the whole time, like
(09:53):
speaking to you, teaching you, you know, how to do
the different types of, um, things you need to do.
And that'll either be gliding or herring boning when you're
sort of walking up, or snow plowing when you're going
down and you're in and out of the tracks. Lucky
I had good legs. Lizzie from the cycling. Um, I
think that kept me upright a lot of the time,
but yeah, it was super difficult, but certainly pushed me
(10:14):
way out of my comfort zone. But the connections I
made over there in this extraordinary group of people was
just really beautiful, because we all came together and stayed
in the same place. We did extracurricular stuff at night.
I actually spoke as a paracyclist and triathlete and met
two other paratriathletes who spoke with me. You know, we
did lots of fun stuff and, you know, uh, line
(10:37):
dancing and, uh, listen to other speakers and came together
at dinner every night and just listened to some of
the extraordinary things these people were doing with their lives. And, yeah,
got super inspired to do more.
S3 (10:48):
I followed all of your Facebook posts and the videos
that you posted, and I just thought, wow, this girl
is living the life.
S5 (10:56):
Yeah, certainly pushing some boundaries. I decided not just to,
you know, I could travel and just do, you know,
sightseeing and whatever, you know, but I, I just I've
decided that everything I do now will have some element of, uh,
adventure in it, for sure. So I've got a few goals.
S3 (11:12):
So I'm really excited to hear about this camp abilities
because yes, I have been following your prompts. Now what?
The first thing I want to know is how did
you get involved with such a powerful and impactful initiative?
S5 (11:28):
Ah, look, again, just meeting people on my journey. So, um, again,
going back to the Camino, I met a beautiful lady
who was guiding one of the other blind travellers, Chris
and Nancy. I've talked about them before. I then, you know,
went to ski for light and spent some time with
them there. And then when I got back from ski
for light, obviously I connected with them and, uh, up
(11:50):
on Chris's Facebook page popped up that she just had
coached at a week long camp for children with vision
and sensory impairment in Brockport, New York State. And I went,
what is that? What's Chris up to now? And I
had a look at the post and didn't say much.
It was just a big photo of her and the
kids and all the rest of them. Nancy was there
as well, and the others. And then I went, wow,
(12:13):
what is that? And I messaged her and I said,
what is camp abilities? What are you doing there? And, uh,
she told me and she gave me the name of
the founder, Lauren Lieberman, and she said, you need to
get in touch with Lauren, have a look at the website,
do your research. And then Lauren is the most wonderful
woman you could meet. And she'd be very open to
having a chat with you. So I flicked off an
email to Lauren, and within sort of 2440 eight hours,
(12:36):
I can't remember she was back. She had responded so
encouraging and, uh, just said come over, because I'd entertained
the thought of coming over and coaching at the camp
to learn about it straight away. Yeah, absolutely. Come over.
We'd love to have you, she said. Whatever it takes
to make it happen, let's let's make this happen. I
had a some communication with Lauren and then her general
(13:00):
assistance from the camp, who were wonderful, and they just
supported me to become a coach at the camp. And,
you know, I had to do the child protection training
for the US, you know, a couple other forms, registration pack,
that sort of thing. And next minute I'm there, I'm in.
And then all the travel and stuff I organized myself. Yeah,
it started on the 26th of June. I was there,
(13:20):
and then I was there for like ten days after that.
This was their 30 year anniversary. So it was really,
really special. It was, you know, almost 50 children, 50 coaches,
coach specialists, volunteers, community groups. Lauren and her as the
director and her assistant directors. And, you know, four groups
of kids, different age groups, vision and sensory impairment, some deaf,
(13:43):
blind as well over a week, a whole bunch of sports,
all on a university campus. And just extraordinary, Lizzie. Extraordinary. Yeah.
Extraordinary life changing camp for these kids.
S3 (13:56):
So what was your role there?
S5 (13:58):
They said, we can give you an athlete for the
whole week, or you can be a floating coach. So basically,
I'm in a team, but I'm floating so I can
sort of move around and see what the others are
doing and that sort of thing, which allowed me then
to move around a bit more freely to see how
everything was run. You know, spend some time with different
coaches and all the sports and, you know, see how
(14:19):
how other things were run and and the whole camp
was run, Lauren's role and all these specialist roles and,
you know, move around the extracurricular activities after, you know,
when the others were finished and at the end of
the day. And although the first day you'll see there's
a photo of me, I think it was on the story.
The Illawarra Flame, a local community newspaper, just did of me. And, um,
(14:41):
there's a picture on the front of me and a
beautiful young athlete, and I had her for 24 hours.
I had her, um, as a, as a one on
one coach, which so I did get to experience what
that was like, which was really cool. She was really
super cool.
S3 (14:54):
Given that you got to, uh, interact with kids of
different ages, did you get to see the tangible impact
that you're being there as a vision impaired athlete made
on them?
S5 (15:07):
Absolutely. Firstly, I was able to see what the camp
did for these kids. I interviewed some of the kids
just very informally and ask them what camp meant to them.
And most of what I got back is that that
they they felt like it changed them. They felt like
they could be themselves. They felt like they were included.
They had fun. They could blossom. I call it blossoming
(15:28):
because they, like you, can imagine them in a mainstream
school environment where they're really excluded, and then all of
a sudden they flourish. And, um, that warmed my heart
every single night at dinner, they would do care to share.
So they would get up, they'd line up, and each
of them would just do a minute or so of
what they got at camp that day and achievement they
made or something that made them happy. Whatever. I was
(15:51):
in tears almost every night, just listening to these kids,
sharing how much camp meant to them. I was in
a team. There were four teams. So you got like
the little ones, like the the younger ones, then you've
got the sort of pre-teen, then you've got the early teen,
then you've got the older ones. There was four because
it was such a big camp. They were split into four.
I was with the ones that were sort of 13, 14,
15 year olds, and they were an awesome bunch of
(16:13):
kids and the coaches were awesome. Lauren might talk more
about this, but the coaches are actually students of physical
education and their specialty is adaptive sports. So they're so
beautifully placed to be coaches in the camp because they're
this is what they're going to be doing for a living. Um,
so it gives this them this amazing opportunity to work
(16:34):
hands on with with kids. Um, you know, that, you know,
in future, probably in schools and other educational institutions they're
going to be working with. That's the beauty of this
as well. So most of the coaches sort of in
their 20s and 30s, they're young, you know, and some
of them are also teens. They were ex participants of
camp abilities, um, which was really cool. But yes, to
(16:55):
go back to your question, and I wasn't the only
vision impaired coach either. There were others. And you can
see that when you tell your stories and share with
the kids about what you're up to, you can see
how inspired they are by that. On the very last day,
because I really connected with this group of kids, they
were just bloody awesome, Lucy. They really were. I was
(17:15):
so sad to leave them because they were. They inspired
me as well, you know. And I just at the
last day, we were just we got together every morning
for our team meeting and before we went up to
our sports and I said to the kids, gosh, I'm
going to miss you so much. I said, I want
you to know how much you've inspired me, as much
as I've tried to to inspire you. And, um, and
(17:37):
we actually had an Aussie flavour in our team because
I was the only Aussie at camp. So, um, the
kids came up with an Aussie chant. Whenever you'd go
into a sport, the coach specialist would be there and, um,
they welcomed you and they'd say, hey, camp. And, um,
whenever they said, um, white team, we'd all go, Crikey.
So you, you have a chant, you would have a
little catchphrase, and this would be something that was a
(17:59):
theme right throughout the camp. So whenever anyone said white team, Crikey,
you know, um, that was our thing, which was really
lovely to have that Aussie flavour there. And these are
all little things that just made it so much fun.
And they will definitely want what what I will bring
to camp in Australia. So I said to these kids
at the end. Uh, I just want to tell you
a story, you know, um, that I, I spoke about
(18:22):
when I first started my journey and people used to say, oh, Lilly,
you can't do that. Oh, Lilly can't do that. Oh, Lilly,
you can't go out and do that. You know, and
I would say to people that said to me that
I can't watch me anyway, the kids are all sitting
around and, um, I said, so the next time someone
tells you you can't do something, and they all in
unison got up and went. Watch me. I'm just going
(18:44):
to add another little bit to this story. When I
got home from camp a couple of a few days later,
I got a message from one of the young campers, and, um,
he said, Lilly, I've got a story for you. And
I said, oh, I love stories. All right, what is it?
And he said, I'm at scout camp at the moment. And, uh,
so from that camp, summer camp, such a big thing
in the States. So they often will go from one
(19:06):
to the other, you know, and they were doing clay
target shooting that he had a little bit of vision,
not a great deal. And his instructor said to him, Scout,
leader or instructor, whoever it was said to him, no,
you can't do that. I don't think you can do that. Maddox.
His name was Maddox. I don't think you can do that. Maddox.
And Maddox turned around and went, watch me. And can
I just say the happy ending to this story is
(19:28):
he shot 12 of the 15 targets. And he was
so proud of himself because prior to that, he'd only
shot two at another camp, I believe. And then just
for the cream on the top of the cake, he
got offered a job at camp at the scout camp
for the rest of the summer. You can imagine me
reading this message. I'm jumping up and down like a
lunatic in my lounge room, just going yes, yes, yes,
(19:51):
fist pumping because Lizzy, this is what it's all about, right?
How many kids in that group will then now go
out and go? You know what? Don't tell me. I
can't do that. You watch me do it. And he
took that on board. And I just know when that
sort of stuff happens that this is this has got
to happen. We've got to make this happen in Australia.
Our kids need these opportunities. Communities. So if I can
(20:13):
set an example, you know, and show them that they
can break down those barriers and smash through stereotypes and
whatever else, then if I have to do something to
show people that that can be done, then I'm going
to do it.
S3 (20:25):
My next question to you, and this could be a
tricky one. Why do you think that sport is such
an impactful tool at empowering people?
S5 (20:36):
I was, I was funny, I was thinking about this, um,
this morning actually, having my coffee sport does a number
of things physically makes you feel good, mentally makes you
feel good. Sets off those endorphins in your brain that
make you feel good. So physically, mentally, physiologically, spiritually, all
those sorts of things, it makes you feel good. That's
(20:58):
a given for anyone that's doing any sorts of sport.
But I think the the main reason why sport is
so important is that it connects you. It connects you
with other people. So these kids came together in a
sporting camp and made friendships made connections felt included. Um
learnt skills, learnt not only sporting skills but they learnt
(21:21):
self-advocacy skills. And this is what camp abilities is also about.
So they might go into a sport in their school
and the PE teacher says to them, and this was
happening to a lot of these kids, trust me. There
was some stories I can tell you. They sat in
the corner. No, you can't be involved because you know
that sport hadn't been adapted. These kids learn how to
adapt sport so they can then go back to school
(21:42):
and self-advocate. I can do that. All you need to
do is do this, this, this and this, and then
I can play tennis. Then I can play soccer, then
I can run track. I'll give you an example of that.
I'm probably going off your question, but to enable a
child to run around an athletic track, the only thing
they need to be able to do that independently is
(22:03):
a road tether, not tether, to another human. At camp,
they had this guide wire around the track, and that's
what the tether was attached to. I'd never seen it before.
So these kids were running flat. Stick down the edge
of this track, just holding a tether along a guide wire.
You know, I know in the Paralympics and things they
tethered to a human. But in school, just to run tracks,
(22:24):
like with the rest of the kids, all they need
is a guide wire on one of the lanes. You know,
it's not rocket science, but I think going back to
your question, I watched the connection these kids were making
not only with their peers, but with the adults, with
the volunteers. They came together and they had a sense
of community. They had a sense of belonging. Belonging is
(22:44):
a really good word, because I believe that they suddenly
felt like they were part of something. And that's why
sport brings people together. I recently had a personal experience of,
you know, if I'm not going to do triathlon so
much anymore, I don't want to lose my connection with
the triathlon club because they were a family to me.
So now I'm just a social member until I start
(23:05):
competing again, if I do. And because that beautiful group
of people who have supported me so much on my journey,
They become so much more, you know. And I think
that sport, it just brings people together. These kids are
able to make friendships. A lot of these kids come
back every year. So I watched on the first day,
then go and give their friends hugs because their friends
(23:27):
were back. Gosh, it was lovely. Unfortunately, sometimes there are
other pursuits that kids might have that are very solitary,
and that might be their choice to do something that's, uh, that's,
you know, might be something that doesn't connect them with
people as much. Um, and if that's their dream, then
that's fine. And it's also fun. It's fun. It's fun.
(23:49):
It also enables them to have a taste of different sports.
And you never know, they might actually love one of
them and decide to take it to the next level.
They were actually coaches there that had, um, were Paralympians
and had gone on to higher things. Tandem triathlon. Other
sports as well. Yeah. So there's so much benefit here.
(24:11):
It's funny isn't it, when you start thinking and talking
about something, stuff starts getting thrown at you, like on Facebook.
All of a sudden I'm getting I didn't up until
this point. Follow Blind Sports Australia. I had a bit
of a look at it and I can't see them
doing anything with kids.
S3 (24:24):
There's no pathways for developing athletes. Currently, the sporting bodies
are only interested in you if you show promise or potential,
or if you want to make it big in the
sporting world. But the problem is, just as there is
with mainstream society and sporting pursuits, there are people that
(24:45):
just want to do it. Amateur. I have decided that
I no longer want to try and compete in nationals,
but if there was a club here in Adelaide that
ran regular club races or something, I would do that.
S5 (24:54):
Yeah, no. For me that boat had sailed. But what
I realized was I was grateful for the opportunities I
did have because had I not started there, I wouldn't
be now here talking about, you know, development programs. Then
I think that's really important to give the kids a
taster of what sport can, how it can make them
feel and, you know, that sort of thing. And and
(25:15):
if they don't start in school, then where do they start?
You know, they have these come and try days, but
how many kids actually go and try? I did I
spoke at a school in Western Sydney. It was all
their vision. Itinerant teachers came together in western Sydney with
all the kids and we had a whole day. Um,
and so I spoke there and talked a bit about
what I'm doing. But one of the Paralympic, she went
(25:36):
to Paris, she was, uh, gosh, she might know her.
I can't remember her name off the top of my head.
Now she's judo. She's judo.
S3 (25:43):
Um, Taylor.
S5 (25:44):
Taylor. That was it. Taylor. And the kids loved it. Oh,
I had, because I said to the kids, oh, would
you like to come to a camp? And, you know. Yeah,
we had judo. And that's another thing. The reason why
I had to be in that sporting world was so
when I start the camp, I've already got a whole
bunch of connections in the sporting world to bring that
(26:04):
to camp. So yeah, I'm super excited about that. And
I'm so glad you're speaking to Lauren because she's inspirational.
You know what? Maybe once I get to camp up
and running, I'd be happy to fly you down to
be part of the camp for that first week, to
be one of my motivational speakers or one of my.
S3 (26:19):
I'd love to.
S5 (26:20):
Help.
S3 (26:20):
Out. I think I can fly to Sydney.
S5 (26:22):
I'm hoping to get, uh, the blind surfer Matt Formston
to do a bit of a chat to the kids, and, um.
But not just the ones doing elite stuff like that,
but just, you know, also people that are just out
there living their best lives, doing some travel, maybe get
some of the cocky guides, travelers to talk about what
they're doing.
S3 (26:40):
That's the important thing. Like, it's not all about being
the pinnacle of whatever you're doing.
S5 (26:45):
That's what people are going to remember. They're going to
remember you as a person. Not not how many medals
you won.
S3 (26:50):
Well, that's a wrap for this week's show. A big
thanks to Lily piccolo for being a special guest for
this week.
S2 (26:56):
And of course, thank you for listening. That includes our
listeners on the Reading Radio Network and other radio stations
around Australia. You can find the podcast of this program,
including some extra content on Apple, Spotify, Google or your
favorite podcast platform.
S3 (27:12):
Next week, we chat with Lauren Lieberman, director of Camp
Abilities Brockport, about how this initiative began and how she
became involved.
S2 (27:21):
But between now and then, please do get in touch
with the show where they have experience of any of
the issues covered on this week's episode of Studio One.
Or if you think there's something we should be talking about,
you never know. Your story and insight may help somebody
else who is dealing with something similar.
S3 (27:37):
You can reach out via email at studio one. Org.
That's studio number one at Vision Australia. Or of course,
you can search for us on Facebook or Instagram by
looking for VA Radio Network.
S2 (27:52):
Bye for now.
S1 (27:53):
Studio one was produced in the Adelaide studios of Vision
Australia Radio. This show was made possible with the help
of the Community Broadcasting Foundation. Find out more at.
This is Studio One with Sam Rickard and Lizzie Eastham
on Vision Australia Radio.
S2 (00:25):
Hello, I'm Sam and I'm Lizzie and this is Studio One,
your weekly look at life from a low vision and
blind point of view. Here on Vision Australia Radio.
S3 (00:32):
This week we chat with Lily piccolo, an old friend
of the show, about her many adventures and her experience
as a coach at camp Abilities in the US.
S2 (00:41):
This is a two part special, so please stay tuned
at the end of the show for more details.
S3 (00:47):
As we always say at this point, please do get
in touch with the show. Whether you have experience of
any of the issues covered on this week's episode of
Studio One, or if you think there's something we should
be talking about. You never know. Your story and insight
may help someone who's dealing with something similar.
S2 (01:03):
You can contact us via Email Studio one at org.
That's studio number one at Vision Australia.
S3 (01:08):
Org or of course, you can drop us a note
on the station's Facebook page by going to facebook.com. slash
radio network. Well good morning Sam. Oh, maybe I shouldn't
say good morning.
S2 (01:20):
Yes, well, at the time of recording, it is the morning.
But this is the the magic of radio. Dear listener.
So a fun good afternoon to our listeners in most
parts of Australia and a good evening to anyone in
Darwin and Adelaide. Yes, we're sort of several places at
the same time.
S4 (01:38):
So we can time travel.
S2 (01:40):
Exactly, exactly. So I've had a rather relaxing, well, sort
of relaxing time in Melbourne. Um, just got back from that, um,
just yesterday and we did something also that we don't
usually do when we're traveling, and that is we use
priority boarding on the planes in both direction. We hardly
(02:02):
ever do that. We go on with the rest of
the plebs. But this time around, no, we took advantage
of the, um, announcement that if anyone needs assistance, uh,
boarding the plane, please come forward now. We came forward
now and I'm a convert. We'll be doing that from
now on.
S3 (02:17):
Good. Yes. I must admit, it is very handy. Uh, very,
very handy indeed. And it just means that you are
already seated when the hustle and bustle and fight for
overhead space happens. So. Yeah. I'm glad that you are
finally converted. Sam. Welcome to the choir, as it were.
S2 (02:34):
Well, usually what happens because we usually book tickets close
to the back of the plane, and there's not really
a problem following other people that might be doing the
same thing. So we just follow the crowd and get
on the back of the plane. But you usually find
there's that one person who hasn't listened to the announcement,
and they're coming in the opposite direction. And because they're
(02:58):
special and we're not, we have to move aside to
allow them to get past us. And then there's this
inevitable thing where someone's settled down in, because usually we book, um,
a window seat in a middle seat. There's somebody settled
down in the aisle seat, completely comfortable seat belts on,
who are utterly surprised when it turns out that the
(03:21):
two empty seats next to them aren't empty after all,
and that people actually want to go through and sit there.
So this time around, no, we did not have to
worry about that.
S3 (03:30):
Oh, the plane's fully booked. Shock, horror. We are getting
completely sidetracked here. This week's episode covers what I think
is a really interesting camp in the US called Camp Abilities.
And this one takes place in Rockport, New York. Now
we are chatting to Lily this week and Lily's been
(03:51):
on the show several times. She's talked about her journey
on the Camino in Spain, and of course she was
part of our tandem cycling episode. But one thing that
stood out, you know, in the interview to me, Sam,
I wanted to just touch upon, is the long lasting
friendships that come out of participating and being involved in sport. Because,
(04:13):
as you will learn in a minute, Camp abilities is
an educational sports camp. So I was thinking, Sam, are
you still friends with the people that you participated in
sport with?
S2 (04:22):
Indeed I am, yes. Um, we've got, uh, mainly through
the medium of Facebook, of course, but, uh, people like, uh,
Jodi Willis and, uh, uh, Shane Allen, uh, just to
name a few. And, uh, yes, uh, you've met a
few of my friends that have I met through sport, uh,
as well, in South Australia here. I mean, uh, I
(04:43):
would not have known these people had it not been
for Australian Blind Sports Federation nationals. And the wonders of
modern social media mean that, yes, you can keep in
touch with these people when they're scattered all across the
country or even indeed across other parts of the world,
as yes, I'm still friends with a couple of, uh,
people that I met overseas as well, and, um, still
(05:06):
keep regular updates on them as well. So it's it's
an amazing modern world. And my phone is blinking and
that probably is from social, media stuff as well. So, yeah.
S3 (05:16):
There you go. Probably one of your sporting friends contacting
you to ask what we're talking about on this week's show. No,
but I'm in much the same boat, Sam, in that, um,
you know, I've been involved with tandem cycling for a
couple of years now. Uh, and even before that, I was,
you know, I dabbled in some other sports and stuff
in school, and, yeah, I've made some really long lasting
(05:37):
friendships that I value highly still to this day. In fact,
one of my pilots and I were still really good friends.
We still catch up for coffee and stuff. Then there's
people like Lily and her pilot, Jay, who I met
at nationals a couple of years ago. You know, we're
still really good friends and yeah, people like Jody and
Sonia and Stephen Kemp, who we've also had on the show.
(05:58):
You know, a lot of these friendships last forever or lifetimes,
and it all comes about through the common interest of sport.
So that's just one of the ways in which this
camp is impacting young kids. But we'll go on to
hear from Lily a bit more about what else is
involved in the camp and how she became involved as well.
S2 (06:19):
But I wouldn't necessarily say even. It's the magic of sport.
It's a case of sending people away to, well, camp,
as it were. I mean, I'm sure you've made plenty
of friends, say, at Real Music Camp and things like
that in the past.
S3 (06:31):
You know, it's not only just because it's a camp environment,
but you're stuck with each other for seven days. There's
no getting away from each other. And, um, you know,
there are a lot of kids whose this is their
first time meeting other blind and vision impaired people. And,
you know, you learn different things from each other and
you compare notes. And, yeah, I think friendships come just
(06:52):
out of that itself, just the camp environment and connecting
with other people. It's such an amazing thing. Camps, I
love it. We should do it more often.
S2 (07:01):
Well, I mean, I remember a quote from this is
again showing my age. This was the 1988 Pan Pacific
Games in Darwin. And yes, the local media had covered
it quite nicely. And one of the kids that was
talking to the media said, I kind of feel normal,
and that's not something I normally feel.
S3 (07:18):
That is so true, Sam. You know, a normal comes
from a feeling of having acceptance and belonging, which is something, again,
that we'll touch upon in this interview. But I think
without further ado, we should, uh, get cracking and, uh.
Excuse me.
S5 (07:36):
Ah, thanks, Lizzy. It's so nice to be speaking to
you again. And, um, I get excited speaking to you, too,
because I think we're on the same page about a
lot of things that we're doing with our lives. So, yeah,
super excited to talk to you today.
S3 (07:49):
Now we're going to get to camp Abilities in a minute,
because obviously that is the big thing that we're here
to talk about. But I've been following you on Facebook,
on your website, and you have been up to so
much this year. So tell us a little bit about
some of the things you've been up to.
S5 (08:05):
Yeah, it's been a big year, Lizzy. It's been a big,
big year. So I guess the biggest thing I did
was in February this year, I went and cross country
skiing in Utah, something I've never, ever done before. And
that came out of a connection I made on the Camino.
They asked me, you know, have you ever skied? And
I said, no. You know, coming from Australia, growing up
(08:26):
in the country, I'd never skied. Certainly not cross-country skiing,
you know, I didn't know what that was about at all.
So I bit the bullet and I decided to do it.
So I applied to go over. I was the only Aussie.
This program was phenomenal. It was amazing. They were like
150 blind and low vision skiers, matched with 150 guides
(08:48):
and a whole bunch of volunteers. And the program was
called ski for light. And they do it in different
parts of America every year. And this one just so
happened to be in Provo, Utah. We were at Soldier
Hollow Nordic Center, and that was previously used for a
Paralympics or and an Olympic Winter Olympics. And I believe
they've just won the 2034 Olympics again. So it was
(09:10):
a difficult and technical course and probably one of the
hardest things I've ever done in my life. Cross-country skiing
is just a hard sport, you know? I fell a lot. Um,
but the first thing I had to learn was how
to fall. That was the first thing they taught me. Um,
because you fall a lot. But it was extraordinary. We're
in these groomed trails, and, uh, I wasn't tethered or
anything in any way to my guide. I was in
(09:32):
these groomed trails, like these little grooves in the snow.
When your skis go in, these skis are only about, oh, gosh,
less than ten centimeters wide, each of them. And, uh,
so you're in those and, and you've got a guide
in another set of tracks beside you and you're probably, oh,
I don't know, only a meter or so apart. And
they're just giving you audio cues the whole time, like
(09:53):
speaking to you, teaching you, you know, how to do
the different types of, um, things you need to do.
And that'll either be gliding or herring boning when you're
sort of walking up, or snow plowing when you're going
down and you're in and out of the tracks. Lucky
I had good legs. Lizzie from the cycling. Um, I
think that kept me upright a lot of the time,
but yeah, it was super difficult, but certainly pushed me
(10:14):
way out of my comfort zone. But the connections I
made over there in this extraordinary group of people was
just really beautiful, because we all came together and stayed
in the same place. We did extracurricular stuff at night.
I actually spoke as a paracyclist and triathlete and met
two other paratriathletes who spoke with me. You know, we
did lots of fun stuff and, you know, uh, line
(10:37):
dancing and, uh, listen to other speakers and came together
at dinner every night and just listened to some of
the extraordinary things these people were doing with their lives. And, yeah,
got super inspired to do more.
S3 (10:48):
I followed all of your Facebook posts and the videos
that you posted, and I just thought, wow, this girl
is living the life.
S5 (10:56):
Yeah, certainly pushing some boundaries. I decided not just to,
you know, I could travel and just do, you know,
sightseeing and whatever, you know, but I, I just I've
decided that everything I do now will have some element of, uh,
adventure in it, for sure. So I've got a few goals.
S3 (11:12):
So I'm really excited to hear about this camp abilities
because yes, I have been following your prompts. Now what?
The first thing I want to know is how did
you get involved with such a powerful and impactful initiative?
S5 (11:28):
Ah, look, again, just meeting people on my journey. So, um, again,
going back to the Camino, I met a beautiful lady
who was guiding one of the other blind travellers, Chris
and Nancy. I've talked about them before. I then, you know,
went to ski for light and spent some time with
them there. And then when I got back from ski
for light, obviously I connected with them and, uh, up
(11:50):
on Chris's Facebook page popped up that she just had
coached at a week long camp for children with vision
and sensory impairment in Brockport, New York State. And I went,
what is that? What's Chris up to now? And I
had a look at the post and didn't say much.
It was just a big photo of her and the
kids and all the rest of them. Nancy was there
as well, and the others. And then I went, wow,
(12:13):
what is that? And I messaged her and I said,
what is camp abilities? What are you doing there? And, uh,
she told me and she gave me the name of
the founder, Lauren Lieberman, and she said, you need to
get in touch with Lauren, have a look at the website,
do your research. And then Lauren is the most wonderful
woman you could meet. And she'd be very open to
having a chat with you. So I flicked off an
email to Lauren, and within sort of 2440 eight hours,
(12:36):
I can't remember she was back. She had responded so
encouraging and, uh, just said come over, because I'd entertained
the thought of coming over and coaching at the camp
to learn about it straight away. Yeah, absolutely. Come over.
We'd love to have you, she said. Whatever it takes
to make it happen, let's let's make this happen. I
had a some communication with Lauren and then her general
(13:00):
assistance from the camp, who were wonderful, and they just
supported me to become a coach at the camp. And,
you know, I had to do the child protection training
for the US, you know, a couple other forms, registration pack,
that sort of thing. And next minute I'm there, I'm in.
And then all the travel and stuff I organized myself. Yeah,
it started on the 26th of June. I was there,
(13:20):
and then I was there for like ten days after that.
This was their 30 year anniversary. So it was really,
really special. It was, you know, almost 50 children, 50 coaches,
coach specialists, volunteers, community groups. Lauren and her as the
director and her assistant directors. And, you know, four groups
of kids, different age groups, vision and sensory impairment, some deaf,
(13:43):
blind as well over a week, a whole bunch of sports,
all on a university campus. And just extraordinary, Lizzie. Extraordinary. Yeah.
Extraordinary life changing camp for these kids.
S3 (13:56):
So what was your role there?
S5 (13:58):
They said, we can give you an athlete for the
whole week, or you can be a floating coach. So basically,
I'm in a team, but I'm floating so I can
sort of move around and see what the others are
doing and that sort of thing, which allowed me then
to move around a bit more freely to see how
everything was run. You know, spend some time with different
coaches and all the sports and, you know, see how
(14:19):
how other things were run and and the whole camp
was run, Lauren's role and all these specialist roles and,
you know, move around the extracurricular activities after, you know,
when the others were finished and at the end of
the day. And although the first day you'll see there's
a photo of me, I think it was on the story.
The Illawarra Flame, a local community newspaper, just did of me. And, um,
(14:41):
there's a picture on the front of me and a
beautiful young athlete, and I had her for 24 hours.
I had her, um, as a, as a one on
one coach, which so I did get to experience what
that was like, which was really cool. She was really
super cool.
S3 (14:54):
Given that you got to, uh, interact with kids of
different ages, did you get to see the tangible impact
that you're being there as a vision impaired athlete made
on them?
S5 (15:07):
Absolutely. Firstly, I was able to see what the camp
did for these kids. I interviewed some of the kids
just very informally and ask them what camp meant to them.
And most of what I got back is that that
they they felt like it changed them. They felt like
they could be themselves. They felt like they were included.
They had fun. They could blossom. I call it blossoming
(15:28):
because they, like you, can imagine them in a mainstream
school environment where they're really excluded, and then all of
a sudden they flourish. And, um, that warmed my heart
every single night at dinner, they would do care to share.
So they would get up, they'd line up, and each
of them would just do a minute or so of
what they got at camp that day and achievement they
made or something that made them happy. Whatever. I was
(15:51):
in tears almost every night, just listening to these kids,
sharing how much camp meant to them. I was in
a team. There were four teams. So you got like
the little ones, like the the younger ones, then you've
got the sort of pre-teen, then you've got the early teen,
then you've got the older ones. There was four because
it was such a big camp. They were split into four.
I was with the ones that were sort of 13, 14,
15 year olds, and they were an awesome bunch of
(16:13):
kids and the coaches were awesome. Lauren might talk more
about this, but the coaches are actually students of physical
education and their specialty is adaptive sports. So they're so
beautifully placed to be coaches in the camp because they're
this is what they're going to be doing for a living. Um,
so it gives this them this amazing opportunity to work
(16:34):
hands on with with kids. Um, you know, that, you know,
in future, probably in schools and other educational institutions they're
going to be working with. That's the beauty of this
as well. So most of the coaches sort of in
their 20s and 30s, they're young, you know, and some
of them are also teens. They were ex participants of
camp abilities, um, which was really cool. But yes, to
(16:55):
go back to your question, and I wasn't the only
vision impaired coach either. There were others. And you can
see that when you tell your stories and share with
the kids about what you're up to, you can see
how inspired they are by that. On the very last day,
because I really connected with this group of kids, they
were just bloody awesome, Lucy. They really were. I was
(17:15):
so sad to leave them because they were. They inspired
me as well, you know. And I just at the
last day, we were just we got together every morning
for our team meeting and before we went up to
our sports and I said to the kids, gosh, I'm
going to miss you so much. I said, I want
you to know how much you've inspired me, as much
as I've tried to to inspire you. And, um, and
(17:37):
we actually had an Aussie flavour in our team because
I was the only Aussie at camp. So, um, the
kids came up with an Aussie chant. Whenever you'd go
into a sport, the coach specialist would be there and, um,
they welcomed you and they'd say, hey, camp. And, um,
whenever they said, um, white team, we'd all go, Crikey.
So you, you have a chant, you would have a
little catchphrase, and this would be something that was a
(17:59):
theme right throughout the camp. So whenever anyone said white team, Crikey,
you know, um, that was our thing, which was really
lovely to have that Aussie flavour there. And these are
all little things that just made it so much fun.
And they will definitely want what what I will bring
to camp in Australia. So I said to these kids
at the end. Uh, I just want to tell you
a story, you know, um, that I, I spoke about
(18:22):
when I first started my journey and people used to say, oh, Lilly,
you can't do that. Oh, Lilly can't do that. Oh, Lilly,
you can't go out and do that. You know, and
I would say to people that said to me that
I can't watch me anyway, the kids are all sitting
around and, um, I said, so the next time someone
tells you you can't do something, and they all in
unison got up and went. Watch me. I'm just going
(18:44):
to add another little bit to this story. When I
got home from camp a couple of a few days later,
I got a message from one of the young campers, and, um,
he said, Lilly, I've got a story for you. And
I said, oh, I love stories. All right, what is it?
And he said, I'm at scout camp at the moment. And, uh,
so from that camp, summer camp, such a big thing
in the States. So they often will go from one
(19:06):
to the other, you know, and they were doing clay
target shooting that he had a little bit of vision,
not a great deal. And his instructor said to him, Scout,
leader or instructor, whoever it was said to him, no,
you can't do that. I don't think you can do that. Maddox.
His name was Maddox. I don't think you can do that. Maddox.
And Maddox turned around and went, watch me. And can
I just say the happy ending to this story is
(19:28):
he shot 12 of the 15 targets. And he was
so proud of himself because prior to that, he'd only
shot two at another camp, I believe. And then just
for the cream on the top of the cake, he
got offered a job at camp at the scout camp
for the rest of the summer. You can imagine me
reading this message. I'm jumping up and down like a
lunatic in my lounge room, just going yes, yes, yes,
(19:51):
fist pumping because Lizzy, this is what it's all about, right?
How many kids in that group will then now go
out and go? You know what? Don't tell me. I
can't do that. You watch me do it. And he
took that on board. And I just know when that
sort of stuff happens that this is this has got
to happen. We've got to make this happen in Australia.
Our kids need these opportunities. Communities. So if I can
(20:13):
set an example, you know, and show them that they
can break down those barriers and smash through stereotypes and
whatever else, then if I have to do something to
show people that that can be done, then I'm going
to do it.
S3 (20:25):
My next question to you, and this could be a
tricky one. Why do you think that sport is such
an impactful tool at empowering people?
S5 (20:36):
I was, I was funny, I was thinking about this, um,
this morning actually, having my coffee sport does a number
of things physically makes you feel good, mentally makes you
feel good. Sets off those endorphins in your brain that
make you feel good. So physically, mentally, physiologically, spiritually, all
those sorts of things, it makes you feel good. That's
(20:58):
a given for anyone that's doing any sorts of sport.
But I think the the main reason why sport is
so important is that it connects you. It connects you
with other people. So these kids came together in a
sporting camp and made friendships made connections felt included. Um
learnt skills, learnt not only sporting skills but they learnt
(21:21):
self-advocacy skills. And this is what camp abilities is also about.
So they might go into a sport in their school
and the PE teacher says to them, and this was
happening to a lot of these kids, trust me. There
was some stories I can tell you. They sat in
the corner. No, you can't be involved because you know
that sport hadn't been adapted. These kids learn how to
adapt sport so they can then go back to school
(21:42):
and self-advocate. I can do that. All you need to
do is do this, this, this and this, and then
I can play tennis. Then I can play soccer, then
I can run track. I'll give you an example of that.
I'm probably going off your question, but to enable a
child to run around an athletic track, the only thing
they need to be able to do that independently is
(22:03):
a road tether, not tether, to another human. At camp,
they had this guide wire around the track, and that's
what the tether was attached to. I'd never seen it before.
So these kids were running flat. Stick down the edge
of this track, just holding a tether along a guide wire.
You know, I know in the Paralympics and things they
tethered to a human. But in school, just to run tracks,
(22:24):
like with the rest of the kids, all they need
is a guide wire on one of the lanes. You know,
it's not rocket science, but I think going back to
your question, I watched the connection these kids were making
not only with their peers, but with the adults, with
the volunteers. They came together and they had a sense
of community. They had a sense of belonging. Belonging is
(22:44):
a really good word, because I believe that they suddenly
felt like they were part of something. And that's why
sport brings people together. I recently had a personal experience of,
you know, if I'm not going to do triathlon so
much anymore, I don't want to lose my connection with
the triathlon club because they were a family to me.
So now I'm just a social member until I start
(23:05):
competing again, if I do. And because that beautiful group
of people who have supported me so much on my journey,
They become so much more, you know. And I think
that sport, it just brings people together. These kids are
able to make friendships. A lot of these kids come
back every year. So I watched on the first day,
then go and give their friends hugs because their friends
(23:27):
were back. Gosh, it was lovely. Unfortunately, sometimes there are
other pursuits that kids might have that are very solitary,
and that might be their choice to do something that's, uh, that's,
you know, might be something that doesn't connect them with
people as much. Um, and if that's their dream, then
that's fine. And it's also fun. It's fun. It's fun.
(23:49):
It also enables them to have a taste of different sports.
And you never know, they might actually love one of
them and decide to take it to the next level.
They were actually coaches there that had, um, were Paralympians
and had gone on to higher things. Tandem triathlon. Other
sports as well. Yeah. So there's so much benefit here.
(24:11):
It's funny isn't it, when you start thinking and talking
about something, stuff starts getting thrown at you, like on Facebook.
All of a sudden I'm getting I didn't up until
this point. Follow Blind Sports Australia. I had a bit
of a look at it and I can't see them
doing anything with kids.
S3 (24:24):
There's no pathways for developing athletes. Currently, the sporting bodies
are only interested in you if you show promise or potential,
or if you want to make it big in the
sporting world. But the problem is, just as there is
with mainstream society and sporting pursuits, there are people that
(24:45):
just want to do it. Amateur. I have decided that
I no longer want to try and compete in nationals,
but if there was a club here in Adelaide that
ran regular club races or something, I would do that.
S5 (24:54):
Yeah, no. For me that boat had sailed. But what
I realized was I was grateful for the opportunities I
did have because had I not started there, I wouldn't
be now here talking about, you know, development programs. Then
I think that's really important to give the kids a
taster of what sport can, how it can make them
feel and, you know, that sort of thing. And and
(25:15):
if they don't start in school, then where do they start?
You know, they have these come and try days, but
how many kids actually go and try? I did I
spoke at a school in Western Sydney. It was all
their vision. Itinerant teachers came together in western Sydney with
all the kids and we had a whole day. Um,
and so I spoke there and talked a bit about
what I'm doing. But one of the Paralympic, she went
(25:36):
to Paris, she was, uh, gosh, she might know her.
I can't remember her name off the top of my head.
Now she's judo. She's judo.
S3 (25:43):
Um, Taylor.
S5 (25:44):
Taylor. That was it. Taylor. And the kids loved it. Oh,
I had, because I said to the kids, oh, would
you like to come to a camp? And, you know. Yeah,
we had judo. And that's another thing. The reason why
I had to be in that sporting world was so
when I start the camp, I've already got a whole
bunch of connections in the sporting world to bring that
(26:04):
to camp. So yeah, I'm super excited about that. And
I'm so glad you're speaking to Lauren because she's inspirational.
You know what? Maybe once I get to camp up
and running, I'd be happy to fly you down to
be part of the camp for that first week, to
be one of my motivational speakers or one of my.
S3 (26:19):
I'd love to.
S5 (26:20):
Help.
S3 (26:20):
Out. I think I can fly to Sydney.
S5 (26:22):
I'm hoping to get, uh, the blind surfer Matt Formston
to do a bit of a chat to the kids, and, um.
But not just the ones doing elite stuff like that,
but just, you know, also people that are just out
there living their best lives, doing some travel, maybe get
some of the cocky guides, travelers to talk about what
they're doing.
S3 (26:40):
That's the important thing. Like, it's not all about being
the pinnacle of whatever you're doing.
S5 (26:45):
That's what people are going to remember. They're going to
remember you as a person. Not not how many medals
you won.
S3 (26:50):
Well, that's a wrap for this week's show. A big
thanks to Lily piccolo for being a special guest for
this week.
S2 (26:56):
And of course, thank you for listening. That includes our
listeners on the Reading Radio Network and other radio stations
around Australia. You can find the podcast of this program,
including some extra content on Apple, Spotify, Google or your
favorite podcast platform.
S3 (27:12):
Next week, we chat with Lauren Lieberman, director of Camp
Abilities Brockport, about how this initiative began and how she
became involved.
S2 (27:21):
But between now and then, please do get in touch
with the show where they have experience of any of
the issues covered on this week's episode of Studio One.
Or if you think there's something we should be talking about,
you never know. Your story and insight may help somebody
else who is dealing with something similar.
S3 (27:37):
You can reach out via email at studio one. Org.
That's studio number one at Vision Australia. Or of course,
you can search for us on Facebook or Instagram by
looking for VA Radio Network.
S2 (27:52):
Bye for now.
S1 (27:53):
Studio one was produced in the Adelaide studios of Vision
Australia Radio. This show was made possible with the help
of the Community Broadcasting Foundation. Find out more at.
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