Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Katie Woolf spoke with Executive Officer of Autism NT Cherie Vance and Marita Maloney who is part of “3 Maas and a RaRa” who are raising money for Autism NT

Transcript

Katie Woolf spoke with Executive Officer of Autism NT Cherie Vance and Marita Maloney who is part of “3 Maas and a RaRa” who are raising money for Autism NT · 360 with Katie Woolf

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  Speaker 1: Three sixty with Katie Wolf.
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  Speaker 2: Join the conversation with Katie Wolf. You are our eyes
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  Speaker 2: and ears in the Territory Mixed one oh four point nine.
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  Speaker 2: I think anybody who listens to the show knows that
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  Speaker 2: I love hearing about people doing great things here in
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  Speaker 2: the territory. And joining us in the studio right now
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  Speaker 2: is the Executive Officer of Autism NT Schari Vance. Good
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  Speaker 2: morning to you, Charie.
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  Speaker 3: Good morning, Katie, Good morning listeners.
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  Speaker 2: And I've also got Marita Maloney in the studio with
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  Speaker 2: us this morning. Good morning, Marita, good morning. And we'll
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  Speaker 2: find out a little bit more about what Marita is
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  Speaker 2: up to in just a moment. But firstly, Chari, I
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  Speaker 2: know it's be awesome for autism in April. What does
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  Speaker 2: that mean?
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  Speaker 3: So yes, Katie, thank you. So April is Autism Awareness
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  Speaker 3: Month and Autism Northern Territory. We've been here for nineteen
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  Speaker 3: years now, I believe this year and we're supporting families
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  Speaker 3: within the Northern Territory with supports around getting help with
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  Speaker 3: around autism.
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  Speaker 2: Do you have any idea how many families in the
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  Speaker 2: Northern Territory are impacted by autism?
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  Speaker 3: So we have six hundred families on our membership, but
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  Speaker 3: it's one and forty eight in the Northern Territory diagnosis,
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  Speaker 3: so where the highest in Australia for people being diagnosed
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  Speaker 3: with autism and then you would double that with people
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  Speaker 3: with traits of autism that haven't got a diagnosis.
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  Speaker 2: What can it mean for a family when they find
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  Speaker 2: out that their child has been diagnosed with autism? How
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  Speaker 2: I mean? Can it be a really difficult process for some?
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  Speaker 3: Definitely, the word autism is quite scary to a lot
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  Speaker 3: of people, and so going through the assessment process, which
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  Speaker 3: is a very important process because through that process you
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  Speaker 3: find out about how to what adjustments could be made,
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  Speaker 3: and how to manage traits and what therapies and that
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  Speaker 3: can help. So we have a lot of adult it's
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  Speaker 3: being diagnosed as well. So I think the eldest one
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  Speaker 3: I know of a sixty three years old went through
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  Speaker 3: assessment ashally got diagnosis as well well, after you know
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  Speaker 3: many marriage breaks downs and losing jobs in that and
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  Speaker 3: then working out oh okay, then this is why so
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  Speaker 3: and around the children is extremely difficult for parents to
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  Speaker 3: go through the assessment process then get an autism diagnosis
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  Speaker 3: because it's as I said, before. It's a scary word,
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  Speaker 3: and a lot of them will come in holding their
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  Speaker 3: diagnosis paper shaking and saying, help me, what does this
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  Speaker 3: mean for my child?
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  Speaker 2: And there are a lot of supports available and we'll
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  Speaker 2: talk about those in just a moment. But Marita, I'm
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  Speaker 2: keen to ask you. Now you are part of three
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  Speaker 2: Mars and are Rarah who are walking to Tenant Creek
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  Speaker 2: to raise money for autism NT Now you.
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  Speaker 1: Are Rarah, aren't you? I'm Rarah?
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  Speaker 2: That's me.
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  Speaker 1: That's my grandmother name of choice.
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  Speaker 2: I love that. We used to call my father Gungi
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  Speaker 2: And sometimes I don't know exactly where these names come from,
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  Speaker 2: but I love you know I love all.
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  Speaker 1: Those years ago. And funnily enough, she was a teacher,
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  Speaker 1: which was my chosen profession. It's just coincidence. That's how
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  Speaker 1: we do it.
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  Speaker 2: What a lovely name, What a lovely way to be
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  Speaker 2: referred to as a gradmar Now, three Mars and you
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  Speaker 2: you're walking to Tenant Greek. Tell us why?
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  Speaker 1: Well, I'm going to be a little bit honest. Yes,
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  Speaker 1: we're walking to Tenant Creek, but we're sleeping in our
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  Speaker 1: own beds every night, so we're tallying up our steps.
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  Speaker 1: What we wanted to do was get people's attention because
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  Speaker 1: with autism there's so much ignorance that impacts the kids
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  Speaker 1: and their families, so much ignorance that you need to
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  Speaker 1: start the conversation. So if I rattled a tin, if
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  Speaker 1: I got a tin from Churi and rattled my tin
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  Speaker 1: and said I'm raising money for autism, generally I would
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  Speaker 1: get oh yeah, Rotto, and maybe a few cents dropped
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  Speaker 1: in the tin. But when you say, oh, we're walking
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  Speaker 1: to Tenant Creek, Da da da da da, well, it
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  Speaker 1: gets a conversation going, why are you doing this? Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.
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  Speaker 1: So we really wanted to raise the money for the
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  Speaker 1: local autism group because, as Shari said, it's a scary word.
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  Speaker 1: My grandson is diagnosed with autism and I am my
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  Speaker 1: daughter's support person through she's the sole parents, so I'm
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  Speaker 1: her support person, so I go to all the appointments
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  Speaker 1: with her and that sort of stuff. I'm losing my
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  Speaker 1: thread here.
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  Speaker 2: How difficult can it be? Do you think when it
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  Speaker 2: comes to, you know, the ignorance of some people. I
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  Speaker 2: think when somebody does have autism and in terms of
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  Speaker 2: you know, being able to relate to that person.
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  Speaker 1: It's really important to have that diagnosis, to have that understanding,
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  Speaker 1: and then you've got a responsibility to educate others as well.
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  Speaker 1: So many people when my grandson god is diagnosed that,
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  Speaker 1: so many people said, oh, he'll grow out of that,
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  Speaker 1: or you know, things like he'd eat that food if
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  Speaker 1: he was my kid, and you think you have no understanding.
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  Speaker 1: The child has a meltdown in the shopping center and
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  Speaker 1: it's amazing the looks, the glares, the judgment. So it's
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  Speaker 1: just really important to keep the conversations going and break
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  Speaker 1: down those prejudice, prejudices that the kids and their families
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  Speaker 1: face all the time.
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  Speaker 2: I think it's a wonderful thing that you're doing. And
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  Speaker 2: like you said, you know, you've got to you've got
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  Speaker 2: to break down those prejudices. And I think that sometimes
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  Speaker 2: we're sort of you know, people can be a little
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  Speaker 2: bit you know, they might not even mean to be
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  Speaker 2: a bit ignorant, but they just don't know. And it's
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  Speaker 2: important for people to realize that saying those types of
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  Speaker 2: things can be quite hurtful as well, you know, and
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  Speaker 2: be very very hurtful.
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  Speaker 1: It's hard enough parenting any child. My kids are all
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  Speaker 1: grown up now, so that's all. But it's really hard
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  Speaker 1: work a parent. If you're the parent of a child
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  Speaker 1: with autism, you are also battling the general public. And
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  Speaker 1: to get back to Cheri's point that it's a scary,
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  Speaker 1: it can be a scary word. I was with my
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  Speaker 1: daughter when we received the diagnosis and it just took
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  Speaker 1: our breath away. We were kind of expecting it. I've
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  Speaker 1: had a lifetime in education, so I kind of knew
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  Speaker 1: what we were looking at. We were also searching for
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  Speaker 1: a way to help him because he was struggling in
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  Speaker 1: a mainstream world and without a diagnosis, you don't know
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  Speaker 1: what direction to take. So it did take our breath away,
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  Speaker 1: and you know, like someone's reached in and pull your
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  Speaker 1: guts out just for that moment. But it's also because
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  Speaker 1: it's for a lifetime. It's not going to go away,
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  Speaker 1: so you have to help the child to grow into
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  Speaker 1: the best adult they can be.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely now, three Mars and yourself, So there's three other
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  Speaker 2: three other are doing this.
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  Speaker 1: Mar one is my daughter Yep. Mar two is a
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  Speaker 1: lady called Lisa Yep and her fifteen year old daughter
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  Speaker 1: is on the spectrum. And Mar three is Serica, And oh,
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  Speaker 1: I don't know how old he's. My grandson's twelve. Kaylin's
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  Speaker 1: a little bit younger than that, maybe nine, something like nine.
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  Speaker 1: I shouldn't know that.
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  Speaker 2: You wonderful women. This is a great thing that you're doing.
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  Speaker 2: So it's so you're tallying your steps. You're not actually
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  Speaker 2: getting out on the road and walking to Tenant because
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  Speaker 2: I'm going to be honest, it'd be bloody hot and
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  Speaker 2: I reckon it'd be a struggle. But you're doing the
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  Speaker 2: hard yards.
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  Speaker 1: Are we are doing that. We've got to do something.
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  Speaker 1: We're not just being lazy. So we make sure and
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  Speaker 1: we gee each other along. But I or one of
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  Speaker 1: us uploads a photo every day on our Facebook page
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  Speaker 1: with the picture of the three males in Aura.
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  Speaker 2: Can people go and get that out? They can go.
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  Speaker 1: It's called three mars an Aura, which is a bit
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  Speaker 1: tricky to find. Shari, you've got it on the autism
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  Speaker 1: and tee yes.
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  Speaker 2: You can check on there. I think it's fantastic. And
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  Speaker 2: you're raising money as well, aren't you, which is great,
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  Speaker 2: and that's for autism Inta.
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  Speaker 1: It's going straight. There's a link there where you the
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  Speaker 1: money goes straight to autism. And tea, so we don't
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  Speaker 1: handle the money at all. Ago we were, well, we
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  Speaker 1: are blown away by the generosity.
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  Speaker 2: Has it gone so far?
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  Speaker 1: We were hoping we might get a thousand dollars. We've
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  Speaker 1: got over six thousand, seven hundred dollars now.
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  Speaker 2: That is so wonderful.
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  Speaker 1: Not only from the Darwin community. One of the girls
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  Speaker 1: is from Island, so her family in Ireland have donated.
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  Speaker 1: There's people down south who've donated, so it's really generous
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  Speaker 1: businesses in Darwin.
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  Speaker 2: Good on you. That is absolutely fantastic and as you said,
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  Speaker 2: that money is going to go to all his autism
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  Speaker 2: t Shari. For those out there listening who maybe aren't
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  Speaker 2: aware of some of the types of programs and the
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  Speaker 2: different things that autism and tea do, is there somewhere
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  Speaker 2: there that they can go to get some more information
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  Speaker 2: and what's the best way for them to sort of
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  Speaker 2: get some support if that is what they need.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, definitely around our publicity stuff and what the girls
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  Speaker 3: are doing, and that would be jumping onto our Facebook
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  Speaker 3: page Autism Northern Territory and having a look at what's
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  Speaker 3: happening there and what events are happening around April, and
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  Speaker 3: to actually seeking support. They can message me through the
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  Speaker 3: Facebook page or they can give us a call at
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  Speaker 3: the office. And we support parents. We support people with
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  Speaker 3: autism themselves, adults or children, the parents, the grandparents, the uncles,
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  Speaker 3: the aunties. We have grandparents from not Melbourne, no, I
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  Speaker 3: wouldn't say Melbourne, but we have grandparents from our south.
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  Speaker 3: They ring out and say, look, we're coming up at
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  Speaker 3: a holiday. How can we interact with this young person
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  Speaker 3: with autism their grandchild? You know. So we have many
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  Speaker 3: conversations with everyone in the family, with the school teachers,
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  Speaker 3: with the principals, even with employers. You know, employers will say,
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  Speaker 3: you know, she's this young lady's been working with us
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  Speaker 3: for five years. Suddenly she's disengaged in that. And then
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  Speaker 3: I go and have a chat to them. And it's
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  Speaker 3: a small adjustment that needs to be made at work.
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  Speaker 3: It might be around the lighting or something and everything's
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  Speaker 3: sweeter again, you know. So I find a lot of
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  Speaker 3: time it is small adjustments that need to be made
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  Speaker 3: within the school environment, home environment or work environment that
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  Speaker 3: can really assess people.
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  Speaker 2: What would you say, you know to a parent like me,
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  Speaker 2: who you know who has children that are at school
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  Speaker 2: and maybe they do have friends that are on the spectrum,
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  Speaker 2: or there's somebody in their class who is on the
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  Speaker 2: spectrum and they're not you know, they're not quite sure
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  Speaker 2: how to how to sometimes interact or you know, whether
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  Speaker 2: there is something you know that's I don't even know
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  Speaker 2: how you'd explain it. But what would you say to
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  Speaker 2: a parent life me who's maybe you know, wants to
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  Speaker 2: help to educate their child in the right way and
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  Speaker 2: not have that stigma and really try to do that
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  Speaker 2: from when they're very young.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, that's very important because school is really really hard
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  Speaker 3: for a lot of our young people. And I think
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  Speaker 3: the best way is being a parent myself. So that's
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  Speaker 3: where I love my job because I have a lived experience.
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  Speaker 3: My son's twenty five, and I have a lived experience
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  Speaker 3: with working within schools as well. And I think as
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  Speaker 3: parents is inviting that young fella over young person over
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  Speaker 3: for a playdate, you know, talking to moms, So how
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  Speaker 3: can we invite him over? What can we do? Have
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  Speaker 3: a short two hour playdate that's very structured, and suddenly
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  Speaker 3: that young that student, that young person feels accepted, you know,
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  Speaker 3: because there's so much anxiety they have at school and
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  Speaker 3: that so having a two hour playdate with Johnning is
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  Speaker 3: just so powerful, you know, and because trying to do
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  Speaker 3: at school well, the structure has to be set around
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  Speaker 3: with the teachers, has to set around the structure and everything.
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  Speaker 3: But as a regular parent, that's how you could have
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  Speaker 3: a big impact, you know, Actually make sure that that
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  Speaker 3: little Sammy gets a birthday invitation, because so many times
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  Speaker 3: our kids reach fourteen fifteen, they've never ever been invited
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  Speaker 3: to a birthday party.
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  Speaker 1: You know.
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  Speaker 3: Some parents will stand there in the classroom hand invitations
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  Speaker 3: out to every other student, but jump up, jump over
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  Speaker 3: little Sammy with an invitation. So as an adult, how
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  Speaker 3: can we engage with that a student, you know, the kids,
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  Speaker 3: So it's so powerful.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, oh, thank you by it so much for your
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  Speaker 2: time this morning. I really appreciate you coming in. Executive
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  Speaker 2: Officer of Autism in t Shari Vans and Marita Maloney,
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  Speaker 2: I really appreciate your time this morning. Thank you so much.
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  Speaker 3: Shaddy, thank you.
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  Speaker 2: You are listening to Mix one oh four point nine
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  Speaker 2: is three sixteen. If you are listening this morning and
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  Speaker 2: you're after a little bit more information about autism and
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  Speaker 2: autism in you can always contact us here at the
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  Speaker 2: station as well, and we can pass that on