Radio show presenters, Nikki Portland,
Suzanne McGreevy and Mary Albury
A digital radio program in Queensland specifically for people with disabilities was launched June 5. The weekly show will focus on the shared experiences and challenges facing disabled people in Queensland, the ABC radio network in Australia reports.
The program's hosts (pictured above) all have cerebral palsy and say they hope to provide information and reduce feelings of isolation among their disabled listeners.
Topics such as employment opportunities for people with disabilities, disability services available and societal attitudes about disability will all be discussed, according to the Unviersity of Southern Queensland (USQ), whose community radio station, Phoenix Radio, is hosting the show.
The program, "Ipswich Connections," is named after its location, west of Brisbane. The hosts hope their weekly show will have a much wider reach - possibly international, because it will be available via the USQ Web site.
"We're going to interview a lot of people and we're going to talk about how people can get jobs like if they're disabled and to get people to call in and talk to us about our problems, co-host Nikki Portland says.
Co-host Mary Albury says, they want "to give people with disabilities a voice and promote people with disabilities and what's going on. We're hoping our show will help them by connecting them to services that maybe they can use and feel like they are connected to a community or a part of something."
