I am lucky I lead a fairly good life. I try to keep myself occupied. Mondays and Wednesdays I work at AFFORD. AFFORD is a sheltered workshop for people with different disabilities. AFFORD has many different services. I go to the factory in Marickville. I do many things such as labeling and packing boxes. I have been there since 2006 and quite like it, though at times the factory gets very hot and I need to go and cool down.

Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays I do Lifeskills at Northcott. At Lifeskills there are around 20 clients, all with physical disabilities and all are my friends. Each day we start with excersises, then after morning tea we do different things. Tuesday I do cooking and then art. Thursday is my swimming day. I love swimming; I feel relaxed in the water and I can let go. Fridays are my outing days. I love Lifeskillsl, they help me in so many ways. I also attend Respite at Northcott once a month. This gives me and mum a break from each other. I get to go with my friends I’ve known for years from Lifeskills and at times make new friends too. I love respite at Northcott; everyone has fun and we all love being with each other. I used to attend another respite but did not like it as much, as I didn’t really mesh well with the people there. I felt this would make me act out. The staff were lovely, but I felt they thought everyone was on the same level, in terms of disability, which would lead them to gossip about others in earshot of me. I felt that they thought, “You’re deaf, you won’t hear me”, but I did. Once they had a meeting about another client and sent me out into other room, but let the others stay. This made me feel that they were talking about me; all clients should be treated equally, no matter the level of their disability. Northcott is nothing like that. We are all equal there.

On weekends I go out with mum and my family. Every second Saturday, a Northcott worker takes me out for a few hours, and we go anywhere I want. We use trains, busses, the carers car, anything that works.

When I’m home, I like to go on my computer or ipad and look at Facebook. I look at my group chats and relax. I also love to read and swim, as well as take a good bath.

Life is very good and I enjoy all the things I do.