Life Unlimited - Infolink, Spring 2016

INFOLINK

CONNECTING YOU WITH DISABILITY INFORMATION

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WELCOME Like many New Zealanders, we’ve been excited by some of the great coverage of the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. In our featured interview with FreeFM radio host Peter McLean, he observed how important it is to see people with disabilities represented in the media.

Peter is certainly doing his part on his weekly radio show which provides a space for guests to talk about disability issues.

If you’ve enjoyed the Games too, make sure you check out our events section where you’ll find information about the upcoming New Zealand Deaf Games and the Special Olympic Trans Tasman Tournament. Why not get along, support the athletes and check out some of the action.

IN THIS ISSUE DAILY CHALLENGES SHOW AUDIO BOOK APP REVIEWED TRAINING TO HEAR DISABILITY NEWS WHAT'S ON

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RADIO SHOW SHINES LIGHT ON DAILY CHALLENGES

sick of people coming to me with their disability issues, so I thought I better do "I got something about it.”

That's what inspired Peter McLean to start his radio programme, The Daily Challenges Show, on Waikato access radio station FreeFM and available live online or by podcast nationwide at www.freefm.org.nz.

The Daily Challenges Show airs every Tuesday morning and features a guest speaker each week. The aim of the show is to provide a space for people to talk about the challenges they face living with a disability and how it impacts on their life.

Peter has hosted the programme on and off over a number of years. He reckons he’s made more than 300 radio shows in that time.

Peter says the best thing about the programme is that it helps people to have a better understanding about what others are going though, and it shows that “people like myself can have a voice".

“A lot of people won’t admit they have a disability. They’re too scared to talk about it.

I thought, nah, I’ll give it a go - on a radio show.”

Peter hopes that when people hear him talking with his guests they will be encouraged to talk about their disability too, and the challenges they face every day.

And it’s worked. There is no shortage of guests. Peter says he gets most guests by “word of mouth” - he's already well ahead of schedule with eight pre-recorded interviews in the can. It’s a lot of work, but Peter’s always planning the next show.

Life Unlimited supports the Daily Challenges Show, a radio programme hosted by Peter McLean on 89.0 FreeFM in the Waikato every Tuesday, 9-11am. Listen online at www.freefm.org.nz

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Above: Peter McLean hosts The Daily Challenges Show every Tuesday on FreeFM

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WANT TO GET INVOLVED IN COMMUNITY RADIO? Access radio offers unique programmes made by, for and about real people in the community. So, if you’ve got something to say, community access radio is a great way to get your message out.

Contact your local access radio station to have a chat about your idea for a radio show. You don’t need any broadcasting experience, but in some cases there may be a small fee to get your show on the air. Ask the station about finding a sponsor.

There are 12 access radio stations across New Zealand.

Find your local access radio station at www.acab.org.nz

NEW APP FOR PRINT DISABLED A mobile app aims to make books more accessible for people who are print disabled – this includes anyone who is unable to read due to blindness, sight impairment or a physical impairment which means they are unable to hold a book. recently attended training at my local library to use BookLink – a software John McIntosh, app designed and developed by the Blind Community Liaison Foundation Library of New Zealand. It enables users to search, download and read audio books, audio magazines and other library content straight from an Apple device.

I

Currently this app is only available on Apple devices such as the iPad, iPhone or iPod. This is because Apple devices already have many accessible features built in that are ideal for blind or sight-impaired users. Some of these features include a voice-over function, larger text, increased contrast, zoom function and the ability to invert colours. Of course users must also have access to WiFi when downloading books or returning books to the library.

GREASE IS THE WORD

The Palmerston Street Friendship Group took to the stage on 22 September in Hamilton as part of the Launched Disability Pride Festival.

BookLink provides access to over 10,000 audio books as well as magazines and a range of newspapers in text format, which can be read using the voice-over function. Audio books in the collection cover a wide range of subjects and include fiction and non-fiction books. The collection also includes a selection of New Zealand books that have been narrated by well-known New Zealand actors and personalities.

To download the BookLink app you’ll need to contact the Blind Foundation and provide supporting evidence from your medical practitioner about your print disability. You’ll also need to join your local public library so you can access their ongoing support. There are currently 14 council-run libraries supporting BookLink across the country.

I initially had some challenges during the training because I had never used the voice-over function on my iPad. However, I soon mastered that, and then using BookLink was relatively easy. I was very impressed by the simplicity of the app, the two Blind Foundation trainers and the knowledge of our local Hamilton City Library staff who will be available should I need assistance in the future. I highly recommended Booklink for anyone who is print disabled.

Visit www.blindfoundation.org.nz for more information about BookLink.

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COCHLEAR IMPLANT A CHANCE TO HEAR AGAIN

playing the piano and the organ. And sometimes when there is too much noise around her, it can be painful. Only in the last year has she been able to drive a car again.

But a cochlear implant has given her a second chance at hearing.

Margaret was born in Wanganui and brought up in Cambridge, attending the small rural Whitehall School and then Cambridge High School before marrying John 53 years ago and settling in Te Kowhai, west of Hamilton.

The couple went on to have two children and four grandchildren.

She has no idea when she lost the hearing in her right ear, possibly at birth, but there were no such things as Before School Checks then to pick up the problem.

Margaret could hear out of the other ear and compensated accordingly until three years ago. Leading up to the morning she woke up without any hearing, she’d had a heavy cold, and not felt well.

Above L-R: Waikato arable farmers John and Margaret Hodge with hearing therapist Cherry McWha.

he nine months Margaret Hodge spent unable to hear

T family voices or the familiar country music songs she and

husband John always played to each other, was the worst period of her life.

The 75-year-old Waikato arable farmer woke on Monday 14 October 2013 unable to hear anything out of her left ear.

Given she has never had any hearing in her right ear, it meant she was deaf.

“It’s not a nice world to live in when you can’t hear …. you don’t realise what a gift hearing is,” she says in her softlyspoken voice which during the period she was deaf became loud like a fog-horn.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” she asks John.

He doesn’t answer, but he clearly thinks it was the least of her problems during that period where she carried a white board and a pen so she could communicate with people.

Today Margaret has a cochlear implant in her left ear and while she can hear out of it, it’s a different type of hearing than what she had before although she is grateful she can at least hear her family and friends’ voices now.

A cochlear implant is an electronic medical device that replaces the function of the damaged inner ear. Unlike hearing aids which make sounds louder, cochlear implants bypass the damaged parts of the inner ear and stimulate the nerve of hearing to provide sound signals to the brain.

“It’s not a natural sound, it’s a mechanical sound,” she says.

“I can hear this and that out in the garden, I can hear the tui sing, I can hear the wind whistling and the traffic on the road.”

But the hearing is not good enough for her to go back to

Specialists can’t be sure but there is a suspicion she had a nasty infection which went into the ear. Later on Monday 14 October, she collapsed and was taken to Waikato Hospital where she came under the care of otolaryngologist specialist Malcolm Giles and audiologist Emma-Jane Opie.

Otorhinolaryngology or otolaryngology is the area of medicine that deals with conditions of the ear, nose, and throat region.

While Margaret was given a hearing aid for her left ear, it was not enough; so on 30 June 2014 specialist Robert Gunn performed the cochlear implant at Gillies Southern Cross Hospital in Auckland.

And unlike in the movies, where people are miraculously able to hear instantly, the process after surgery is a more measured one which involves “fine-tuning” the electrodes which stimulate the cochlear nerve and sends signals to the brain.

What followed for Margaret after that is what John calls “training the brain” to hear again.

“What I’ve discovered since we’ve both been part of the Waikato Cochlear Implant Support Group, is that every person who gets a cochlear implant is different.”

Margaret has two-monthly aural rehabilitation sessions with Life Unlimited hearing therapist Cherry McWha in Hamilton to improve Margaret’s ability to manage her cochlear implant.

Watch Margaret and Cherry on our Life Unlimited YouTube channel.

NEED HELP WITH YOUR HEARING? Life Unlimited Hearing Therapy is a national service funded by the Ministry of Health which provides a free, independent hearing service to New Zealand citizens and permanent residents aged 16 years and over. Freephone 0800 008 011 or visit www.hearingtherapy.co.nz

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DISABILITY NEWS

DEPRESSION COMMON IN ADULTS WITH AUTISM More than a quarter of adults with autism are currently experiencing significant symptoms of depression, new research from one of the country’s leading autism experts has found.

Wellington-based Martyn Matthews has published a six-year study of the mental health of adults with autism for his PhD from Otago University.

In it he found that 26 per cent of adults with autism were experiencing depression and that 39 per cent of those with autism plus an intellectual disability and 60 per cent of those with autism only, were taking anti-depressant medications.

“Adults with autism are four times more likely to experience depression than other people,” said Matthews who is national clinical practice leader at IDEA Services, part of IHC New Zealand.

That means they come into frequent contact with psychiatric services where their autism is not well understood.

Furthermore, requesting information about mental health problems from those with autism is often challenging because of communication difficulties.

WHAT'S ON 11-14 October - Blind Foundation Engagement Roadshow An opportunity to meet with members of the board and have a chat about how things are going for you. The roadshow will stop in Hamilton, Tauranga, Rotorua and Taupo. www.blindfoundation.org.nz 16 October, 9-11am - Free session at Dialled Indoor Trampoline Park, Tauranga Drop in to Dialled at 13 Triton Ave, Mt Maunganui for a fun morning for children with disabilities, their siblings and carers.

No need to book. www.dialled.co.nz 19-21 October - InterACT Disability Arts Festival, Corbans Estate Art Centre, Auckland InterACT celebrates the achievements of disabled people in the arts and features live performances, wearable art, music and creative workshops. www.interacting.org.nz 20-23 October - New Zealand Deaf Games, Hamilton Over 100 athletes will compete in 8 ball, badminton, indoor netball, basketball, football, darts and bowls. www.deafsports.nz/deafgames 19 November - Waikato Sibling support workshop SibShops let 8 to 18-year-olds, who have a sibling with a disability, enjoy a fun day that’s just for them.

Email rutht@parent2parent.org.nz

“The combination of atypical presentation of depression in adults with autism and the difficulties which people with autism face in describing their thoughts and feelings, highlights a need for different assessment approaches,” said Matthews.

Read the full article in the latest Altogether Autism Journal at www.altogetherautism.org.nz

NEW RESOURCES ENCOURAGE CHOICE Auckland Disability Law has created a range of resources to support people with disabilities to make informed decisions so they can have more choice and control about how they live their lives.

The resources were created as part of a project Auckland Disability Law undertook earlier in the year following a national supported decision making hui.

You can view videos and other presentations from the hui and download supported decision making resources from www.aucklanddisabilitylaw.org.nz

25-27 November - Special Olympics Trans-Tasman Tournament, Hamilton Over 550 athletes from across New Zealand and Australia will take part in a series of athletics and aquatics competitions at the third Trans Tasman Tournament. The tournament was created by Special Olympics New Zealand and Australia to give athletes more opportunity to compete, particularly those athletes who may not be able to travel to Special Olympics World Games. www.specialolympics.org.nz 3 December - United Nations’ International Day of Persons with Disabilities