Think Outside the Chair campaign
See the full article here: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-06/think-outside-the-chair-invisible-disabilities-campaign/10567322
Living in an Australian society that understands and accepts all forms of disability is no longer a pipedream for New South Wales woman Marni Walkerden.
Ms Walkerden is the brains behind the Think Outside the Chair campaign, which launched in the NSW Central Coast region. The online initiative is encouraging the public to download, print and display a new symbol that encompasses all forms of disabilities — both visible and not.
Ms Walkerden said that the proposed new icon and accompanying hashtag #ThinkOutsideTheChair will be displayed alongside the universal symbol for disability at public spaces. She said she is optimistic this will help break down the public’s perception of what a disability means and looks like.
Ms Walkerden lives with hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP) and her ambition of creating change in the way people understand disabilities started many years ago, but she said it was exacerbated shortly after starting to use her mobility parking permit seven years ago. “I got out of the car a few times and had strange looks from people,” Ms Walkerden said. “Five and a half years ago I started working with Ability Links in NSW, which is a State Government-funded program to help people with disabilities and their family members and carers to link into the community.
“The more I spoke to people, the more prevalent I found this problem to be.”
Ms Walkerden said that although the campaign is NSW-based, ultimately, she hopes it will go nationwide, with the potential for it to make a difference globally.
SOURCE: ABC Riverland
‘Invisible’ disabilities campaign calls on community to ‘think outside the chair’
By Laura Collins and Lucy Robinson
First posted 5 Dec 2018