DIY - How to be interviewed by the media

How to be interviewed by the media

By Tracy Peters Disabled United

07/04/2024

It can be daunting speaking to the media, giving my name, and allowing a picture to be taken to be used in the media.

Here's how I go about it.

Firstly I am disabled and I'm proud of who I am a disabled woman in a wheelchair. This will come across on camera and during an interview, I'm me, and I'm proud of who I am.

Self-image is critical; it's where we start.

Next is how I present myself. I dress carefully. What I wear, the color style, how does it look in a mirror?

What of me is visible, and am I happy with what is visible?

Am I tidy? hair brushed, am I comfortable in my wheelchair?

What's behind me? And yes, it's important. What's behind me will reflect how good I look in a picture, and I want to look good because I will be judged on presentation—that's a fact—so I make sure what's behind me and beside me is good.

A good interviewer and photographer will make suggestions and offer guidance.

Am I ready? Is the cell on silent? Where is the interview going to be?

Is the place noisy? Do I need a friend to support and cheer me on?

Who am I going to be speaking with? I use the word deliberately, as you need to speak with someone who engages with you, asks questions, keeps you on topic, helps you relax, and has fun! As serious as the topic is, have fun!

RESOURCES

• More DIY guides

• Examples of great interviews of disabled people.

• Send press releases to Scoop

Day 8 - The Southland Times - Funding changes opposed

Funding changes opposed

By Louisa Steyl

Published by The Southland Times on Tuesday March 26, 2024

It has been a long, stressful, "nightmare" few days for Tracy Peters.

She woke up to a Google alert last Monday morning saying that Whaikaha, the Ministry of Disabled People, was pausing individualised funding while it made changes to its purchasing rules and equipment modifications service.

"I thought it was a scam," the Southlander with paraplegia said.

For both her and her husband, who has Asperger's syndrome, it meant they could not access the support that enables them to live independently.

Peters, alongside Southland's disability community, plans to protest the changes outside Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds' office on Thursday. She is encouraging people around the country to do the same.

The ministry made the announcement in a Facebook post.

Chief executive Paula Tesoriero took to Facebook over the weekend to apologise for the way the ministry communicated the changes. "I want to acknowledge that the rules ... took you by surprise. We know that the way we went about announcing these changes caused stress and anxiety, and for that I am truly sorry."

Tesoriero said last week rules about what the ministry would pay for were relaxed during the Covid-19 pandemic but needed to be reconsidered. As costs increased and more people were using the service, the ministry had ended up $65 million in the red, she told RNZ's Nine to Noon.

In her apology, Tesoriero said lessons had been learned, and would inform how the ministry worked in future.

People would not lose their carer support, she said, and the ministry would be considering broader policy settings in consultation with the community.

Peters said she could understand the the ministry needed to tighten its belt, but she asked how it had been allowed to fall so far into debt, and why the announcement was made without consulting the community who would be directly affected.

"If they didn't have the money to grant my budget, why did they?"

Being unable to provide her support carer with personal protective equipment and travel payments meant her contract was void until the situation was clear, she said.

Because she could no longer access payments for ride services, she was trying on her electric wheelchair, which was in itself risky, because of rain, and worn tyres that needed replacing.

Peters said she used individualised funding because she did not qualify for ACC payments. She went through regular "gruelling, terrifying" assessments to set a budget, and every time she needed to use that budget, she had to submit a claim explaining why it was needed.

"It's exhausting. It's scary, and if I don't dot the Is and cross the Ts, It's delayed."

The assessors were strict, Peters said, and there had been times, such as when her husband needed noise-cancelling headphones, where the couple had to contribute.

"The sacrifice is always groceries."

Peters hit back at Simmonds' comments that carers had been taking advantage of the funding to pay for their own massages, overseas travel, pedicures and haircuts.

There had been instances when she had claimed for massages for her carer, she said, but it was because it was suggested by a physiotherapist to help with the heavy lifting her carer was doing.

And if she was at the hospital, she wasn't going to hesitate to buy her career a coffee, Peters said.

It was important to understand that, she added, that cuts like this affected more than just the disability community.

Suppliers and service providers would lose income, and important staff would need to be off work to support their family members with disabilities.

"The entire country will be impacted adversely," she said.

But beyond the financial implications, there was a loss of dignity when arbitrary decisions were made on someone's behalf, Peters said.

"We have fought for our rights. They weren't given to us. Every person in this country with a disability has had to fight for their rights to exist."

She wanted the ministry to consult with the community about any funding changes.

In a statement, Simmonds said no disabled person would lose access to funding for essential services, equipment or support.

"The changes that the Ministry for Disabled People, Whaikaha, is making are simply about ensuring the funding allocated to disabled people is actually being used for that purpose," the minister said.

"I would appreciate that the consultation was not as wide as it should have been before implementing the changes. We are improving processes around communication."

A spokesperson for Simmonds said on Friday that she would have no more to add.

Disabled United will conduct a peaceful protest outside Simmonds' office on Kelvin St, Invercargill from 10am on Thursday. Simmonds' spokesperson said she would not be in Invercargill that day.

Protesters will also gather at the Bridge of Remembrance in Christchurch from 11am and at Meridian Mall in Dunedin.

Resources

• Link to front cover article on the Southland Times

Day 6 - NZ Herald - Disability funding ‘pause’ causes confusion, trauma, and disbelief - Colleen Brown

Disability funding ‘pause’ causes confusion, trauma, and disbelief - Colleen Brown

By Colleen Brown

NZ Herald 25 Mar, 2024 05:00 AM

Travers Brown, aged 43, has Down syndrome. His mother, Colleen Brown, says cutbacks to disability support have caused grief and bewilderment among carers.

OPINION:

Our son Travers is 43 years old. He has Down syndrome and is a cherished member of our family. For his whole life we have had to fight for everything he has achieved. We’ve fought for his right to attend his local primary and secondary schools, to get extra physiotherapy, to go to tertiary education, for his flat. We’ve had to explain why he needed particular support, again, and again and again. We are survivors of an, at times, indifferent education and political system. We are intensely proud of Travers and the life he now leads, flatting with his mates near his brother and one sister, only a pyjama ride away from us. I say pyjama ride – because just because he is an adult, we are still watchful, still prepared to leap into action to support him, whatever it takes, whenever he needs us.

You can never rest being the parent of a disabled person, because with each gain we made, we were made to pay. You see, we are expected to be grateful. Be grateful for every drop of support, be grateful for every medical intervention, be grateful for the school principal who enrolled him, be grateful for the politician who understands your needs. The word “gratitude” sticks in my craw. It goes back to the charity model of the poor receiving charity from their betters. It smacks of others telling you how to run your life with the small parcels of support awarded to you. The crumbs under the table. My beautiful son is not seen as “contributing” to this society. He is not seen as an economic unit – so he really doesn’t matter.

Colleen Brown, whose 43-year-old son Travers has Down syndrome, says cutbacks to support for carers have caused grief and bewilderment. Photo / supplied

This truth was brought home to us with a resounding crash on Monday, March 18, ironically the same week as World Down Syndrome Day. Whaikaha – the Ministry of Disabled People – so hard fought-for by the disability community – announced on its Facebook page the changes to how disability support funding can be used. Never before have I seen the outpouring of grief and bewilderment at a ministry announcement. Without any consultation, people’s lives and how they survive them, have been overturned. There is confusion, trauma, and disbelief in the disability world, that this could be happening. But it is. Apparently, the funding is on “pause”, however you interpret that word.

Apparently, according to Minister Penny Simmonds, carers have been getting massages. Minister, I wish I could have had a massage when I had to lift Travers everywhere, while I was pregnant with our third child. He didn’t walk until he was nearly 3. I applaud those carers who had enough insight to look after themselves. Apparently, our children are okay about going to strange places for respite care, instead of having trusted whānau travel to stay with them, while we might have a night away from home and get some sleep. This isn’t about having a good night out, let me tell you. This is about survival. Caring for any disabled person is a high-trust position. The highest trust I can give anyone, anyone minister, is to care for my son.

The one thought at the end of every parent’s lips is “what happens to my disabled child when I die?”. An uncomfortable thought. But this is our reality.

We are at this position now because successive governments have not invested into the disability sector. Yes, funds have gone into schools, supports and equipment, but not into the challenging areas of respite care, and housing for disabled people and families. Inconveniently it seems, disabled people are living longer, surviving birth trauma and have outstripped all budgets surrounding them.

But it gets worse. This latest revelation is on top of incremental changes to the calculation of benefits, the review of school lunches, the slashing of public transport subsidies, and the reintroduction of prescription charges. Note to ministers: not all prescriptions are covered by the Community Services Card and not all families with disabled children have one. We feel targeted.

We in the disability sector have been down this road before. We have faced this repeatedly through successive governments. Sadly, very sadly, I’ve written before about the cost to lives when people despair so much they cannot see any way forward for them and their disabled family member. And so, we lose people. That is the reality we face. Now is the time to contact those you know in the disability community to show you value them. To show you care. To show kindness. To give us hope.

• Colleen Brown is Child Poverty Action Group disability spokesperson and Disability Connect chair.

RESOURCES

• https://disabilityconnect.org.nz/who-we-are/
• https://www.cpag.org.nz/our-people

Day 5 - The Press - Disempowering and dehumanising’: Whaikaha funding cuts through eyes of affected

‘Disempowering and dehumanising’: Whaikaha funding cuts through eyes of affected

By Maddy Croad 

The Press, March 23, 2024

Click to the original article to watch the video

Thousands were left shocked earlier this week when Whaikaha, the Ministry of Disabled People, announced it was placing restrictions on disability funding. The changes mean many disabled Kiwis can no longer access funding. Two affected Christchurch locals share their story with Press reporter MADDY CROAD.

Pictured at their New Brighton home are Shary Bakker and Andrew Cockell, with two of their children - River Bakker, 7, and Mira Bakker, 5 - who are both autistic and have high needs.

PETER MEECHAM / THE PRESS

Shary Bakker is a Christchurch mother with three autistic children.

On March 18, I was woken up by two of my primary school-aged autistic children. One, still toilet training, needed a nappy change. The lights flicked on and her brothers groaned and screamed as they woke up. Another day began.

As I entered the living room, I could hear my autistic teen bouncing on our trampoline. She was wearing her noise cancelling headphones, which we paid for with Whaikaha disability funding, to calm herself. Before we had the trampoline, also Whaikaha funded, my daughter engaged in frequent self harm, smashed things, cried and ripped curtains as she tried desperately to regulate her emotions.

At 11.52am I received a text from my friend. “Have you seen the changes they’re making to disability funding?”

I frantically searched for information. Finally, I stumbled upon a social media post showing Whaikaha’s changes. My heart sank. I don’t know which feeling was stronger, anger or devastation. With Whaikaha’s changes, my three autistic children had been abandoned.

The disabled community fought for years for flexible funding. Unlike the announcement from Whaikaha, these changes did not happen overnight. Flexibility came with restrictions, including proof that purchases met four criteria. It was not an open cheque book, as Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds implied.

I am a teacher and cannot work full-time due to my children's disabilities, resulting in a loss of income. My husband is forced to work from home.

My children used to have a carer, so my husband and I could have respite. She quit over a year ago and we haven’t been able to find a replacement since. While we could no longer take a break from the kids, flexible funding could still allow us to buy items such as timers for transitions, compression singlets and weighted blankets. All of which comforted the kids and calmed the household.

River Bakker and Mira play on the trampoline at home in New Brighton. The trampoline was paid for with Whaikaha disability funding.

PETER MEECHAM / THE PRESS

We purchased wiggle carts to help our kids balance; we could also finally send them to swimming lessons in smaller groups.

Our ‘individualised funding’ was life-changing by making us feel less isolated as parents of autistic children. More importantly, it helped our children thrive.

Whaikaha’s sudden changes have destroyed the progress we have made.

Forcing the vulnerable to struggle cannot bring benefit to New Zealand. Don’t we want a country where everyone thrives? Because it seems this current government doesn’t.

Marama Gravett is concerned about cuts to disability support.

KAI SCHWOERER / THE PRESS

Marama Gravett has a hypermobility disorder that causes her joints to easily dislocate. She uses a power wheelchair to get around.

When the news of the Whaikaha changes came out on March 18, people in the disabled community were shocked and upset. I’m concerned, however, that much of the narrative has been focused on carers, rather than the disabled people themselves.

That’s not to say that carers are not important, nor that they do not deserve support. But when talking about disability issues, it’s important to focus on disabled people. It feels disrespectful and dismissive to talk about us, and not with us.

I was planning to use some funding to fund hand-control vehicle lessons. My only option now is catching a bus. There have been times where I have gone to get on a bus and it’s too full for me. A power wheelchair cannot fit in most cars, so I cannot ask a friend for a lift.

I have funding to allow me the autonomy to determine my own support. That autonomy has now been taken away from me. I have been told that all I can do now is hire a support worker, to give me a break from myself.

Gravett says the cuts “shocked and upset” many in the disabled community.

KAI SCHWOERER / THE PRESS

Some of us neither need nor want carers as that is not what will support us to be happy and fulfilled individuals. The point of individualised funding was just that - individual - to put the power back in the hands of the disabled. That power has now been taken away. We have been told what is supportive, instead of being allowed to determine that for ourselves.

It’s wrong, it’s disempowering, and it’s dehumanising.

In a press release from minister Penny Simmonds on March 20, she said: “No disabled person to lose essential services.” I am here to say that I am a disabled person, and yes, we will.

She continued to say: “We intend to ensure that funding gets directly to where it is needed.” I can say I am a disabled person and it won’t.

The funding changes will take independence away from people with disabilities, Gravett says.

KAI SCHWOERER / THE PRESS

Day 5 - ODT - Disability cuts are ‘devastating’, disabled Mosgiel mother says

Disability cuts are ‘devastating’, disabled Mosgiel mother says

By Fiona Ellis

Otago Daily Times 23 Mar, 2024 12:29 PM

A Mosgiel mother of two children with disabilities says she is devastated by “cuts to an already threadbare funding system”.

Dr Amy Taylor said disability funding was not sufficient to begin with — she herself had never received government support despite being a wheelchair user.

This follows the Ministry of Disabled People’s announcement of funding changes on Monday, including new limits on what disabled people could purchase, and changes to the way equipment was prioritised.

Dr Taylor, who is an executive committee member of the Disabled Persons Assembly, said the change came out of the blue with no consultation, and these were cuts to a threadbare system.

“It’s devastating.

“I think everybody is really feeling undermined.

“Basically there was never a generous provision for disabled people at all, and now they have decided to give us less with no justification other than they can’t manage their budget.”

She had two children who had severe ADHD and were both on a waiting list to receive carer support.

Her condition meant she was unable to walk more than a few steps, and parenting as a disabled person was not easy.

It was not yet clear exactly how the change would impact her family, and Dr Taylor said there may still be some support available, but not as much as expected.

“I don’t know how we’re supposed to live full lives.

“My children deserve to go to birthday parties, they deserve to go to the mall, all the things that normal little kiddies do, they deserve to be able to do it too.

“Without having somebody help me, and being able to pay that person a fair wage to help me, I don’t know how I’m supposed to make it work.”

Taieri Labour MP Ingrid Leary said she had been inundated with messages from disabled people and their carers.

“The sudden change to the criteria is nothing but a cut to services which are essential for the wellbeing of members of the community,” she said.

Those who looked after loved ones often did heavy lifting and experienced sleep deprivation. They needed respite, physio and other services to support them — to imply they were living the high life at the expense of taxpayers was insulting.

Amy Taylor says sudden government changes to disability funding have left those impacted feeling undermined. Photo / Linda Robertson

A statement on the ministry’s website said it was not reducing funding but was clarifying what disabled people could purchase.

The ministry also said it would be prioritising equipment and modification services according to who needed them the most.

Disability Issues Minister Penny Simmonds said funding for disability support services had “blown out” under the previous Government, shifting from no flexibility to “total flexibility”.

“What we are saying is prioritise the funding for people with disabilities,” she said on Tuesday.

“Some of the funding has been going to carers — that has to be pulled back and prioritised to the disabled person.”

Day 3 - Whanganui Chronicle - Whanganui and Ruapehu advocates slam Ministry of Disabled People funding changes

Whanganui and Ruapehu advocates slam Ministry of Disabled People funding changes

By Liz Wylie

21 Mar, 2024 02:18 PM. Whanganui Chronicle

Julian Emmett said changes to disability funding had been announced without consultation or consideration for those affected. Photo / Bevan Conley

Whanganui disability advocates have slammed the Government’s changes to disability funding.

The Ministry of Disabled People announced this week new limits on what disabled people can buy with their funding.

Julian Emmett of Whanganui, who was born with cerebral palsy and has been a long-time advocate for disability access, said he was appalled to learn via social media about the allocations.

“It seems that these changes have been made without any consultation with the disability sector,” he said.

The ministry, which commissions support services for about 50,000 people and funds equipment for around 100,000 people, said there would be changes to the way equipment such as wheelchairs and home modifications were prioritised.

Disabilities Minister Penny Simmonds said there would not be a reduction in funding and the aim was to focus on the needs of people with disabilities.

“Some of the funding has been going to carers - that has to be pulled back and prioritised to the disabled person,” she said.

Simmonds agreed iPads and other items were useful purchases for children with autism.

“But we have got such broad criteria at the moment that the funding has also been used for massages, overseas travel, pedicures and haircuts for carers.”

She indicated that the funding decisions could be temporary while new funding criteria were established.

Emmett said he was unsure how the changes would affect him personally.

“At the moment I’m more concerned about caregivers of children with disabilities and how they will be affected,” he said.

“I don’t know how the ministry could have arrived at their decisions without adequately consulting the people who will be affected.”

Emmett said the move “flies in the face” of the increased choice and control people had achieved in spending their support funding under an approach known as Enabling Good Lives.

Enabling Good Lives (EGL) was developed in 2011 to underpin a new approach to disability support. The vision has been for disabled children and adults and their whānau to have greater choice and control over their supports and lives.

Whanganui’s EGL network co-ordinator Sue Kenny said the minister’s comments about pedicures and massages were misleading.

“Carers can pull muscles or strain their backs lifting a disabled person so massage treatments are therapeutic rather than luxuries,” said Kenny.

“And the pedicures were more likely podiatry or professional foot care for a disabled person in someone’s care.”

Kenny said the changes to funding criteria did, in effect, amount to a reduction as the pool of money would not increase to accommodate more people needing support.

“There is a big pushback against these changes because it affects around 20 per cent of the population and when you add families and carers, you’re talking about a lot of people.

“I hear the minister has back-tracked on some of the changes but we wish she would just leave it as it was because things were going well and some real progress had been made since EGL was introduced.”

Ngā Waihua o Paerangi Trust pou ārahi (chief executive) Helen Leahy. Photo / Ngāti Rangi

Ngā Waihua o Paerangi Trust chief executive Helen Leahy said the iwi authority for Ngāti Rangi was appalled at the “pejorative attack” on carers from the Minister for Disability Issues.

“For the minister to publically state that carers had been taking advantage of funding to use public money ‘for massages, overseas travel, pedicures, haircuts’ for themselves is both irresponsible and undermines the vital work that whānau members give, day in, day out, to support tangata whaikaha to live their best life,” Leahy said.

“In a rural community like Ruapehu, where respite care is extremely limited, the social return on investment of carers in our community is substantial. Through our Forget-me-Not initiative which supports whānau members who face health or social challenges, we appreciate the unstinting sacrifice and dedication of carers who do so much to support their loved ones”.

Leahy said the possibility of funding restrictions for equipment such as wheelchairs and home modifications was of great concern.

Emmett said he also wanted clarification on how those funding allocations would be affected.

“I have a good mobility scooter that enables me to get where I need to go,” he said.

“The question is - would I be able to get one now if I needed it?”

Liz Wylie is a multimedia journalist for the Whanganui Chronicle. She joined the editorial team in 2014 and regularly covers stories from Whanganui and the wider region. She also writes features and profile stories.