20 Jun Letter from Sidharth Chandran

Hem Sidharth Chandran

With my autism, I find life in planet normal stressful. Noises often feel like an assault on my ears. If there was one thing I could say to people I would say please lower the decibel of the sounds. Some of the other things around me are difficult too. I see lines well. Pictures puzzle me. My two eyes don’t focus well together.

When everyone complains about my behaviour, I want to say ‘I would like to live a normal polite life too, have proper manners, I would like to be like everyone else, have the money to pursue interests, learn to do programming on a computer. I would love to write. I would like to own my own business’.

For people with disability like me, the perception that we are people of low worth is the number one problem.

Pending advances in research, my life can only change if others around me change. Because I can’t change. Policy change like the NDIS will make a lot of difference. We will have more services.

When I first started to type I needed direct support. Now I can handle it on my own almost.

Probably I have wanted more support when working with others than my mother. I may have to practice more. I do Maths using a keyboard or number board.

NDIS has given me the chance to build my skills so I can be independent. I will use the NDIS to train for more communication, better writing, for employment. In six months that I have participated in NDIS, my life has changed.

I feel happy at Flintwood. I like the peace and quiet. When the environment is peaceful, I feel better. I like my support worker and friends.