Featured Social Media
The Power of the Chicken.
Theme: Advancing health, disability and well-being through animal-assisted services.
The ATL Disability Forum will focus on how animal-assisted services can support the goals of those in our community who live with a disability.
Each person’s experience of disability is unique and multi-dimensional. Functioning refers to a person’s physical, psychological, cognitive and social capacity to manage day-to-day activities they find meaningful and support independence. Disability supports aim to improve social and economic participation, reducing disability-related barriers.
The ATL Disability Forum brings together health practitioners, clinicians, researchers, those with a lived experience and the broader animal-assisted services sector to share case studies, learnings, best practice, evidence base, achievements and challenges to better serve the needs of those living with a disability.
Summer Farrelly | Breaking Down Stereotypes
“I was that awkward person who no one would talk to – I was the kid who would just go straight to the library and that was what I did because I didn’t know how to talk to people”. Meet the 12-year-old who’s on a mission to make the community more inclusive for everyone.
The Person Who Speaks Chicken
The host of the series was none other than Ky Furneaux—an internationally recognised Hollywood stunt artist, motivational speaker, author, and survival expert—which was pretty exciting in itself.
In my introduction, Ky described me this way:
“Summer is an extraordinary eleven-year-old from Bundaberg with a unique creative flair and entrepreneurial spirit. Since Summer was a little, they have been inventing ways for people in the community to feel happy and included. From making superhero capes for anyone who may need to feel like they have powers for the day, to organising community book swaps and share boxes, and sharing personal artwork, Summer is driven by making others feel accepted with a playful sense of fun.
Summer’s projects and daily acts of kindness are inspired by the exclusion they have experienced over the years. Summer is autistic and has encountered bullying and rejection from others who are unaccepting of difference, but they do not allow that to stop them from following their passion for caring for others.”
Summer Farrelly 