S1: Nothing's off limits slinks off limits, bringing together experts and
S1: people with lived experience to discuss the topics we love
S1: to avoid, but absolutely need to talk about me with
S1: the support of Vision Australia and the NDIS information linkages
S1: and capacity building grant building grants.
S2: Hello and welcome to the series where nothing's off limits.
S2: My name is Polly and together with my co-host Tess
S2: over ten episodes, we're exploring some of those topics which
S2: we might usually consider off limits and discussing them openly
S2: and honestly and through the specific lens of blindness and
S2: vision with the help of expert guests.
S3: And there'll be more
S4: information at the end of the show about how you
S4: can catch this episode and other episodes of Nothing's Off
S4: Limits on the Vision Australia website.
S2: In this episode, we're talking about body image and appearance.
S2: What do we mean when we talk about body image?
S2: And how do you connect with that concept if you
S2: want primarily visual? What perceptions do you have of your
S2: own and others? Appearance, if you are blind, will have
S2: no vision. What messages are we sending through the way
S2: we present ourselves? And how do you find out what
S2: society's rules of what someone should look like are an
S2: exercise your right to follow or break those rules on
S2: your own terms? This is an emotive topic for those
S2: tests and me, and if you were affected by any
S2: of the issues in the show, please contact Lifeline on
S2: one three one one one four or the Butterfly Foundation,
S2: the national charity for all Australians impacted by eating disorders
S2: and body image issues, and for the families, friends and
S2: community to support them. Their national helpline number is one
S2: 800 33 four six seven three. The way we dress
S2: and style our hair or makeup is one component of
S2: creating and expressing body image. Here at Vision Australia, we've
S2: done a number of projects to make the world of
S2: fashion more accessible, including partnering with Melbourne Fashion Festival to
S2: audio describe some ways. The interest in these has really
S2: debunked the perception that if you are blind or have
S2: low vision fashion and the way you look is not
S2: a priority. To test this further, we asked you how
S2: much does appearance and body image matter to you?
S1: Nothing's off limits with Tess and Polly Polly. How much
S1: does appearance and body image matter to you?
S5: It doesn't personally matter much to me. It matters other people.
S5: And I think sometimes that's quite sad.
S6: When I'm walking around the house, I won't necessarily see
S6: in the whole way. Mirror is a bingo of jam
S6: on my top that I've got child related grot running
S6: down the front of my T-shirt. It's very embarrassing when
S6: somebody points it out, and I guess I need to
S6: learn to be more open and receptive when people pointing
S6: this stuff out to me. Other than that, I don't
S6: think I smell too bad. Although a shower is never
S6: a relaxing experience for me, I'm always worried that I'm
S6: going to fall on the backside. Not too much. What's
S6: inside a person is what matter.
S1: Oh, probably a six or seven out of 10? I am.
S1: I like to look nice, but I'm not going to
S1: go crazy over.
S7: It matters to me a lot because I like to
S7: present well in all different situations.
S1: Does being blind can make you more conscious of how
S1: you present yourself?
S7: Yes, definitely. And it's something that you learn as you
S7: get older. It's not something that comes to people naturally.
S8: It matters actually quite a lot to me, and I
S8: think it was when you're blind you because you don't
S8: see what other people look like. Sometimes it can be
S8: easy to have quite a distorted view of yourself because
S8: you can't see what's around you. You actually don't know
S8: where you often fit in the scheme of things. You know,
S8: you might think you're quite overweight, but you may not
S8: be
S5: well the other
S8: way around. You know, you might think that, you know,
S8: a certain something looks good on you. And I guess
S8: if you feel good, that's all that matters. But for me,
S8: it is quite important.
S5: Body image and
S6: appearance are really important to me, both my own and
S6: others that I'm with in the conventional sense. I'm a
S6: man in my mid-40s, so I've put on a few pounds.
S6: But actually in this country full of sunny, tanned people,
S6: I am thin, white and hairy, which is why they
S6: see me wear Arashi indoors at the swimming pool. In
S6: terms of that, in the context of sight. I was
S6: sick classes and I'm still a little self-conscious about it.
S6: But when you don't wear a set glass, you go,
S6: I'm going to a day just being me, not me
S6: wearing glasses. May you put on a pair of contact
S6: lenses whenever I stop to look at my phone, read
S6: a menu or squint at a bus stop. There's always
S6: some smart alec who comes up to you and says, Oh,
S6: you need glasses, mate. Like, I haven't thought of that before.
S7: I would say it matters quite a lot. I was
S7: born vision impaired. I have low vision when I was
S7: first learning to use a mobility cane and I found
S7: it very confronting the way people were reacting to me
S7: and nervousness, and I was getting a train with my cane.
S7: It's amazing. Man got onto the train. He was young,
S7: really beautifully dressed in like a three piece suit and
S7: a briefcase looked sleek and professional, and he was using
S7: a cane. I noticed that everyone was reacting very differently
S7: to him. He was using his cane very confidently, and
S7: he looked very much like he was successful in the world.
S7: And I was just really impressed by it made me
S7: think how much? It's great to be well dressed when
S7: your vision impaired for me anyway.
S2: Tess, you've graciously agreed to take off your hosting hat
S2: for a moment to share a story about your experience
S2: navigating body image. As a young woman who is blind
S2: when you were in your late teens, early 20s, you
S2: have quite a negative relationship with how you perceived your body.
S4: Even when I was a younger teenager, 14 15, I
S4: didn't really like the way my body looked. I didn't
S4: think I was tall enough, slim enough. But it really
S4: took a toll when I was about 19. The year before,
S4: I'd taken some tablets to help me with hormone related
S4: difficulties and my body had undergone some changes. The time
S4: came that there was an event that I was going to,
S4: and I wore addressed. Various bits of my body was
S4: sort of not quite fitting into it, and I really did.
S4: I felt genuine repulsion and I just thought it is
S4: just because I don't look right. I'm too fat, I'm
S4: too I'm too swollen. I was also experiencing a lot
S4: of anxiety that that was I can't say it was unrelated,
S4: but it was at. The anxiety was about all sorts
S4: of aspects of my life, and I felt like the
S4: only thing I could really have control over was how
S4: much I ate or didn't eat. And so combining this
S4: repulsion with the way I looked and my need for control,
S4: I really started to engage in some fairly self-destructive behaviours,
S4: like starving myself periods, trying to make myself sick, trying
S4: to bloat myself in order to make myself sick. So
S4: it was something not right about my body, and the
S4: world was full of thin, beautiful women and I was
S4: not one of them. And therefore I wasn't fit to
S4: wear nice clothes. I wasn't fit to do anything except
S4: just try and make myself a little bit less horrifying.
S4: And that behaviour continued for a couple of years and tests.
S2: Some people might be curious as to how you have
S2: these pressures, perceived pressures around how you look and when
S2: you are yourself blind. What was driving them?
S4: Do you think I was feeling like I wasn't fitting
S4: into my clothes? There was a particular time where I
S4: wore a dress and my breasts had to be sort of,
S4: I guess we had to use a bit of tape
S4: because my my breasts were too were too big. And
S4: then we're sort of coming out. I've always been interested
S4: in the visual world around me and wanting to know
S4: what my family and friends look like. And I suppose
S4: my perceptions of a lot of them were that they
S4: were tall and thin, that I was short and fat.
S4: It's hard because I couldn't look into a mirror. I
S4: couldn't really see what I looked like. All I could
S4: see was if I occasionally was brave enough to stand
S4: on the scales, and even though I was average weight,
S4: it didn't seem enough. And you know, so I'd I'd
S4: be pinching my waist to try and find out how
S4: I looked there or not. In my mind, I was
S4: squeezing handfuls of fat that manifested in, you know, starving myself,
S4: trying to make myself sick and. Also exercising a bit
S4: too much,
S5: Tess,
S2: I wish I could travel back in time and give
S2: your younger self just the
S5: biggest hug.
S2: How did you get through this?
S4: I think through it I had a lot of friends
S4: and family. I took me a couple of years to
S4: tell my family, but when they knew they were fantastic,
S4: I mean, my sister saw that I wasn't eating very
S4: much and that I would take any excuse not to eat.
S4: My family were living a few hours away, so they
S4: they want to know, and a few friends of mine knew,
S4: and they encouraged me to seek professional help. So I
S4: did that. I think I went to a support group
S4: with a friend. I think it was about six months
S4: after I started having these problems. For a couple of years,
S4: I had, you know, counselling on and off. Sometimes I
S4: would feel OK about my body and then I'd spiral.
S4: But then I got to about 23 24, and I
S4: just started to experience a more positive feel about my body.
S4: I stopped feeling quite so repulsed by it, and I
S4: started feeling like I was actually. This was the way
S4: I was meant to look. And I think it was
S4: as much the counselling and support and affirmation of family
S4: and friends that really helped me get there. By the
S4: time I was 23 24, I finally got to a stage.
S4: After all that support where I could be proud of
S4: my body, I mean, you know, I'm not, I'm not tall,
S4: but I'm not short. I'm not slim, but I'm not fat. I'm,
S4: you know, I'm curvy. But that was the way I
S4: was meant to be. And what you said about wishing
S4: you could give my 19, 20 year old self a
S4: big hug. I wish the same thing, and I wish
S4: that I could have heard a story like mine, and
S4: I hope that other young women who are struggling might
S4: hear this story because these days, you know, 10 years
S4: after I was having these problems, I like my body.
S4: I can see how I was meant to be this way,
S4: and I love food. I love enjoying food, and I
S4: know how unhealthy and how ill I was back then
S4: when I was what I might have called slimmer test.
S2: Thank you so much. This really doesn't feel like something
S2: that gets talked about, particularly in this community, and it's
S2: pretty generous of you to share your experience and earnings.
S5: Thank you. If this program
S1: has brought up any issues for you, please
S5: contact Lifeline on 13,
S1: 11, 14 or online at Lifeline
S5: dot org dot AEW.
S1: The suicide call back service is one
S5: 300 six five nine four six seven
S1: or online at Suicide Call Back
S5: Service dot org. Today you
S1: there's beyondblue 1800 double to
S5: four, six, three six and online and beyond blue
S1: dot org dot. Hey you!
S2: And let's continue the conversation by bringing in our first guest.
S2: Courtney Nikki Courtney is a trained psychologist who is works
S2: at Mission Australia for nearly 13 years in a number
S2: of capacities. Courtney, you've been listening in. What did you
S2: make of Tess's experience? There might be, I guess, a
S2: perception that this hyper awareness of your body or your image,
S2: if you're if you're blind, isn't that common? Is that
S2: your understanding?
S5: Yeah, I think it's more common than most people realize.
S5: I mean, we're all getting messages as tested that we're
S5: not good enough from society through the media and through
S5: corporate advertising. But people with disabilities in particular are getting
S5: those messages and particularly about their body, and because people
S5: with disabilities can't necessarily avoid the stigma of disability. Sometimes
S5: we seek approval of our bodies in other ways. Our
S5: bodies are a tangible thing, and we're told that we
S5: should be able to control them and we force the
S5: lie that everybody is supposed to be the same. And unfortunately,
S5: that keeps us busy instead of doing what we actually want,
S5: what's good for us. And I think people with vision
S5: impairments just as likely to be influenced by these pressures
S5: as anyone else.
S2: And it was interesting tests you mentioned as well around
S2: your relationship with food. And obviously, we know food impacts
S2: how our body looks and how well it functions. But
S2: there's this whole raft of other roles that food plays
S2: in our lives, from social, cultural and emotional perspectives. Are
S2: there specific challenges around that if you're blind or have
S2: their vision?
S4: I definitely say that there are, especially if you're out.
S4: So when I when I wasn't particularly well, I'd go
S4: out to a to a birthday or I'd even go
S4: out with friends and they would all want to go,
S4: you know, to go to a coffee shop or whatever.
S4: And you know, there were very few things that I
S4: feel like I could eat, and I would have to
S4: get them to read the whole menu and try and
S4: find something that you know that I could eat. That
S4: was healthy enough. But also if I was going out
S4: with friends and they all wanted to do something that
S4: related to food, I couldn't just say, Oh, you guys
S4: get something to eat, chaps, I'll I'll go, you know,
S4: I'll go and, you know, look around the shops when
S4: you get something to eat. So I did feel a
S4: sense of being a bit trapped in a bit anxious,
S4: which now I can see it. It's such a shame
S4: because as you say, poly food is such a social
S4: cultural thing. I mean, these days, I absolutely love food,
S4: all types of food, and I feel I find it's
S4: emotionally soothing. It's a wonderful thing to enjoy with friends,
S4: often with a glass of wine. But but yes, I
S4: do remember feeling quite quite trapped as somebody who was
S4: blind trying to find something that I that I could
S4: eat without, without feeling like I was blowing up by
S4: the second, but also feeling feeling trapped into it.
S2: Courtney, you've you've mentioned as well in previous conversations about
S2: how that idea about autonomy and agency when you're eating out.
S2: Something that isn't necessarily a given if you're blind.
S5: Yeah, that's right. As Test mentioned, you don't have to
S5: rely on other people to understand what's available to you.
S5: And when somebody provides you with that route, it's really
S5: a take it or leave it type prospect because you
S5: don't have that ability to browse in the same way
S5: that somebody whose voice on it has. And particularly if
S5: you've got dietary preferences as a vegetarian or vegan, I
S5: find that often my options are quite limited anyway. Yeah.
S5: So food plays many roles. Definitely. It's a form of
S5: comfort and pleasure. It's a way of exchanging love, as
S5: as mentioned. You know, when you're out with friends, you're
S5: often sharing a meal together or you're even giving gifts
S5: of food. It can be an opportunity to escape or
S5: take some time out from others, as well as any
S5: expectations you feel of being late on you. And it's
S5: a way of having choice and control, especially if you
S5: don't necessarily have choice and control in other areas of
S5: your life. So it makes a lot of emotional needs.
S5: But as testers is also mentioned, unless the relationship with
S5: food is a healthy one, it can do a lot
S5: of damage to your pleasure in your own body, to
S5: your connection with others, and to an ability to do
S5: what you want. Because you start to restrict yourself and
S5: prohibit yourself from taking action unless you're the perfect thing
S5: that you need to be. So I think what's important
S5: to remember is that there are other ways of meeting
S5: our emotional needs, of soothing our discomfort and feeling good,
S5: and it's best to have a broad range of strategies
S5: and not just food.
S2: That's excellent advice, Courtney. Sort of a tool box of
S2: ways of coping
S5: with when things
S2: get tough or or whatever it might be.
S5: What's the likely?
S2: Do you think that there's a perception that if you're
S2: blind or low vision, do image isn't something that you
S2: need to worry about?
S5: Yeah, I think some people assume that if you're not
S5: visually oriented, if you don't have vision, then you don't
S5: need to adhere to the rules that a visual world
S5: lies down. But it's actually the opposite. I would assume
S5: that given that the world is set up for sighted
S5: people in order for vision impaired people to participate, to
S5: have friends and to have jobs and polite interactions in society,
S5: we have to learn about the visual norms, even though
S5: we don't have access to that visual information and we
S5: have to do our best to meet them in the
S5: social model of disability is something that tells us that
S5: because we're different from the norm, it is harder to
S5: learn and to participate in a visual world because it's
S5: not set up to operate in the way that works
S5: for us. So we have to read a lot. We
S5: have to listen a lot. We have to develop work
S5: arounds and that can be exhausting. Andy started Exchange is
S5: one way, really because we're under the guise of others,
S5: but we're not necessarily able to see them ourselves.
S2: Yeah, and particularly over the last year or so, many
S2: of us have kind of been the subject of prolonged
S2: visual exposure through Zoom meetings and various online get togethers.
S2: And there's that little box in the corner and your
S2: sighted or not sighted. There's still that sense that your
S2: face is very much on display, and there's obviously the
S2: option to turn off your video, but I guess that
S2: in itself sends a message. What's your take on this?
S5: Yeah. I think being watched by others is draining for anyone,
S5: but at the very least sighted person has the opportunity
S5: to watch others. So it's a two way exchange, but
S5: it's a particular kind of relationship that a blind person
S5: enters into understanding that they need to participate in the
S5: visual world, but sometimes wouldn't mind a bit of a
S5: reprieve from that. And so turning off the camera is
S5: an opportunity to focus in on the sense that we
S5: need to rely on because we don't have patients. So
S5: our hearing and to not feel like we also then
S5: need to perform visually at the same time.
S2: Tess, how about you over the last year or so?
S2: Are you a video on girl or video of?
S5: Well, it really
S4: does depend it from a professional. You know, when I'm
S4: when I'm in work meetings, I often prefer to have
S4: my video off unless they particularly request it. I guess
S4: partly because it makes the internet wobbly of videos on sometimes,
S4: but also because because I just I do feel a
S4: little bit less self-conscious about what I'm wearing, where I'm sitting.
S4: I don't know what anybody else is, you know, is doing,
S4: you know, whether they're all sort of dressed up in
S4: skirts and tops and whether I need to be or so.
S4: I do prefer to have the video off when I'm
S4: in a work meeting. But in a social meeting with friends,
S4: I often prefer to have the video on. Although I do,
S4: I feel I do feel sad that I can't see them.
S4: I mean, because I've so much missed that physical contact
S4: with friends being able to give them a hug or
S4: hold their arm or whatever. But I'd love to be
S4: able to see them, but I do feel a bit
S4: more comforted that they at least can see me when
S4: I'm on Zoom and that that's what makes it a
S4: bit or face time. And that's what makes it a
S4: bit different and special. Rather than just talking on the
S4: phone that they can actually see me, they can see
S4: a little bit into my house. They can see a
S4: little bit more. Our entire life, so it does vary,
S4: but certainly at work, I feel very self-conscious.
S2: Courtney, what about you? VIDEO on or video off?
S5: I tend to be a video off person if I
S5: consider it to be within the realm of polite exchange.
S5: I do get asked pointedly to turn it on sometimes,
S5: and then I'll usually be comfortable to do that. That said,
S5: there are sometimes some technical barriers to me doing that
S5: because I've got a screen up in front of my face,
S5: so I then have to sacrifice being able to orient
S5: to what I can orient through on the screen by
S5: pushing that away. And just being there to be seen
S5: by others.
S2: There's been some really interesting thinking around body positivity and
S2: celebrating all body shapes and more recently took of body neutrality.
S2: So rather than aiming to love your body, which can
S2: be really tough for many of us, the less challenging
S2: aspiration to become less emotionally influenced by how your body
S2: look if you're struggling with body image, what are some
S2: things that you can do to develop and maintain a
S2: healthy body image?
S5: Start listening to your body. Do what's loving in response
S5: to what you hear. We've got to meet our physical
S5: needs through sleep and through movement that we enjoy and
S5: through responding to our genuine hunger and what we need
S5: to do, especially if we've been experiencing the challenges of
S5: an eating disorder, is we've got to stop imposing what
S5: we think things should be and listen to what actually
S5: is what our body is really telling us. And mindfulness
S5: as a lot of really useful strategies for this, or
S5: if you want to keep it super simple, you can
S5: just pause and breathe and involve your breathing. Be aware
S5: of what's going on. The second thing is to nurture
S5: yourself emotionally. It's as you've just said poly, or it
S5: only natural to feel conflicted about your body. Yeah, we
S5: want to love our body. We want to appreciate it
S5: and feel grateful for it. But sometimes we also feel
S5: compelled to change it to match the expectations of what
S5: we think the outside world requires of us. So we've
S5: got to figure out some ways to get on good
S5: hands with the difference between what we actually are and
S5: what the external ideal is without punishing ourselves or hiding away.
S5: And some of the things that we can do, there
S5: are things like self-compassion, or we can simply show mercy
S5: to ourself. That's another way of thinking about it, because
S5: a lot of the things that we say about ourselves,
S5: like what Tess is articulated to us, we would never
S5: dream to say to another person because they're so incredibly
S5: cruel
S2: that some of the words sorry to jump in quarterly,
S2: but somehow some of the words tests that you were
S2: using were really strong and I don't think be another
S2: person in the world that you'd say that to. And
S2: yet you were saying about yourself.
S5: And I think one of the things that Test was
S5: able to say on the flip side and and show
S5: us that, you know, when she became a healthier person
S5: is how grateful she is for how beautiful her body
S5: is and to learn to really appreciate it's a gratitude
S5: is another thing that's very important. I would say that
S5: in this emotional nurturing space, you're also looking for social connections,
S5: and TESS is also mentioned where she's able to connect
S5: with others via telehealth via video conference because that gives
S5: us validation of our feelings and we're able to regulate
S5: so we're able to feel together in connection with another person.
S5: And then the third thing that we need to do
S5: is embrace the fact that everyone is different. That's the reality. Everyone,
S5: everybody is different and that's a good thing.
S2: Thank you both so much for sharing your own experience
S2: and Kourtney for coming with such compassion and really practical
S2: steps about what you can do to to develop and
S2: maintain that healthy body image. Thank you so much.
S5: Thanks for having me, guys.
S1: You're listening to nothing's off limits. We're tennis and poly.
S1: Did you know Vision Australia partners with the Melbourne Fashion
S1: Festival to make its runways accessible through audio description? But
S1: more information go to Vision Australia dot org or call
S1: one 800 eight four seven four double six. Vision Australia
S1: Blindness Low Vision Opportunity.
S3: Our next guest is Samantha Hardy. Samantha is one of
S3: the voices you might hear if you called Vision Australia
S3: as a Service Connect officer. Samantha plays a vital role
S3: connecting people with support services. Samantha herself has low vision
S3: and is a sometime cane user. How important is appearance
S3: to you, Samantha?
S5: I'd have to say it is quite important to me.
S5: I'm quite passionate about fashion than clothing in general. I
S5: still find people tend to expect people that are blind
S5: or vision impaired to sort of badly dressed and maybe
S5: a bit sort of downtrodden and not quite sort of
S5: fishing in to the world or with other people. And
S5: I really like to buck that trend. I really like
S5: to express myself in a way that shows that I'm
S5: confident and getting on with my life. Clothing can be
S5: a really powerful tool so that it's almost like a
S5: shorthand for telling people in the. You are people do
S5: tend to sort of make very quick judgments about who
S5: you are by your appearance. You know,
S3: some people and I certainly usually one of them, they
S3: might say, Oh, I'm just not interested in fashion. I mean,
S3: it's just fashion, you know, comfort over fashion and all that.
S3: The appearance really goes deeper than fashion, doesn't it?
S5: It sort of speaks to who you are in the
S5: world and how you want to express yourself. And I
S5: certainly get that for some people, particularly since they have
S5: low vision, the clothing might not be important to them.
S5: And I'm certainly not saying that it should be. I'm
S5: just sort of expressing my own feelings about it. When
S5: I first started using, I came, I went for quite
S5: a while, was listening to this one because it just
S5: felt really confronting. And eventually I accepted that it was
S5: going to be really useful to help me to get
S5: around independently and do the things I wanted to do.
S5: So I learned how to use a cane, and I
S5: started using one. And when I first started using it,
S5: the experience was incredibly intense. It was like people's reactions
S5: were really quite extreme. And on the one hand, I
S5: was super visible in the community, but also at the
S5: same time, I became completely invisible. It's like people only
S5: saw a blind person with a cane, and they no
S5: longer saw me at all. And I got on a
S5: train with my time and still sort of dealing with
S5: people's reactions. And then I was sitting in the train
S5: and this man got on like a stop after me.
S5: Absolutely fabulous looking like well-dressed, confident looking man in a
S5: suit and a briefcase. He happened to be using the cane.
S5: I remember thinking, Yes, no one is going to be
S5: looking at that man thinking, Oh, that's so sad that
S5: man's blind, and they're just going to be thinking, Oh,
S5: this very confident, attractive man who obviously has a vision
S5: impairment and is using the cane. And I remember thinking,
S5: that's how I want to be in the world.
S3: So do you feel like when you before you are
S3: using your cane people, approached you in a very different
S3: way to to when it sounds like there was a
S3: real change in the way people perceived you just because
S3: you were holding the cane?
S5: There is, and there is still and there was, and
S5: I've spoken to lots of other people who experienced something
S5: quite similar to that. It can be can be really
S5: extreme people's reactions. And I'm not completely blind, whatever that,
S5: whatever that might be. But I have some. I have
S5: some vision, so I use the cane because I can't
S5: tell distances or depth or I don't see any details.
S5: So it helps me, helps to keep me safe. But
S5: I actually can still part of the time see people's
S5: reactions to Cane. I can see them hesitating. I can
S5: see them doing weird things with it, and I can
S5: see them staring at me. I get both. I'm using
S5: the cane, but then I also I'm aware of people's
S5: reactions to it.
S3: So how do we go about finding out what the
S3: visual norms are, whether or not we we follow
S5: or defy them? I guess I'm only aware of some
S5: visual norms and lots of things. I'm aware that I'm
S5: probably missing like eye contact and things like that. But
S5: what I've done is enlisted the help of some of
S5: my trusted family and friends just to kind of give
S5: me a bit of guidance when I need it so
S5: that I can sort of I guess for me, it's
S5: a simplified version. I don't take too many crazy risks
S5: because I don't really can't really see what I'm wearing
S5: that well, but just to help me to feel like
S5: I'm dressing well in the world.
S3: Are there ways in which we can use our appearance
S3: and demeanor to give the impression of being confident, more
S3: confident that we perhaps are?
S5: I think I learnt from another friend of mine who's
S5: he's a cane user. I was finding that I was
S5: having a lot of trouble using McCain, as I've already mentioned,
S5: and when I went out with an amazing mind and
S5: she is just so incredibly confident, almost aggressive. It's so
S5: she's very lovely. And so you could never describe it
S5: as aggressive but just super confident. And I find that
S5: people react really differently to combat as a woman on
S5: a mission who doesn't need any help. I'll just get
S5: out of her way, and I promise I find that
S5: that really works for her. And I actually there's a
S5: lot by being out with her and observing what she
S5: does and how she moves in the world.
S3: Samantha, it's been such a pleasure chatting with you today.
S3: Thanks for joining us. Remember, you can download Nothing's Off
S3: Limits via the Vision Australia website at Vision Australia dot org.
S3: That's Vision Australia dot org. Just search for nothing's off
S3: limits into the search engine, and you'll be directed to
S3: a web page where you can view this episode and
S3: earlier episodes, and please make sure you subscribe so you
S3: don't miss any. Also, you can tune in via Vision
S3: Australia radio. We've gathered up all the contact details of
S3: the organisations mentioned in this episode and put them on
S3: the Vision Australia website. You can also find there a
S3: great webinar with Chloe Norton from the Melbourne Fashion Festival
S3: about how we can find and dress to our style.
S1: That was nothing's off limits. Made with the support of
S1: Vision Australia and the NDIS information linkages and capacity building grant.
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