April 30, 2025 • 17 mins
When Dan lost most of his vision at 16 due to a rare genetic condition, his world changed overnight. In this powerful and personal story, Dan shares what it was like to lose his eyesight as a teenager, how it impacted his identity, and the barriers he still faces in public spaces today. From using a cane to bonding with his guide dogs, to being denied access to venues, Dan speaks openly about what true accessibility and inclusion really means.
This video explores the everyday challenges of living with blindness — and what all of us can do to create a more inclusive society. Whether you're in hospitality, education, or just want to better understand the blind and low-vision community.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
I do remember the time that I did get a diagnosis,
so I guess even when I got to that point
of diagnosis, I was still under the belief that the
diagnosis would leave too. Here's the clear answer, here's the
treatment we provide, and this was what we'll fix it.
So for many months in those initial phases, I was
still living with the idea that I'd wake up tomorrow
(00:23):
and I'd be able to see, and it would be fine,
and I wouldn't have to contemplate a life without sight.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
We like to think that everything around us is the
signed with us in mind. The signs, the texture of
the ground, the shape of benches, sharp corners of a table,
or even the water fountain itself. Now imagine you couldn't
(00:54):
see any of them. It makes you pause and wonder
is really included in the world us.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
Rah.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
This is Dan Searle. He's thirty eight years old and
grew up loving sports. He enjoys traveling, watching the Eurovision
Song contest, and having a good barbecue, though he prefers
not to be the one doing the cooking. When Dan
was sixteen, he lost most of his vision. The cells
(01:35):
in his eyes that send signals to the brain stopped working.
It was all due to rare genetic condition called Liber's
optic neuropathy.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
So that literally happened over my sixteenth birthday. So I
used to play a lot of tennis and squash and
that was really important to my life. And I found
that he was getting harder and harder to see the
ball from week to week, and that was really tough
for me to adjust to. But I think the reality
is in those early stages, I was very aware of
(02:12):
the fact that more and more people these days wear glasses.
I just assumed that I would get glasses and that
would solve everything. So it was quite a shock when
I started going to doctors and oxhalmologists and found that
magnification didn't do anything and I couldn't get a definitive
diagnosis straight away.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
He was on his learner's license at the time, working
towards the big piece that would let him drive on
his own, but months after his diagnosis, still hoping for
some sort of treatment, his parents finally told him the truth.
This wasn't a condition he could ever recover from.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
It was tough for me that I felt like sometimes
I was excluded from things, and I felt like I
was treated as a different person, which was really hard
for me because I feel like I was the same person.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
I just couldn't see anymore.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
I was very much a visual learner, so I had
to learn to do things differently, rely on audio and
tactile feedback to learn things.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
But it wasn't just that.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
I think it's more about learning to adjust to a
different identity. As I said, being outdoors playing sport, that
was such a big part of my identity and I
thought that I'd had that suddenly ripped away from me,
and that was really really hard for me.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
Heading into his final years of high school round year ten,
Dan began using a cane now and then by the
time he was moving out to start university studying to
become a physiotherapist, a kine had become a full time thing.
That's when getting the idea of getting a guide dog
it came up. But for Dan, who had just got
(03:58):
in the hang of life the King, the decision to
take on a dog wasn't made lightly.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
Growing up with a farm, I've always been around dogs
and I love dogs, so loved the idea of being
with a dog. But I think there was still this
guilt for me that I felt like I was taking
a dog away from someone who maybe deserved it more
than I did. So when I worked through that process
and understood the benefits that it could have to me,
(04:26):
and that's why they're there and putting my application, well,
I'm so glad I did. Receiving my first dog was
one of the best times of my life, and he
made such a huge difference to me and my confidence
in what was a critical time in my young adulthood.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
Since losing his eyesight over twenty years ago, Dan has
had three guide dogs, but finding the right one isn't
as easy as people might think. Things like environment, lifestyle,
and personality all have to be considered. The guy dog
alongside Dan today is Quinlan, a three year old at labrador.
Speaker 4 (05:08):
Good Boy, Where is it?
Speaker 3 (05:09):
One seat? Good boy? Did look?
Speaker 1 (05:13):
Come on?
Speaker 3 (05:13):
One seat? Good Boy? One seat?
Speaker 1 (05:18):
One snick?
Speaker 3 (05:20):
Good Boy?
Speaker 1 (05:20):
One seat, one seat?
Speaker 4 (05:24):
That's amazing.
Speaker 5 (05:28):
I don't have a treat for you.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
They are very fast learners. If you go somewhere once,
he will know to go back there again and again
and again. So if you walked with me around home,
you could probably easily tell the places I go to
regularly because he will look to pull into them, go,
oh is.
Speaker 4 (05:47):
This where you want to go?
Speaker 3 (05:48):
Down there? You want more coffee.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
You very much become in sync and a part of
each other's life, and guinosling I'm relaxed, heak and relaxed,
and when he's relaxed, I'm relaxed. And yeah, obviously, as
I say, he wants to do the right thing too,
and he wants to make you happy and keep you safe.
So he's excited if he does the right thing, and
then he almost seems like you feel stressed if he
(06:12):
hasn't got it perfect, So that it is an amazing
bond and hard to explain how close that becomes.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
He is my third guide dog. So Bear was my
first dog.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
He was a chocolate Labrador and he will always have
a special place in my heart being my first guide dog.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
I think you can't imagine the change that.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
It makes to your life until you've been through that
experience and the bond that you develop. And again, as
I was still adjusting to my sight loss and that
young adulthood, he just played a huge role in my
life and I don't think any dog will ever quite
match that. They've all been special. Frodo was my second dog,
(06:57):
He is a black lab. He's still with me now
he's retired. He's eleven years old and Quinland, my third
guide dog, has been working with me now for about
nine months.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
Life with the guide dog suits Dan. He's taught Quinland
useful commands that help him feel more confident navigating different places,
but it's also come with challenges. There have been times
when he was denied entry into public spaces with his
guide dog, despite it being illegal to do so.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
I have recently had some experience with the pub and
it was very distressing. So it was for me when
I was out with friends and I was stopped at
the door and told that I couldn't bring the dog
in there by the security person at the front of
the venue. And it's a horrible feeling. It's not just
the fact that you feel rejected. It's then when you're
(07:50):
out with friends, you feel like you're letting them down.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
And I think it gets.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
To a point even if you do manage to explain
the law and that it's illegal to refuse you and
you end up in the venue, you don't feel welcomed anymore,
and you don't really want to be there, and you
don't really want to spend your money there anymore. So
it's a really demoralizing experience and no one wants to
have to go through that.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
Another issue has been people being afraid to approach him,
mostly within the hospitality industry. Maybe they're word about saying
or doing the wrong thing, is not sure, but he
likes to think that it comes from a place of ignorance.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
They'll be out dining with friends and the staff will
ask the person that I'm with what would he like
to drink? Or what will he have for dinner or
something like that. That's bizarre to me because I can hear,
I can speak. I'm a reasonably intelligent person, I like
to think. But I guess again, I like to think
(08:54):
it just comes from a place of ignorance. People don't
deliberately do something with malicious inns tent so I think
just reassuring people the best way is to just talk
to them directly. If you're unsure of how to help
me or assist me, just ask me. I can speak
for myself and I'm more than happy to do so.
(09:14):
So the best thing you can always do is introduce yourself,
so you might say, hi, Dan, it's so and so
from blah, blah blah.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
I'm here for x y Z. How can I assist
you today?
Speaker 1 (09:25):
That's just treating me with dignity and respect like anyone else.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
But the fact that you introduce yourself to me.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
I know you're speaking to me, I know where you're from,
I know you're a tristed person. If you've given me
then your name, I can easily speak back to you
and know who I'm talking to. So those little things
can make a huge difference to me.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
But not all problems are about interactions. Sometimes it's just
how things are set up around us, or the way
objects are designed. It could be things like tables or chairs,
locking footpaths, sharp corners on furniture for lighting in a room,
or even temporary construction.
Speaker 5 (10:08):
I think the big thing is having that clear sort
of boundary or distinct change in surface between what's the
walking pass and what the garden areas. So having something
texturally that is easy to feel and distinguish between the
concrete paths and the grass of the boundary, or as
(10:32):
you said, even just something like that simple metal strip
can help. Likeh someone that might use a cane to
be able to navigate to know where to get around
that environment like that can make a big difference. Yeah,
and keeping those surfaces level makes it a lot easier,
so you can be confident that there's not going to
be a sudden fruit hazard. Yea where you've got full
(10:56):
paths ensuring that they remain clear. I come into some
spaces like this, we there might be an event on
or something, so they use like an a frame or
something in the middle of a footpath to direct people
out of which that's nice that we're trying to direct
people somewhere, but then that in itself creates a barrier
or an obstacle that presents a challenge to someone Mark myself.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
In two thousand and eight, Dan's relationship with Guy Dogs
New South Wales Act changed from being a client to
becoming a worker. Today he's a disability advocate and community
mobilizer with them, working as part of the social change
team Dance.
Speaker 4 (11:38):
It's in a white studio and speaks to come up.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
Hi.
Speaker 3 (11:40):
My name is Dan and.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
I work for Guide Dogs New South Wales Act. We're
here today to talk about our online modules assisting people
with blindness or low vision.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
His job is to help people in the community develop
the skills they need to get involved in campaigns that
make society more inclusive. He's passionate about advocacy, access and inclusion,
and as part of a campaign called Access Means Business.
This campaign is run by a Guide Dog's New South
(12:13):
Wales Act in partnership with the City of Sydney.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
We're offering free training for any hospitality staff in Sydney LGA.
That's with thanks to a grant from Sydney City Council,
so there is free online training available. It's for assisting
people with blindness or low vision, so it's roughly twenty
to thirty minutes, so very short, not a big time demand,
(12:40):
and will just help give you some really simple tips
on how to communicate effectively, how to describe a space,
or how to guide someone. So those little things that
will make a big difference in giving someone confidence on
how to appropriately interact. We're trying to educate businesses and
the community around the idea that when we talk about
(13:02):
access or inclusion, it doesn't have to mean a big renovation.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
I think people get scared.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
Anytime you start talking about access that they think they've
got to spend tens of thousands of dollars. So we
want to help sort of break a little bit of
that barrier that being more inclusive can be very simple things.
I think the biggest thing you can do is talk
directly to people. Ask people with a disability, approach them
(13:27):
to speak directly to them. For me, just something as
simple as introducing yourself when you see that person helps
reassure me that you are a trusted person. If you're
a member of that business, then I know that you
can offer me some assistance. If you don't know how
to assist the person, just simply ask them, is there
something you need? Am I able to assist you. Things
(13:49):
like that make a huge difference. And that's something simple
and free that anyone can do.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
And what keeps in motivated you ask. He says he's
lucky to have a voice and that it's personal.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
I'm lucky to have had access to a good education.
I'm lucky to be able to speak in a way
that allows me to express my needs in an accessible
format for other people to know what changes they can
and can't make.
Speaker 3 (14:20):
I think having.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
Worked as a physiotherapist in the chronic health space, I've
primarily worked with people with chronic.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
Pain and with mental health.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
I think I saw a lot of the things there
was barriers to what I could do, what limitations there were,
Like I could help get people so far, I could
help them with their physical health, but there were still
challengers that limited their ability to fully interact with society,
that were beyond my control and that were even beyond
(14:52):
their control. Were more about societal issues. So whilst I
could make some difference at an individualist level, there was
still societal barriers that I couldn't address as an individual clinician.
So I was really motivated to get into that systemic
change space. So part of the social change team with
Guide Dogs, where I can make a bigger impact at
(15:14):
that systemic level.
Speaker 2 (15:17):
Today, when Dan looks back to when he was sixteen
and losing his sights, he remembers having to relearn how
to navigate life. For him, one of the biggest challenges
was accepting that he might need to do things differently,
But the most important lesson was realizing that it's okay
to ask for help and that's not about having a disability.
(15:40):
Everyone needs help at some point in their life.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
I remember one time when I got really upset that
I'd failed to do something that I thought was a
simple task and I should have been able to do okay,
and a friend who has site loss as well said
to me that even brain surge need to get a
plumber around to fix with their plumbing.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
And I think just.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
Trying to highlight the fact that no matter who you are,
you've got strength, and at one per point you'll be
the person asking for help.
Speaker 3 (16:10):
At other points you'll be the person giving help.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
So I'm really excited now that in my role, I
can have the opportunity to give back and help other
people in the way that so many other people have
helped me. It's funny, like, I consider myself extremely lucky
to have had sixteen years of sight, and I'm really
lucky that I grew up on a farm, and I
know what different animals look like, I know what different
(16:36):
parts of the world look like. I've been able to
see my mum and dad before, and those are things
that I don't take for granted. I'm really lucky that
I've had those opportunities. But now being thirty eight years
old and being twenty years plus since it happened, it
sort of gets to a point where I can't I can't.
Speaker 3 (16:57):
Grasp onto that person anymore.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
I sort of see themselves always almost two distinct parts
of my life and parts of my identity. I sometimes
forget the fact that I can't see, which I appreciate.
Sounds silly, but my life as it is now is
the life I'm used to. I don't envisage a way
(17:19):
of doing things differently.
Speaker 4 (17:21):
So Hi, I'm Aline and I'm Lucy. Thanks for watching
and listening to seven New Spectrum. If you have a
story that you think when make a good episode, let
us know at seven News Podcasts at gmail dot com.
(17:44):
Thanks
I do remember the time that I did get a diagnosis,
so I guess even when I got to that point
of diagnosis, I was still under the belief that the
diagnosis would leave too. Here's the clear answer, here's the
treatment we provide, and this was what we'll fix it.
So for many months in those initial phases, I was
still living with the idea that I'd wake up tomorrow
(00:23):
and I'd be able to see, and it would be fine,
and I wouldn't have to contemplate a life without sight.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
We like to think that everything around us is the
signed with us in mind. The signs, the texture of
the ground, the shape of benches, sharp corners of a table,
or even the water fountain itself. Now imagine you couldn't
(00:54):
see any of them. It makes you pause and wonder
is really included in the world us.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
Rah.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
This is Dan Searle. He's thirty eight years old and
grew up loving sports. He enjoys traveling, watching the Eurovision
Song contest, and having a good barbecue, though he prefers
not to be the one doing the cooking. When Dan
was sixteen, he lost most of his vision. The cells
(01:35):
in his eyes that send signals to the brain stopped working.
It was all due to rare genetic condition called Liber's
optic neuropathy.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
So that literally happened over my sixteenth birthday. So I
used to play a lot of tennis and squash and
that was really important to my life. And I found
that he was getting harder and harder to see the
ball from week to week, and that was really tough
for me to adjust to. But I think the reality
is in those early stages, I was very aware of
(02:12):
the fact that more and more people these days wear glasses.
I just assumed that I would get glasses and that
would solve everything. So it was quite a shock when
I started going to doctors and oxhalmologists and found that
magnification didn't do anything and I couldn't get a definitive
diagnosis straight away.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
He was on his learner's license at the time, working
towards the big piece that would let him drive on
his own, but months after his diagnosis, still hoping for
some sort of treatment, his parents finally told him the truth.
This wasn't a condition he could ever recover from.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
It was tough for me that I felt like sometimes
I was excluded from things, and I felt like I
was treated as a different person, which was really hard
for me because I feel like I was the same person.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
I just couldn't see anymore.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
I was very much a visual learner, so I had
to learn to do things differently, rely on audio and
tactile feedback to learn things.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
But it wasn't just that.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
I think it's more about learning to adjust to a
different identity. As I said, being outdoors playing sport, that
was such a big part of my identity and I
thought that I'd had that suddenly ripped away from me,
and that was really really hard for me.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
Heading into his final years of high school round year ten,
Dan began using a cane now and then by the
time he was moving out to start university studying to
become a physiotherapist, a kine had become a full time thing.
That's when getting the idea of getting a guide dog
it came up. But for Dan, who had just got
(03:58):
in the hang of life the King, the decision to
take on a dog wasn't made lightly.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
Growing up with a farm, I've always been around dogs
and I love dogs, so loved the idea of being
with a dog. But I think there was still this
guilt for me that I felt like I was taking
a dog away from someone who maybe deserved it more
than I did. So when I worked through that process
and understood the benefits that it could have to me,
(04:26):
and that's why they're there and putting my application, well,
I'm so glad I did. Receiving my first dog was
one of the best times of my life, and he
made such a huge difference to me and my confidence
in what was a critical time in my young adulthood.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
Since losing his eyesight over twenty years ago, Dan has
had three guide dogs, but finding the right one isn't
as easy as people might think. Things like environment, lifestyle,
and personality all have to be considered. The guy dog
alongside Dan today is Quinlan, a three year old at labrador.
Speaker 4 (05:08):
Good Boy, Where is it?
Speaker 3 (05:09):
One seat? Good boy? Did look?
Speaker 1 (05:13):
Come on?
Speaker 3 (05:13):
One seat? Good Boy? One seat?
Speaker 1 (05:18):
One snick?
Speaker 3 (05:20):
Good Boy?
Speaker 1 (05:20):
One seat, one seat?
Speaker 4 (05:24):
That's amazing.
Speaker 5 (05:28):
I don't have a treat for you.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
They are very fast learners. If you go somewhere once,
he will know to go back there again and again
and again. So if you walked with me around home,
you could probably easily tell the places I go to
regularly because he will look to pull into them, go,
oh is.
Speaker 4 (05:47):
This where you want to go?
Speaker 3 (05:48):
Down there? You want more coffee.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
You very much become in sync and a part of
each other's life, and guinosling I'm relaxed, heak and relaxed,
and when he's relaxed, I'm relaxed. And yeah, obviously, as
I say, he wants to do the right thing too,
and he wants to make you happy and keep you safe.
So he's excited if he does the right thing, and
then he almost seems like you feel stressed if he
(06:12):
hasn't got it perfect, So that it is an amazing
bond and hard to explain how close that becomes.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
He is my third guide dog. So Bear was my
first dog.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
He was a chocolate Labrador and he will always have
a special place in my heart being my first guide dog.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
I think you can't imagine the change that.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
It makes to your life until you've been through that
experience and the bond that you develop. And again, as
I was still adjusting to my sight loss and that
young adulthood, he just played a huge role in my
life and I don't think any dog will ever quite
match that. They've all been special. Frodo was my second dog,
(06:57):
He is a black lab. He's still with me now
he's retired. He's eleven years old and Quinland, my third
guide dog, has been working with me now for about
nine months.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
Life with the guide dog suits Dan. He's taught Quinland
useful commands that help him feel more confident navigating different places,
but it's also come with challenges. There have been times
when he was denied entry into public spaces with his
guide dog, despite it being illegal to do so.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
I have recently had some experience with the pub and
it was very distressing. So it was for me when
I was out with friends and I was stopped at
the door and told that I couldn't bring the dog
in there by the security person at the front of
the venue. And it's a horrible feeling. It's not just
the fact that you feel rejected. It's then when you're
(07:50):
out with friends, you feel like you're letting them down.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
And I think it gets.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
To a point even if you do manage to explain
the law and that it's illegal to refuse you and
you end up in the venue, you don't feel welcomed anymore,
and you don't really want to be there, and you
don't really want to spend your money there anymore. So
it's a really demoralizing experience and no one wants to
have to go through that.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
Another issue has been people being afraid to approach him,
mostly within the hospitality industry. Maybe they're word about saying
or doing the wrong thing, is not sure, but he
likes to think that it comes from a place of ignorance.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
They'll be out dining with friends and the staff will
ask the person that I'm with what would he like
to drink? Or what will he have for dinner or
something like that. That's bizarre to me because I can hear,
I can speak. I'm a reasonably intelligent person, I like
to think. But I guess again, I like to think
(08:54):
it just comes from a place of ignorance. People don't
deliberately do something with malicious inns tent so I think
just reassuring people the best way is to just talk
to them directly. If you're unsure of how to help
me or assist me, just ask me. I can speak
for myself and I'm more than happy to do so.
(09:14):
So the best thing you can always do is introduce yourself,
so you might say, hi, Dan, it's so and so
from blah, blah blah.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
I'm here for x y Z. How can I assist
you today?
Speaker 1 (09:25):
That's just treating me with dignity and respect like anyone else.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
But the fact that you introduce yourself to me.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
I know you're speaking to me, I know where you're from,
I know you're a tristed person. If you've given me
then your name, I can easily speak back to you
and know who I'm talking to. So those little things
can make a huge difference to me.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
But not all problems are about interactions. Sometimes it's just
how things are set up around us, or the way
objects are designed. It could be things like tables or chairs,
locking footpaths, sharp corners on furniture for lighting in a room,
or even temporary construction.
Speaker 5 (10:08):
I think the big thing is having that clear sort
of boundary or distinct change in surface between what's the
walking pass and what the garden areas. So having something
texturally that is easy to feel and distinguish between the
concrete paths and the grass of the boundary, or as
(10:32):
you said, even just something like that simple metal strip
can help. Likeh someone that might use a cane to
be able to navigate to know where to get around
that environment like that can make a big difference. Yeah,
and keeping those surfaces level makes it a lot easier,
so you can be confident that there's not going to
be a sudden fruit hazard. Yea where you've got full
(10:56):
paths ensuring that they remain clear. I come into some
spaces like this, we there might be an event on
or something, so they use like an a frame or
something in the middle of a footpath to direct people
out of which that's nice that we're trying to direct
people somewhere, but then that in itself creates a barrier
or an obstacle that presents a challenge to someone Mark myself.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
In two thousand and eight, Dan's relationship with Guy Dogs
New South Wales Act changed from being a client to
becoming a worker. Today he's a disability advocate and community
mobilizer with them, working as part of the social change
team Dance.
Speaker 4 (11:38):
It's in a white studio and speaks to come up.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
Hi.
Speaker 3 (11:40):
My name is Dan and.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
I work for Guide Dogs New South Wales Act. We're
here today to talk about our online modules assisting people
with blindness or low vision.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
His job is to help people in the community develop
the skills they need to get involved in campaigns that
make society more inclusive. He's passionate about advocacy, access and inclusion,
and as part of a campaign called Access Means Business.
This campaign is run by a Guide Dog's New South
(12:13):
Wales Act in partnership with the City of Sydney.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
We're offering free training for any hospitality staff in Sydney LGA.
That's with thanks to a grant from Sydney City Council,
so there is free online training available. It's for assisting
people with blindness or low vision, so it's roughly twenty
to thirty minutes, so very short, not a big time demand,
(12:40):
and will just help give you some really simple tips
on how to communicate effectively, how to describe a space,
or how to guide someone. So those little things that
will make a big difference in giving someone confidence on
how to appropriately interact. We're trying to educate businesses and
the community around the idea that when we talk about
(13:02):
access or inclusion, it doesn't have to mean a big renovation.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
I think people get scared.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
Anytime you start talking about access that they think they've
got to spend tens of thousands of dollars. So we
want to help sort of break a little bit of
that barrier that being more inclusive can be very simple things.
I think the biggest thing you can do is talk
directly to people. Ask people with a disability, approach them
(13:27):
to speak directly to them. For me, just something as
simple as introducing yourself when you see that person helps
reassure me that you are a trusted person. If you're
a member of that business, then I know that you
can offer me some assistance. If you don't know how
to assist the person, just simply ask them, is there
something you need? Am I able to assist you. Things
(13:49):
like that make a huge difference. And that's something simple
and free that anyone can do.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
And what keeps in motivated you ask. He says he's
lucky to have a voice and that it's personal.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
I'm lucky to have had access to a good education.
I'm lucky to be able to speak in a way
that allows me to express my needs in an accessible
format for other people to know what changes they can
and can't make.
Speaker 3 (14:20):
I think having.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
Worked as a physiotherapist in the chronic health space, I've
primarily worked with people with chronic.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
Pain and with mental health.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
I think I saw a lot of the things there
was barriers to what I could do, what limitations there were,
Like I could help get people so far, I could
help them with their physical health, but there were still
challengers that limited their ability to fully interact with society,
that were beyond my control and that were even beyond
(14:52):
their control. Were more about societal issues. So whilst I
could make some difference at an individualist level, there was
still societal barriers that I couldn't address as an individual clinician.
So I was really motivated to get into that systemic
change space. So part of the social change team with
Guide Dogs, where I can make a bigger impact at
(15:14):
that systemic level.
Speaker 2 (15:17):
Today, when Dan looks back to when he was sixteen
and losing his sights, he remembers having to relearn how
to navigate life. For him, one of the biggest challenges
was accepting that he might need to do things differently,
But the most important lesson was realizing that it's okay
to ask for help and that's not about having a disability.
(15:40):
Everyone needs help at some point in their life.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
I remember one time when I got really upset that
I'd failed to do something that I thought was a
simple task and I should have been able to do okay,
and a friend who has site loss as well said
to me that even brain surge need to get a
plumber around to fix with their plumbing.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
And I think just.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
Trying to highlight the fact that no matter who you are,
you've got strength, and at one per point you'll be
the person asking for help.
Speaker 3 (16:10):
At other points you'll be the person giving help.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
So I'm really excited now that in my role, I
can have the opportunity to give back and help other
people in the way that so many other people have
helped me. It's funny, like, I consider myself extremely lucky
to have had sixteen years of sight, and I'm really
lucky that I grew up on a farm, and I
know what different animals look like, I know what different
(16:36):
parts of the world look like. I've been able to
see my mum and dad before, and those are things
that I don't take for granted. I'm really lucky that
I've had those opportunities. But now being thirty eight years
old and being twenty years plus since it happened, it
sort of gets to a point where I can't I can't.
Speaker 3 (16:57):
Grasp onto that person anymore.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
I sort of see themselves always almost two distinct parts
of my life and parts of my identity. I sometimes
forget the fact that I can't see, which I appreciate.
Sounds silly, but my life as it is now is
the life I'm used to. I don't envisage a way
(17:19):
of doing things differently.
Speaker 4 (17:21):
So Hi, I'm Aline and I'm Lucy. Thanks for watching
and listening to seven New Spectrum. If you have a
story that you think when make a good episode, let
us know at seven News Podcasts at gmail dot com.
(17:44):
Thanks
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