One In Five

Getting On With It

The final One in Five programme. From accessibility in the Christchurch rebuild to herding sheep with a disability. And from the IPC Athletics World Championships in Doha to running the New York marathon. We look back on the year's disability issues and revisit some of the individuals who shared their stories. Katy Gosset compiles a selection of programmes from the One in Five team.

Nic Brockelbank has just won the Junior section of the annual Attitude Awards; awards that recognise the achievements of people living with disabilities. The 13 year-old lives in Cambridge, has muscular dystrophy and has written and published cookbooks to raise thousands of dollars for charity. Nic's recently taken up road cycling. At first he could barely cycle one kilometre, now he is cycling 30 kms and has built up the strength in his legs so he no longer needs to use a wheelchair.

Going shopping in Taranaki has just become easier for the 29 per cent of its population who live with a disability. The Taranaki Disability Information Centre (TDIC) has been running a campaign encouraging business owners to re-jig the layout of their shops, provide seating, use easy to read signage and labels and make entrance-ways more accessible.

This week on One in Five: what does speed dating have to do with individualised funding for disability services ? Well, it can be very handy in finding a carer. Enabling Good Lives is a government trial that gives young disabled people control over their own funding. Two years in, Katy Gosset looks how the scheme is working. And she also finds its spawned some creative ways of recruiting support workers.

Nobody told Philip Wells he would never walk again. He was 15 andin the Otara spinal unit following a rugby tackle that had gone badly wrong. It was 1979.

Mike Gourley talks with American academic, Rosemarie Garland-Thompson about the modern day paradox confronting Disabled people: from a human rights angle, now has never been a better time to be a disabled person, but from a technological angle - with screening and genetic diagnosis on the rise, never have there been more of a threat to disabled lives.

A sensation for the senses. Thousands of people are flocking to New Plymouth's newLen Lye Centre. The doors of the strikingnew 12 million dollar building opened in late July and, in the first three months more than 53,000 people have visited. The Len Lye Collection curator, Paul Brobbel says the exhibitions and building are proving to have huge appeal and are bringing in people who would not usually venture into a gallery. He says the building's been designed to cater well for people with...