Patty Kikos interviews Romy Holman, who shares her story about her daughter Milla being deprived of oxygen for ten minutes during her birth, and then being diagnosed with epilepsy and cerebral palsy. Romy emigrated from South Africa with her husband, had two more children, and founded the One & All Hub, which is a holistic centre for mixed abilities, who are pioneering innovations in disability and mental health. GUEST: Romy Holman - https://www.oneandallhub.org/ SOCIAL MEDIA: Follow The Benevolent Society on Instagram Follow Carer Gateway on Facebook Follow The Benevolent Society on Facebook CREDITS: Host – Patty Kikos Producers – Patty Kikos and John Hresc Sound Engineer – John Hresc GET IN TOUCH: Carer Gateway is proud to offer emotional and practical services and support for carers with the aim of making your life easier. You can call us on 1800 422 737 to find out more about peer support groups, counselling, coaching, online skills courses, tailored support packages, emergency respite, other government supports, as well as tips and information, or visit our online home at www.carergateway.gov.au Got some questions or thoughts for? Email us at cgconnections@benevolent.org.au and put ‘Carer Conversations Podcast’ in the subject line. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: The Benevolent Society acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Land we have recorded this podcast on, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.
Patty Kikos interviews Romy Holman, who shares her story about her daughter Milla being deprived of oxygen for ten minutes during her birth, and then being diagnosed with epilepsy and cerebral palsy. Romy emigrated from South Africa with her husband, had two more children, and founded the One & All Hub, which is a holistic centre for mixed abilities, who are pioneering innovations in disability and mental health.
GUEST:
Romy Holman - https://www.oneandallhub.org/
SOCIAL MEDIA:
Follow The Benevolent Society on Instagram
Follow Carer Gateway on Facebook
Follow The Benevolent Society on Facebook
CREDITS:
Host – Patty Kikos
Producers – Patty Kikos and John Hresc
Sound Engineer – John Hresc
GET IN TOUCH:
Carer Gateway is proud to offer emotional and practical services and support for carers with the aim of making your life easier.
You can call us on 1800 422 737 to find out more about peer support groups, counselling, coaching, online skills courses, tailored support packages, emergency respite, other government supports, as well as tips and information, or visit our online home at www.carergateway.gov.au
Got some questions or thoughts for? Email us at cgconnections@benevolent.org.au and put ‘Carer Conversations Podcast’ in the subject line.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
The Benevolent Society acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Land we have recorded this podcast on, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.
Patty
By some miracle, she was resuscitated, and you were told by specialists that she would unlikely live. And if she did, she'd unlikely ever walk or talk. How did you and do you and your family navigate this trauma? This is epic.
Romy
To be honest, Patty, we're still navigating this trauma. It never leaves you. It's a daily challenge. It's really difficult. But we have found ways to process it. At the time, everybody was just in absolute shock and horror, and there was no processing of anything.
But as time has evolved over the years, we have learned to turn that trauma into something more positive. And, literally watching the doctors carry your baby who was born with no heartbeat, born and you never heard the cry. I didn't know if it was a boy or a girl. I just knew that she had no heartbeat because we listened to her heart stop while she was still inside of my stomach.
Yeah, and it was a freak accident. Her head really got stuck in my cervix. And we were really traumatised by it. It was my first child. There was no reason for it to happen. Still don't have a reason. It was really quite a shock.
----
Billy:
From the Benevolent Society, we welcome you to the Carer Gateway podcast, with your host Patty Kikos.
Carer Gateway is the Australian Government national carer hub and provides reliable services, support and advice specifically for carers.
This podcast is where we share interviews with guests that have specialised knowledge to help support carers to look after their emotional, mental and physical well-being.
We are recording on Aboriginal country, on lands which were never ceded. We acknowledge the traditional custodians and cultural knowledge holders of these lands and waters. We pay our respects to Aboriginal elders, past, present and emerging.
Always was, always will be.
---
Patty
Romy Wolman is a force of nature. You notice her in the room.
She has tenacity, grit and drive. 18 months ago, she started a centre that had subconsciously been years in the making, since her 16-year-old daughter Milla, was born with cerebral palsy.
Romy hails from South Africa originally. The daughter of a judge who was told she had to complete two university degrees before being allowed to move out. So, she did that. Once of them was as a lawyer, which paid tribute to her voracious intellectual capacity.
But at heart, Romy is incredibly artistic, and ensures she nurtures this aspect of her soul’s calling, just as much as she tends to her aptitude for legal frameworks.
Romy created One&All, which is a creative hub, in an all-inclusive community centre, a place to shine. It’s a place where you can be inspired and feel safe, fulfilled, and respected. As the first 18+, all abilities-focused arts concept of its kind in Sydney, they provide innovation in disability and mental health engagement through their vibrant community of artists and high-quality workshops.
One&All bring together individuals, families, carers, creatives, as well as artists who are passionate about creating lasting change for people with disabilities and mental health challenges, by facilitating elevation of the body, mind, and soul.
Now Romy, can we just quietly talk about the fact that despite your understanding of raising a child with a disability, as well as advocating for positive change in the disability sector, with organisations such as Epilepsy Action, and Cerebral Palsy Alliance, you didn’t even know that you are eligible to be registered as a carer through the Carer Gateway? How does this happen?
Romy
Well, hi, Patty, and thank you for that incredible introduction.
Patty
You deserve it.
Romy
I didn't even realise that this was a service on offer to all carers. And moreover, that it was available over and above what the NDIS provides. It's absolutely incredible to have an extended service available, looking after carers, and it's incredible that organisations like Carer Gateway exist to provide such a service. Carers often get lost in the big picture.
Patty
Yeah, exactly. Especially with emergency situations that come up, they get overlooked, don't they?
Romy
Absolutely, yeah!
Patty
Now Romy, you're very driven and passionate, but you've also told me that your weekends are not relaxing because you have three children, Milla, Lola, and Judah. And while your husband is incredibly hands on with them during the week, much of his work takes place on the weekend. When do you ever rest?
Romy
Sorry, Patty. How do you spell ‘rest’?
Patty
N-E-V-E-R {both laugh}
Romy
That's true. Not often I must say, but I do steal moments whenever I possibly can for myself. I'm quite committed to taking traffic control breaks. Because there's so much going on, there's so much noise and so I do daily meditation, immersion and creative activity. Immersion in nature, body movement. Really any moment I can steal for myself to take a deep breath, I actively do so.
Patty
For our carers that are listening, what's a traffic control rest? Do you wear a special hat? {both laugh}
Romy
We do wear so many hats, don't we? So, traffic control really is a daily reminder to stop and take three deep breaths and so few people actually do that Patty.
Very, very few people are aware that their lives are so busy. Their heads are so full, they're so overstimulated. There's so much information coming in that we forget to just stop and take a deep breath. With traffic control it’s an alarm I set on my phone three times a day. It’s a little tingle, little jingle, and wherever I am and it's at specific times, 11.11 or 22.22, it’s all about the ‘Angel Numbers’. And then the little alarm goes off and I stop. And just for those three seconds, I take a deep breath. It brings awareness back into my day and allows me to actually be in the moment, which is quite special, such a small thing.
Patty
It's inspiring cause you know, I think it's important for our listeners to know that you don't have to do big things, you have to do the little things consistently and they definitely build up a reservoir on your nervous system, don't they?
Romy
Yes, it's daily practice exactly like anything else.
Patty
Now you have told me that a very special mention needs to be made to your relationship, because within a year of meeting your husband in South Africa, you feel pregnant, and you had a child with a disability and then you emigrated.
Now this is enough to stress any couple, but yet 17 years later, you're still strong. You're still a united force and statistically, I think it's over 70% of couples break up when they're raising a child that has either mental health issues or a disability. What's your secret to happiness in a couple of sentences?
Romy
The secret sauce Patty is really recognising each other's strengths and allowing each other to be individuals. What we say is we are one, but we're not the same, so working cohesively as a unit, balancing each other out and allowing each other to shine where their strengths are imminent.
Also, we have a lot of playfulness in our relationship, and we have a lot of fun together and I think those two things would be so important for any relationship to stick together.
Patty
Yeah, a shared sense of humour for sure. So, let's go back in time to that richly creative and fulfilling life that you lived just before having Milla, you had two Uni degrees under your belt, and you lived in New York for seven years. Why did you study law if you weren't interested in practicing it at the time?
Romy
Yep, Patty, as you said earlier, my father's a lawyer and he was the founding judge of the Small Claims Court. I kind of grew up on his desk listening to him dictate his legal notes and developed a natural affinity and love for law and the academic side of developing a legal way of thinking, a legal mind.
So, it was really an academic choice. And effectively I wanted to go live in New York City, so I had to get my degrees as quickly as possible, so. I could emigrate, not emigrate, but so I could go to New York City and I never really practised as a lawyer, but I have utilised my law degree all the time. It's developed a certain way of thinking, which is a trained legal mind, which is great.
Patty
I imagine you would use it, though, when you're reading through terms and conditions, or when you're going through the fine print of things as well.
Romy
Yeah. Well, in the sector especially, there's a lot of governance and compliance that's required and even to navigate the NDIS, you have to be a lawyer. {both giggle} Sometimes it's really tricky, the lingo, the, you know, but really what I've utilised it most for was to become a mediator and mediating high level conflict resolution towards a more harmonious and peaceful state.
Patty
Do you do this now?
Romy
So I have done this for the past couple of years, and I did it basically once a week up until a few months ago and I just couldn't manage once a week anymore and I do one mediation a month now.
Patty
That's wonderful. Now, with Milla, the fabulous Milla.
Romy
Hmm. Yes.
Patty
You had a wonderful pregnancy, you were young, you were fit, you swam, you did yoga everyday. Tragically, though, during her birth, when her head got stuck behind your cervix and she had no air for about ten minutes and had been pronounced clinically dead, by some miracle, she was resuscitated and you were told by specialists that she would unlikely live. And if she did, she'd unlikely ever walk or talk. How did you and do you and your family navigate this trauma? This is epic.
Romy
To be honest, Patty, we're still navigating this trauma. It never leaves you. It's a daily challenge. It's really difficult. But we have found ways to process it. At the time, everybody was just in absolute shock and horror, and there was no processing of anything.
But as time has evolved over the years, we have learned to turn that trauma into something more positive. And, literally watching the doctors carry your baby who was born with no heartbeat, born and you never heard the cry. I didn't know if it was a boy or a girl. Yeah, I just knew that she had no heartbeat cause we listened to her heart stop while she was still inside of my stomach.
Yeah, and it was a freak accident. Her head really got stuck in my cervix. And we were really traumatised by it. It was my first child. There was no reason for it to happen. Still don't have a reason. It was really quite a shock, yeah.
Patty
And then I mean, you and your husband move to Australia when Milla was only 9 months old, you arrived in June. And true to Romy, for me, you had a job in marketing in September. What inspired such a profound change for you while you were still navigating that shock and that trauma?
Romy
So, the move to Australia was really a privilege. We were able to access enough points to be allowed into the country at that time and still, unfortunately, South Africa being the most amazing country, was in distress and is still in distress.
Yeah, the infrastructure was falling down. It was quite dangerous to be there, and my partner and I decided that at that time it would be a safe choice for the future of our children to move here. And we had been through a hell of a lot, but we had already begun from the first moment, seeing Milla not as a burden, not as something that created trauma or creates trauma, but as a true blessing in our lives and with that new approach to life, with that positive approach, we really embraced the change and moved towards a lighter side of living.
Patty
Yeah, well, that continued because at age three, she was actually officially diagnosed with cerebral palsy as well as epilepsy, and she wasn't meeting her milestones. You then went on a mission to get her off the anti-epileptic meds that had had severe side effects because you said it was “reducing her to a severe drooling like zombie state, and in a wheelchair for five years”.
Australia wasn't allowing epileptic children to have access to any plant based balms. So, you started advocating from a medical and I guess scientific perspective, to get that policy change and to get access to other sources of medicine. Is that right?
Romy
That's absolutely correct, Patty. And I think it's a very strong tool for advocating for. I was able to reduce Milla's medication over her epileptic years and substituted eventually with the natural remedy, which had no side effects compared to the anti-epileptic, which as you say, reduced her into a drooling zombie in a wheelchair. I then had my second child. I left marketing and the corporate world, and started really advocating in the disability sector until I was able to get Milla’s seizures under control over a period of five years. Working hand in hand with the neurologist. This is a true success story of moving from hardcore medicine to plant based medicine, with no side effects. And most kids were not able to access it at that time.
Patty
Do you think it's a personality trait or do you think it was your legal background that assisted with the advocacy, or maybe even a combination of both?
Romy
I think it's definitely a combination of both. And I'm a daughter of Africa, don't forget. And I really studied the plants extensively. The medicinal properties and the research that was really moving towards assisting kids with epilepsy, taking different kinds of plant-based medicine and moving towards a healthier future.
Patty
You actually speak about having a child every five years until you've completed your family, and I want to unpack that with you a little bit because that's a big decision to make when one of your children is disabled, I'd love you to share your thoughts about this with our listeners.
Romy
We needed time for Milla to settle, of course, so we waited a few years before we had our second child Lola. And besides wanting a second child, we also wanted a sibling for Milla who would support her throughout her life. And we thought then after a while, actually, it's not fair to leave it all up to 1 sibling. And then we left it up to the miracle of the universe to see if at the ripe old age of 41, I was able to have a third child and that's when Judah was born.
And they can now share the responsibility of looking after each other and being there for each other. I also always knew that I was having a son, so that was a real blessing in our lives. And coming from three children, I knew what it was like and the dynamic between the three of us was really good. The way we supported each other was really special.
And you know, Milla, despite being physically disabled, she's super smart, she's not intellectually disabled, but she needs a lot of support. She can't feed herself. She can't use her hands to write. She's got a decisive intention tremor. She can't brush her teeth. She does need a lot of physical support, and having two siblings by her side is quite an amazing support network that hopefully she'll have for the rest of her life.
Patty
Ohh, of course. And at school. Does she use teachers? Aides who, who scribe for her?
Romy
Yeah, that's right. So, she's got a full-time teachers aide and is able to be in a mainstream classroom.
Patty
So, she does mainstream exams and she gets mainstream results. Is that right?
Romy
That's right, yes.
Patty
And I know that you've mentioned she's got a speech impediment as well as a few other physical impediments.
Romy
That's quite common amongst cerebral palsy, is that you have a draw or speech impediment your speech articulation pronunciation is not often clear.
Patty
But despite that, she's also done some public speaking, hasn't she?
Romy
She has really beat all the odds, as you said. Every doctor diagnosed her. This will be someone who will never walk or talk, and she's really become an ambassador and advocate for disability, for inclusion, for advocating change of perception and disability, by being a public speaker. She speaks in front of thousands of people and she's really confident and super brave.
Patty
Representation is important because there aren't many young people with cerebral palsy who are public speakers, and I know you've shared that she recently got selected to perform at the Sydney Opera House, so that's incredible.
Romy
Yes, that's pretty amazing. She has started acting and public speaking on a greater level now and is pursuing acting and public speaking.
Patty
So, it sounds like it makes total sense in reference to how One&All started?
Romy
That's right. Patty. From the day she was born, I believed that I would be advocating for whatever was required for her, and not only for her, but for all other people with disabilities in this world.
Patty
How did One&All start?
Romy
One&All actually started with just one workshop, which was called the ‘Single Sock Solution’ and that became ‘Weave and Breathe’. That was a weaving workshop which brought abled, disabled and aged together and used fabrics heading for landfall to create beautiful art pieces and to weave collectively, and something everybody could do that was very tranquil and very peaceful.
One workshop then became 11 workshops, and over a period of 2.5 years where I really researched what it would take under the auspices of Jewish House, I was then able to go through quite an extensive scientific investigation, discovering what was really important, what two pillars were really important across the board to uplift spirit and build self-esteem in people with disabilities and mental health challenges.
Patty
What are the 2 pillars?
Romy
So really what we discovered Patty was two important things. The first one was community. Feeling like you belong to community, and you're connected to community. And the second thing was meaningful engagement. So not spending your days doing nothing certainly not spending your days doing menial tasks. So meaningful engagement and community. And upon those two pillars we developed the foundation for One&All, which is a holistic hub for people with mixed abilities.
Patty
What's the main objective for One&All?
Romy
One&All was designed for the many mothers, brothers, fathers, sisters, wives, carers really Patty, that I had spoken to. Each one of them and they had bigger dreams for their loved ones, feeling that what was available may not be good enough, and where would they go one day when I wasn't around? And I really wanted to create something special. A place where people could go where they would be filled with love and warmth as well as where loved ones would be excited to leave their children and walk away feeling proud.
Patty
When you said so they have somewhere to go when I'm not around, do you mean when I'm not around because I'm at work, or when I'm not around because I'm no longer on Earth.
Romy
Both really. So, a lot of carers were dropping their children off at places that they didn't feel happy and comfortable about. And also, the main concern is what's gonna happen one day when I'm not around, where are they going to go every day, who's going to look after them?
One&All is intended eventually to be a place for life and it was designed to raise the bar and set a higher standard to be pioneers in our community and open the doors and our hearts not just to people with disabilities and mental health, but also to families and carers who needed the support so everybody could feel included and accepted. In a place that was uplifting.
Patty
So, it sounds like you've really raised the bar in mental health and disability service, because you've wanted to shift the way disability is viewed in mainstream society, isn't that right?
Romy
That's absolutely right.
Patty
Yeah, because you've got a holistic approach with care that tends to the body, the mind, the soul. So it's very family centred, and person centred. The whole family has been supported, which is really, really interesting. What do you actually do to start the day?
Romy
Right. So, we start every day with meditation and sound ball healing or some sort of mindfulness, and this puts everybody into the same calm energetic space, in order to begin their day properly.
Patty
So you start vibrating at the same frequency.
Romy
That's right, raising the vibrational frequency, which is our daily intention to raise the vibrational frequency.
Patty
Well, that is a lot, especially because a lot of people need to navigate the frenetic traffic to even get to the centre, so you arrive very charged, for the most part don’t you.
Romy
Correct for a lot of people, it's a challenge to even get there, Patty, and our approach is to put everybody into the right energetic frequency and to make sure that nobody feels overlooked. Nobody feels shunned, everybody feels heard. Everybody is welcomed with the right holistic approach and care is given in the right way.
Patty
So, you're basically dealing with people that fall in the cracks, but they're too able to be babysat, so they're often overlooked in reference to where they're gonna go every day. Are some of your participants are nonverbal?
Romy
Yeah. We're dealing with the most vulnerable people in our community so often overlooked and shunned and so often isolated. So every day at 1:00 we are focusing on body, mind and soul model that can be replicated and we can spread the impact across.
Patty
OK, so your initial vision was to create a place for life, and this is important for carers and parents of a disabled child or person that they're looking after to hear. Because there's a lot of pre-emptive heartache over what will happen to my person after I leave this Earth plane. Your vision is to have a holistic hub that includes things such as art therapy, breath and body work and craniosacral work, just to name a few therapies that have been proven to calm your nervous system, which are traditionally seen as expensive or an occasional treat as opposed to essential for one's wellbeing. But it's more than that isn’t that?
Romy
That's right Patty, the ultimate vision is really to create a place for life and we are formulating a model based on body, mind, and soul holistic healing, making sure that people that so often fall through the cracks are uplifted and have a place to go for life. It will eventually hopefully become a holistic multi levered levelled centre access to allied health therapist, access to accommodation, and a dynamic day service in one precinct.
Patty
I was just about to say, what's your vision for the future? So, is this gonna be like a rinse and repeat process that we can recreate across all Australia?
Romy
My commitment to innovating in the in the disability sector allows for this to be a repeatable model, so that every council could have a One&All hub where people who really need a place to go can go every day, and a holistic centre that is sustainable and will demonstrate to government and to the public that a new model is possible.
Patty
OK. And so, you also want to develop more access to allied health therapy and then access to accommodation, so that you've also got access to communal living so that everyone can support each other, is that right?
Romy
That's right. I think communal living is essential. A return to almost the indigenous approach of living in communities and people caring for people. People truly supporting one another and being able to rely on others.
Patty
Yeah, it's very indigenous. It's very African and Indian, isn't it? The intergenerational assistance and connection with everybody is very important, and it's missing in our society today.
Romy
Yep, exactly. It's a return to that approach of people caring for each other and working together.
Patty
Multi generationally as well. I like that.
Romy
Yeah, the intergenerational approach is an exceptional model to look at with where you bring disabled and elderly together for shared resources and for friendship and for advice.
Patty
And connections. Yeah. Yep. How can people come to One&All? How can they participate?
Romy
Well, you can jump online, and you can set yourself up with a free trial and you can come to One&All hub to see if it's suitable for you and give it a go and get a taste of what you can expect. Participate in a few of our workshops. Meet our beautiful team, and really experience firsthand the magic of what One&All has to offer. All of our programs are claimable through NDIS and each participant just needs to mention it or talk to their support coordinators, plan managers, parents, carers to get them into the centre and do this trial and see how they can get the most out of their NDIS packages and their daily lives.
Patty
You know Romy, we often give carers advice by suggesting that they schedule their self-care, otherwise it just won't get done, a little bit like you talked about that ding that happens three times a day on your phone so that you can stop and take those three big breaths.
Now as a busy mum and a business owner yourself, when we were chatting just the other day, you shared that you had scheduled to go swimming on Fridays, but as yet you haven't managed to do so because there have been other things that you've had to attend to, and you've also mentioned that during your yoga practice, you've been really struggling to stay present because you found it difficult to stay focused with the multitude of things and tasks that you need to complete.
I love how realistic you are because I think it highlights how important it is to make goals realistic, but also sustainable so that they can actually happen, and they can continue. I mean, there's something you do for yourself that's non-negotiable as well in terms of that box breathing. Can you share it with our carers?
Romy
Absolutely. And setting those small goals, as you say, makes it more achievable and helps towards the self care. The box breathing is a really simple method. As I said I stop, I do the traffic control, I do three deep breaths, I swim, I do yoga whenever I can, but the box breathing is something I can do all the time and that's four deep breaths in. Making sure your stomach expands as you breathe in, holding the breath for four seconds, breathing across for four seconds and down and releasing everything negative, all the negativity out of your system in the out breath as you your stomach decreases.
Patty
And then you hold your breath again?
Romy
So it's four up four hold, four across and four down.
Patty
And that just gets done repetitively?
Romy
Correct.
Patty
Very, very good. This is wonderful. Romy, you are amazing, and I feel like you need to be rewarded with some rapid fire wrap up questions.
Romy
Ohh thank you. {giggles}
Patty
OK. Do you learn by watching or do you learn by doing?
Romy
Doing!
Patty
Boots on the ground. Dirt under the fingernails. Yes.
Romy
And inclusion is a verb after all Patty, it's a doing word, you know.
Patty
You're absolutely right. What is the philosophy that you live by daily?
Romy
I've developed a philosophy which I call SAG. How to SAG gracefully and SAG stands for Surrender, Acceptance and gratitude. This is a non-negotiable daily practice for me.
Patty
This is wonderful. Can you give us an example?
Romy
So, for example, Surrender is, I can't control what's out of my control and I surrender to the outcomes. The Acceptance is, it is what it is. You got to do what you got to do. You got to keep on doing it. And the Gratitude, of course, is what have I got to be thankful for in this moment and practicing that gratitude on a daily basis.
Patty
Does this come up a lot with you, with Milla?
Romy
It comes up a lot with me and every other carer, every other person I've actually ever encountered. Life is tough, it’s difficult, it presents challenges to everybody. But when you have these types of philosophies in place, you're able to navigate the tough waters and celebrate the small joys in a much more open way.
Patty
OK, so for example with Milla, when you drop her off at school, I know you've said that kids aren't always necessarily inclusive. They can sometimes be a little bit mean. So, you drop her off. Her friends don't say hello to her. You Surrender. You can't control this. It's outside your circle of control. That's S. A, Acceptance. You accept that this is the situation as it is, but you can also control how you respond to this because there's no point getting really, really angry about this every day. And then you'll go into the G, which is the Gratitude that you know, Milla does have teachers aides who do care for her. There might be a couple of friends that need to be inspired or encouraged to interact with her, and you've got Gratitude for the fact that you have such a strong connection with her. And so do her siblings.
Romy
Absolutely. And that's exactly right, Patty. It's really when you can't change the situation, you can change your relationship to that situation and try and find a positive way to engage in it that will be helpful to yourself and to serve others.
Patty
Yeah, I can understand that. What was your last Google search?
Romy
Do you really want to know?
Patty
I'm scared to ask.
Romy
It was definitely stats on something, probably artistic, creative, disability focused, so I'm constantly researching stats. It's one of the things that I'm obsessed about research and so I think it was how many disabled artists there were in the media.
Patty
Oh good. What's the kindest thing someone ever did for you?
Romy
The kindest thing actually.. I can't say. Just this morning my beautiful assistant. It's his birthday and he brought me a crystal to say thank you on his birthday. That was so kind. Last year we had each participant telling me on my birthday how much I had impacted their lives or changed their lives. Not me myself, but my team and one and all. That was the kindest words I'd ever heard, and the most heartwarming, definitely. And people do kind things for me every day.
Patty
Yeah. Yeah, I can see that. I can see that it just, is like a reflection of what you put out in the world, Romy.
Romy
Thank you, Patty, the energy you put out is the energy you receive.
Patty
I agree. I agree. Thank you for coming on board with us today, Romy. And that brings us to the end of this fabulous interview my lovely carers and listeners. If Romy’s story inspired you, we’ll share her website details in the show notes.
We’d be so grateful if you took the time to like, subscribe or give us a five star rating, as we want to ensure we get to the people who need to hear our messages the most.
The One & All Hub are a holistic hub for mixed abilities, who deliver a dynamic day service, and are a pioneering innovation in disability and in mental health.
Here’s hoping that more centres like this can open around the world, to empower adults of all abilities through dynamic and fun workshops and highlight each individual’s accomplishments and potential. Till we meet again, take good care of yourself.
Romy
Thank you. Thanks for having me. Bye.
----
Billy:
If you are caring for a relative or a friend who has a disability, a mental health condition, a life limiting health or medical condition.
Or they are frail because they're getting older. Please contact us at Carer Gateway on 1800 422 737, or look us up on www.carergateway.gov.au
And if you are a carer, you're allowed to take time to look after yourself. You are just as important as the person you take care of.