My New Life in Bundaberg

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Once we arrived in Bundaberg we immediately felt at home with excellent neighbours all of whom were only too eager to assist us in any way possible. We did some alterations to the house mainly to smarten it up but also, courtesy of my very generous father-in-law, we installed an in-ground swimming pool so as to allow me to do regular exercise as well as keep cool in the warmer and quite humid tropical climate. The pool has a hoist operated by an electric boat winch and battery charged by a solar panel on top. I designed this myself and Commonwealth Rehabilitation Services arranged for it to be built so I would have easy access.

We had only been here a month when I was accepted as a client at the Pioneer Day Therapy Centre. Here I re-established my physio and speech therapy routines. Of course, in the intervening years I had forgotten much of the work I had previously been able to do so it was a case of starting almost from scratch again but with the help of a young male physio who had some training with rehab patients during his overseas stint in Saudi Arabia, I made significant progress over a 3 year period. It was hard work because Trevor knew that if he pushed me I had the capability to improve so it involved a lot of pain and commitment. It was never easy and often time not even enjoyable doing the workouts but Trevor and Diane were always supporting and encouraging me and every little improvement I made spurred me on to greater challenges. I learnt how to stand in the parallel bars again - not an easy thing to do when over the years you have put on a lot of weight due to lack of any exercise - and I was provided with a calliper for my weaker right leg and got to a stage where I was able to do a shuffle walk in the parallel bars. Along with the standing and leg exercises I did a great deal of strength work and cycling and all of this combined with my swimming program at home really helped a great deal. Unfortunately after 3 years in the program, Trevor left to set up his own private practice and the remaining female therapists believed that without Trevor’s male strength they had done almost as much as they could do for me with their limited resources and time constraints and as each client can only receive so much attention so I was encouraged to leave the program but to continue with my standing at home in my shortened version of a set of parallel bars and also to regularly do my weight lifting with a set of weights I designed on a pulley system and of course the swimming which I loved and showed a lot of improvement with. With regard to the Speech Therapy this was less intensive and I only attended for about 6 months and in that time I think I taught the Therapist more than she taught me as I was able to remember what I had done with the different pieces of equipment all those years ago and with Diane’s help we re-made these items and I demonstrated their use to the young Therapist and she was then able to use them for other clients.  

During all of this period my wife worked part-time doing morning shifts so that she would be free to accompany me to the 4 therapy sessions per week. Diane commenced working 2 mornings per week at the church as the Minister's Secretary and then managed to obtain an additional 3 mornings per week working as the Bursar (fancy name for Accountant) at the local Lutheran Primary School. I was happy for her to be back in the workforce as she needed some brain stimulation but it meant I had lots of time at home alone and quite a few hours/days attending the local Cinema each week as their most frequent patron. 

I was enjoying life but I was also eager to be employed because I kept thinking about how much I’d enjoyed the work opportunity in Sydney so I made enquiries through the Commonwealth Rehabilitation Service and they went to great lengths to test me in order to ascertain my level of ability but despite their recommendation that I was capable to work with computers on a part-time basis (I actually already knew that but we had to follow the Centrelink processes about work placement) they seemed unable to find a suitable position for me. Many employer’s didn’t understand how productive and loyal a disabled employee can be so very few, in that era, were willing to give people like me a chance. Finally, my opportunity came when the school that employed my wife suggested to her that she could have an Assistant to work the new computer they were purchasing (to that point Diane had done her whole job manually – very time consuming) so that her working hours would be kept to just mornings thus allowing her to continue my therapy program in the afternoons. She put my name forward and presented a good case for why I might be her ideal ‘assistant’ and I was accepted. That was in September of 1994 and I worked whenever necessary - sometimes 3 mornings a week but generally 2 mornings - it just depended on the flow of work and also how I was feeling so I was free to come and go as necessary and such a flexible working arrangement suited me perfectly. 

I loved the work and eventually I was also give an extra duty and placed in charge of the school Internet and E-mail as none of the teaching staff had any knowledge in these fields at that time as the Internet was a fairly new concept but fortunately for me, Diane had got me into some one-on-one training as soon as the Internet commenced and that had given me a head start so I ended up teaching the staff what I knew. Despite all my limitations I definitely proved that given the opportunity and with the help of people who understood my situation I could be a very useful employee. Being able to work alongside my wife was excellent as the data entry work I did was all generated from her desk so we really worked as a team and she was never far away if I required assistance so Commonwealth Rehab did not have to concern themselves with finding me a support worker as they were quite satisfied with the notion that my wife would provide my transport and take care of any issues that might arise in my workplace. I was so thankful for the opportunity to once again be in the workforce. It gave me real purpose and a reason to get up in the mornings and I felt like I was making a small contribution to society rather than simply existing within my 4 walls each and every day.

My work opportunities ceased in 2002 when Diane resigned from the position at the school which meant that my job also ended.  However, I loved every minute of it while it lasted and I was ready for any new challenge on the horizon as I now knew what I was capable of.

When work ceased I knew I must not fall back into the old habit and pattern of sitting and staring at 4 walls so with Diane readily snapped up into another job and no opening there for me, it was time for me to go to TAFE and discover more about my much loved topic of ‘Computing’.  At the local Bundaberg TAFE I was made to feel extremely welcome by all the staff but most particularly by the Head Tutor who took me under his wing and really wanted to see me succeed. I think he enjoyed having me in the class. He initially said to Diane on Day 1 “I am not sure that Michael will manage all modules of the course – some he will pass and others he will struggle with but let’s work together and see how far he can go but I just don’t want you to be disappointed if he can’t be awarded a Certificate at the end because he fails to complete all modules”.  

I guess that’s exactly the type of challenge that Diane thrives on – so with that notion in her head Diane set out to ensure that I passed ALL modules.  She purchased a “Windows” computer so that I had access to not only my faithful Apple Computer but also something that totally replicated the TAFE classroom computers and we worked solidly together on each module when she was at home.  The constant repetition of the tasks helped to reinforce in my brain all the new concepts I was being taught and as each week passed I was able to prove to Noel (Head Tutor) that I was capable of sitting the test for another module.  At first I think I even surprised myself with my results and the more modules I completed successfully the more I was spurred on to try to complete the harder modules. 

Finally, towards the end of 2003 I was ready to sit the test for the last and hardest module that Noel was not expecting me to pass.  He really didn’t want to disappoint me by having to give me a ‘fail’ so he said “why even bother to sit the test – just be happy with what you have achieved so far” but I was not going to give up when I was so close to the finish line and the possibility of gaining a Certificate for successful completion of a whole course.  Noel allowed Diane to sit in the exam room and read the questions to me as that is where I struggle the most – in being able to process and comprehend the actual meaning of a question – but hearing it read out aloud I then knew how I needed to answer.  There was a time limit to completing the exam so I had to work faster than I would have liked but I did get all the questions finished within the permitted time and Noel took the paper and after marking it he exclaimed “Michael – you’ve surprised all of us – you’ve managed to get almost all of it right – just a few small mistakes but you’ve got an ‘A’ on this module – so that means you’ve successfully completed all modules”. 

 I was ecstatic and so was Noel.  I didn’t realise where Noel was going but soon enough he returned with the Director of the whole TAFE and she personally congratulated me for my success.  It was only at this moment that it finally sunk in what I’d really achieved.  Noel was 99% certain that I couldn’t pass that last module and that’s why he’d told us on Day 1 not to be discouraged but I’d achieved what he thought was impossible for someone with my level of head injury and he wanted the Director to be the one to present my Certificate. 

I went on in 2004 to do a second course that involved me training other students with disabilities to learn the basics of computing and I really enjoyed the opportunities that came to work alongside others and share my knowledge and assist them and get to know them as people.  I thoroughly enjoyed my few years at TAFE college both as a student and later as a ‘volunteer’ tutor.