Episode 996 Blind Magic on Tour: Overcoming Challenges in Tropical Queensland

Hi everyone, welcome to this broadcast. This is episode 996 of Blind Magic in Alice Springs. I am Murray Stewart, your host and presenter. And what a pleasure it is. Just about to head out to the airport on my way to tropical Queensland. That's right. As I have been saying from now until the 11th of July, Blind Magic in Alice Springs will be on tour. What a magnificent part of the world Tropical Queensland is. I am so looking forward to it.

I have explained that this will be an expose of many proportions and many elements. Oh yes, it will. It's all about my ability to walk toward my fears, overcoming my anxiety when it comes to different challenges in different environments and under different circumstances. I will be supported by my wonderful senior support worker Heather, who will also be challenging herself. Because when you are out of your natural habitat, it is a challenge. And I can be a challenge with my newfound brain injury, no question. So Heather will learn a lot. I will learn a lot. And I'm absolutely certain we will both get the job done.

I've told you about the mission. In walking toward one's fears, we get better. We have a chance to overcome that fear. And in becoming better, it means we can achieve more. We can self-improve. Yes, we can. And yes, we will. And that will go for both myself and Heather. Because when you are a support worker to someone who is vision impaired, then it can be a challenge and Heather is learning all the time. And the one thing that is going to have to be on full display with Heather is her powers of audio description. Yes, because there'll be a whole lot of new environments, she will need to be on the top of her game where her audio describing abilities are concerned.

Let me give you an example. We'll be in a shopping centre that we don't normally go through, and so she will need to describe the layout of the shopping centre. There might, for example, be some surfaces that might be a little risky. I'll give you an example. I remember being with someone once who said to me as we approached the food court of the said shopping centre, she said, "Oh, wow, this food court has beautiful blue shiny tiles, so I will slow down so you don't have a fall." And slow down she did. And I got the picture and I certainly got the feeling under my feet and she was 100% correct. There was a present danger. There was. So her audio description was perfect.

Yes, this is the sort of thing that Heather will need to be on top of and I'm sure she will. We'll be staying in a house that we've never, ever stayed in before. And so she will need to accurately describe as best as possible the layout of the house, the living area, the bedrooms, and the bathroom. Oh yes, every nook and cranny and crevice of that house will need to be described, as accurately as one can. Because that will be one heck of a challenge for me. No, no doubt about it. And my world has changed with the addition of the brain injury. My sensory awareness is not as it used to be. Yeah, the spatial awareness has most definitely changed. And it only has to change in a minute fashion to be a real problem for someone who has a vision impairment.

So, wow, a support worker who supports me most definitely needs to be very, very skilled at creating that awareness for me through their words, through their descriptions. Whilst also challenging themselves. Because don't forget, it's a new environment for the support team as well. In this case, of course, Heather. But you know what? We have been working for some time, myself and Heather, so I'm sure everything will work out just fine. And you are on tour with me and with Heather, so we will be broadcasting from Cairns. So sometime over the next couple of days you can look forward to some additions as we lead up to edition 1000 of Blind Magic in Alice Springs.

This has been episode 996, a Blind Magic Communications production.