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Like many young people, 19-year-old Priscilla Ragesh wasn’t sure what she wanted to do when she was ready to leave school. Priscilla, who embraces her Singaporean and Indian heritage, lives with an intellectual disability, which impacts her memory, learning and understanding. ‘Sometimes I can’t remember long words and sometimes I find it difficult to read the (text) book and the questions, so I need to ask for help,’ Priscilla said. ‘School was up and down and friendship wise, it was challenging, it was difficult to make friends.’ Despite a sometimes-rocky road at school, Priscilla has many reasons to be smiling...

Throughout her schooling life Amy felt like an outcast, forever questioning whether something was “wrong” with her. But since being diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in 2019 and gaining access to the NDIS, the 22-year-old from Dalveen in Queensland’s Southern Downs region is on a journey of self-discovery and loving it. “Before I met my support worker, Jane, I didn’t have any friends, I couldn’t drive and I was just socially awkward,” Amy said. “But together, we worked on my social skills and had regular outings together. We would just get lunch and sit at the park or work...

Ahead of International Women’s Day on March 8, former jockey Kristy Banks is showing the cowboys a thing or 2 about speed and agility as she vies for the 2023 Queensland Barrel Racing title. While rodeos are a male-dominated sport, Kristy, a NDIS participant, is leading the way in barrel racing after getting back in the saddle following a serious fall during a race on New Year's Eve in 2011. "It was just a normal day at the races until I unfortunately clipped heels with the horse in front of me and fell," Kristy, 41, said. "I was fully conscious...

Newcastle local Niki Williams lost the lower part of her right leg in a car accident 20 years ago. After being cut out of the car and rushed to hospital she became an amputee within hours. At 19, Niki’s near-death experience changed her outlook on life. Since then, the 39-year-old has dedicated herself to disability advocacy and breaking down barriers and stereotypes. Niki also mentors other amputees and families and offers her services to prosthetists when they attend state, national and worldwide conferences to demonstrate the latest in prosthetic limb technologies. 'Blinging out' one of her old prosthetic legs, Niki...

Drysdale’s Adam McCoughtry can’t wait to get back to school this year to start Year 6 and be Drysdale Primary School’s 2023 Dan Dan Nook House Captain

The future looks bright for Jeff Gooding. He feels he has found a new family – a house manager, support workers and house mates who all have his best interests at heart. Jeff, 50, has Multiple Sclerosis (MS). He also has seizures resulting in partial memory loss. Both challenging conditions, Jeff lived in Woolloomooloo with his elderly mum, who cared for him until she sadly passed away. Never married, an only child and with no children, Jeff lived alone until he had a fall. Not able to walk or manage on his own, he ended up in residential aged care...