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To teach or not to teach?

To teach or not to teach?  Karen closed the classroom door, sighing with fatigue and relief. ‘I will never come back here,’ she promised herself. Long-service leave and an overseas trip lay ahead....

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LITTLE PEOPLE: BIG LIVES

My new book features renowned British actor Warwick Davis. It is a collection of stories about people living with dwarfism. Many of them belong to Short Statured People of Australia, whose president...

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Zipzone story

Imagining other worlds Under the massive dome of the La Trobe Reading Room in the Victorian State Library, my ten-year-old granddaughter takes on a new persona – the reader. Choosing a book at random...

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A world of difference

  ARTICLE published in LINK DISABILITY MAGAZINE (October 2014) Angelo Olmi was born with achondroplasia, the most common condition of dwarfism. He works in the organic section of the Queen Victoria...

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Editor’s Life Choices

I recently attended a professional development session run by Editors Victoria. President Jackey Coyle led the session entitled Dance Steps for the Self-Employed. There is always something  new to be...

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Self-publishing debunked

It’s that time of year again. The decorations are going up in main streets and the city centre. Soon we’ll be hearing Christmas carols over PA systems in the shops. And whether or not we celebrate the...

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Governments & the Disability Sector

I am always pleased when synchronicity steps into my life. Recently there has been some cross-fertilisation between my editing and writing careers. I have been editing educational policy documents that...

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Vale Stella Young

In her recent Ted Talk Stella Young said: I want to live in a world where we don’t have such low expectations of disabled people that we are congratulated for getting out of bed and remembering our own...

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You need an editor

I have helped many authors with their books and I could not agree more with Donna Ward, writing on the Writers Victoria website, as follows: If you’ve written a whole book and haven’t shown your...

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Writing about disability

My book Little People Big Lives was published in 2013. I self-published it because I was pretty sure no publisher would take it on. The topic is too unusual ­– profiles of people who are short-statured...

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DIY Publishing

My book Little People Big Lives was published in 2013. I self-published it because the big publishers wouldn’t take it on. The topic is too unusual ­and not good for sales! The book profiles people who...

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My new book is out!

My new book called IN MY WORLD consists of two chapter books for readers aged 7+ between the covers . Both stories have a main character who is a young person living with a disability. Basketball Tree...

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Developing empathy for difference

‘Mummy, why is that man so short?’ ‘Because he didn’t eat his vegetables when he was a kid.’  The short man who overheard this conversation was Jonathan Tripp. He was born with a condition of dwarfism....

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Illustrating disability in kids stories

I write stories for children that put disability front and centre. Why? Because when I published a nonfiction book on dwarfism I realised that there are so few kids books where the main character lives...

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Back to school with a disability

Over the years since the development of a national Australian curriculum began, it has become increasingly easier for teachers to feel supported when they have children in their class who live with a...

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At school with a disability

Last week I wrote about ways in which the national (Australian) curriculum supports students who live with a disability. This is through the General Capabilities. I mentioned the Personal and Social...

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Developing empathy for difference

The Australian School Library Association has published an article of mine. See how teachers can use my books to the advantage of their students and to comply with the Australian Curriculum.

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Aiming for Perfectionism as a Writer

This blog is also posted on the Creative Kids Tales website. I recently attended a workshop called ‘The Art of Imperfection’ at The School of Life in Melbourne. The aim of this session was to help...

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Anh Doh paints Kurt Fearnley

Kurt Fearnley levers his body out of his wheelchair and hoists himself into a yellow armchair in Anh Doh’s studio. He tucks his lifeless legs under him and grins widely at Anh who is about to paint his...

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Prof Tom Shakespeare talks to Carole Lander

Many short-statured people will have heard of Professor Tom Shakespeare who is an English sociologist, broadcaster and disability activist. He came to Australia in 2014 to give the keynote talk at the...

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