April 2, 2025 • 36 mins
Lizzie Eastham and Sam Rickard present Studio 1 - Vision Australia Radio’s weekly look at life from a low vision and blind point of view.
On this week’s show
"Peter Archer: Beyond Vision”
Lizzie chats with Peter archer, a support worker who started his own business to provide unique activities to the blind and low vision community. He shares his inspiration for starting his business Beyond vision, and talks about the themed zoom groups he has created to bring socialisation and connection to vision impaired Australians.
Studio 1 welcomes any input from our listeners. If you have any experience or thoughts about issues covered in this episode or believe there is something we should be talking about.
EMAIL: studio1@visionaustralia.org or leave comment on the station’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/VARadioNetwork
A special thank you to Peter
Resources:
E-mail: peter_archer_beyondvision&outlook.com
Website: https://www.peterarcherbeyondvision.com
This program was made possible with support from the Community Broadcasting Foundation. Find out more at https://cbf.org.au/
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
S1 (00:07):
This is studio one on Vision Australia Radio.
S2 (00:16):
Hello, I'm Sam and I'm Lizzie, and this is Studio One,
your weekly look at life from a low vision and
blind point of view. Here on Vision Australia Radio.
S3 (00:23):
On this week's episode, I speak to Peter Archer, a
support worker who started his own business. His business seeks
to provide unique activities to the blind and low vision community.
S2 (00:34):
As we always say at this point, please do get
in touch with the show. Whether you have experience of
any of the issues covered on this week's episode of
Studio One, or if you think there's something we should
be talking about. You never know. Your story and insight
may help somebody else who is dealing with something similar.
S3 (00:48):
You can email us at studio One at Vision Australia.
That's studio number one at Vision Australia. Or of course,
you can search for us on Facebook. Just go to facebook.com,
slash radio network. Well. Hello, Sam.
S2 (01:04):
Hi, there. You sound, um, energized.
S3 (01:08):
I am rejuvenated, revitalized, re-energized, refreshed. All the good re
things that happen when one comes back from holiday.
S2 (01:15):
And reminded to retain some memories. Yes.
S3 (01:18):
Oh, wow.
S2 (01:18):
That's amazing. What have you been up to?
S3 (01:20):
Well, I was in Mount Gambier, if you remember. Last
week I mentioned I was in the beautiful Mount Gambier
area and, uh, I have just spent the last week
touring the caves, learning about the formation of the local volcanoes,
and I even ventured into Victoria for a short amount
of time to cruise on the Glenelg River at Nelson.
(01:42):
So it has been one of those really cool weeks
that I'm sure I'll never forget, and I'm probably not
allowed to mention. I was baptized yesterday, am I?
S2 (01:51):
Well, whatever. Um, it's. Well, we'll be covering something, uh,
similar to this in the very near future. Uh, as
far as the nature of spirituality among, uh, the blind
and vision impaired community, so we can probably talk about
that in another couple of weeks as we head up
to Easter.
S3 (02:07):
So very exciting.
S2 (02:09):
On with this show. However, um, how did you come across, um, Peter?
S3 (02:12):
Well, I had actually been following him on Facebook for
some time, uh, through various different groups. Uh, all disability
and blindness related. And one of the things that kept
coming up in these Facebook groups was the themed zoom
groups that he's running, which I thought were really interesting
because although his business provides community activities to people in Queensland,
(02:36):
the unique zoom groups give people around Australia the chance to, uh,
you know, just check in with community and not feel
so isolated, which I think is really important in these times,
especially for people who perhaps don't have the necessary funding
to get out and about, or they live in regional
or rural areas. So it's hard for them to find
(02:57):
that social connection.
S2 (02:59):
Well, without further ado, let's talk to the man himself.
S3 (03:05):
Peter, welcome to studio one. It is so good to
have you.
S4 (03:09):
Thank you very much for having me.
S3 (03:11):
So can you share the inspiration behind your founding of
Beyond Vision?
S4 (03:16):
Yeah, I'd love to. Uh, so it pretty much came about,
I think it was around about two years ago. I
was actually working for Vision Australia at the time. And, um,
got some unfortunate news that, um, all the support workers
were about to become redundant. And, uh, so I had
to think about what my, my next step was going
(03:38):
to be. And I love support work. You know, I
was I was lucky enough to, to do it at
Vision Australia for, for nine years. So I, I thought
to myself I want to continue doing this. Uh, but
but how how should I do this? Should I work
for another organisation? Or maybe I should give it a
go by myself? And, you know, I went for the latter.
I thought, let's let's try and give this a go.
(03:58):
And I just started thinking about, well, first, what's the
name going to be? And, um, I was, uh, lucky
enough to be in a position where I could continue
supporting a few of the clients that I was supporting
at Vision Australia. Yeah, because Vision Australia no longer was
delivering that service. So that that made it seem a
(04:18):
lot more, uh, realistic. And, um, the name Beyond Vision
came to me at about 3 a.m. in the morning. Yeah.
That's good. I got to remember that. I don't know
how I'm going to remember that. Maybe because if I
create a note on my phone, it's going to wake
up my wife. What am I going to do? I'll
just try. I'll try my best to remember it. Luckily.
Luckily enough, I did the next day. And, um. Yeah.
(04:41):
So began the, uh, the creation of Beyond Vision.
S3 (04:45):
So Beyond Vision offers a variety of services like home
cooked meals and community activities. Can you elaborate on some
more of the services that you offer and how do
they impact your clients?
S4 (04:56):
Yeah, so with the community access stuff. Well, it's kind
of similar to what I used to do at Vision Australia.
So I'll whoever my participants are, my clients, you know,
I'll get an idea of, of what they're, what they're
interested in. And, um, I'll do quite a bit of
research into to seeing if any, you know, activities are
(05:19):
happening in Brisbane or any events that are happening in Brisbane, um,
that sort of relate to that interest. And if there's
nothing on, I'll try and put something together myself. So
in the past, um, I've put this up on, on
Facebook and, and also my website, um, I've done a
couple of Beyond Vision catch ups. So that includes, you know,
(05:41):
putting on a lunch could be a barbecue, could be like, um,
the last one we did at West End, we got
some wraps from the Rapture Cafe in West End. Uh,
that's that's a great place to have lunch if you
ever have time to go there. And, um, we also
had some musicians that came along so different sorts of
artists we've had, you know, we've had classically trained people,
(06:03):
people playing violin, um, all sorts of different interesting instruments.
We've had people singing acapella songs, um, more sort of like, uh,
acoustic sort of pub rock sort of performers. So we'll,
we'll add that into, um, the activity and some more
things around that, like maybe we had a pinata. So
I tried to make it as interesting as possible and,
(06:25):
and I do my very best to make sure that
whatever I put together, it does sort of relate to
my client's interest, and they'll get a lot out of it.
S3 (06:33):
Yeah, amazing. I actually saw on your website that you
did a tabla drum workshop. I'm very interested because I'm,
I'm of Indian descent. So how did that come about?
S4 (06:45):
Yeah, that that was, uh, with Dheeraj. He's a he's
a great guy. Well, that actually came about because one
of my clients wanted to learn how to play the tabla.
And so I just started doing some research. I started
calling up some different people who, you know, who advertised
as as tabla teachers. And it's just about getting the
(07:07):
getting the right feel. So it took a while until
I actually connected with Dheeraj. There was a few people
I spoke to before him, and you know, I was
just doing some quotes. So it's important to try and get,
you know, the best possible price for your clients. And
so I was getting a couple of quotes, and I
think Dheeraj was like the third call I made. And
(07:28):
one of the first things he said to me was, um,
have you spoken to this guy and this guy? And
those were the last two calls I made. And he said, yes,
I taught those guys. You know, I'm, um. Yeah. They
came to my my house and I taught them how
to play tabla, and I've actually been playing tabla for
35 years. And he the way that he spoke about
it was just so passionate. And, uh, it turned out that, uh,
(07:52):
that he had a similar sort of aspirations as what
I had. That we were just trying to, you know,
create these sort of group activity experiences where they're enriching
for the people who are who are joining in because
a they were learning a new skill that they, you know,
(08:12):
probably knew nothing about before, because there is a lot,
as you probably know, that goes into the tabla. There's
a lot of a lot of, you know, counting involved
and a lot of, um, remembering different sorts of, um,
I guess, uh, patterns of, of playing the tabla. So
there's that and there's also the, the, the added element of, um,
(08:35):
connecting with others. So connecting with other people in the group.
And so that's what I, what I did, I tried
to put a group activity together, which means it's going
to be more cost effective for everybody.
S3 (08:47):
Yeah.
S4 (08:47):
Of course. And um, it's just going to make for, for,
you know, a better time. So I did that for
about a year. Year and a half. And drag. Actually, um,
performed at my very first, uh, Beyond Vision barbecue at
Link Vision in Fairfield, Brisbane. So I was really appreciative. Uh,
I really appreciated that he did that. He's one of
(09:08):
a kind. He's a great guy, for sure.
S3 (09:10):
Now, your activities and the community engagement that you do
is usually in the Brisbane area, but you do have
themed zoom groups. So what inspired these and what impact
have they had? Do you think on more isolated people?
S5 (09:27):
Yeah. So zoom groups with we're um.
S4 (09:30):
We're sort of playing around with that idea back. Uh,
when Covid hit that Vision Australia and had a bit
of success with it, they're coming up with different ideas.
And I always I always really enjoyed it. And I
found like, um, it brought the best out of me, uh,
as a support worker. And it brought the best out
of my clients because it sort of to me, it
(09:51):
seemed like they felt like they they felt like they
were the most confident selves when they're in the zoom group,
I suppose, because they're in the comfort of their own home.
And I do try to make it sort of like
a welcoming, uh, environment. So that that was always an idea. Uh,
when I started my own business, I just didn't know
how to get it off the ground. So I started
(10:11):
doing a lot of research. Zoom. The people at zoom, unfortunately,
aren't very helpful.
S5 (10:17):
That's sad.
S4 (10:18):
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So there's no real direct person you
can talk to. Uh, so you're writing to these people
on their site, and, and, uh, like, sometimes you get
the answers to your questions, and other times you just
feel like you're getting, you know, messed around a bit,
but I, I'm stuck with it and and ended up
getting the, um, you know, setting it all up on,
(10:39):
on my end on my computer here and my study.
And again, I was just lucky enough that a couple
of people already wanted to join because, um, for instance,
there was one particular person who wanted to work on
his speech because, um, had had difficulties, some some, you know,
(11:00):
some difficulties in conversation. So his parents wanted, wanted him
to get involved. So straight away I had, you know,
one participant and a couple, a couple more came on board.
But the way that I promoted it is that I
really felt like it was a good opportunity to reach
people from remote parts of Australia. And that's the great
(11:20):
thing about zoom is that I have a membership where
I can contact anybody, um, in Australia and anybody in
New Zealand, and they don't need a they don't need
a computer, they need anything like that. All they basically
need is a phone. So as long as they can
pick up the phone, I call them, they're in the
zoom group and and then we're good to go. So
(11:41):
I've uh, I posted all over Facebook, you know, I'm
involved in at least 15 to 20 sort of NDIS pages,
vision impaired and blind sort of groups, all sorts of
different groups. And I had a couple of people reach
out to me. One in particular was a young man
from Cairns, and I love this story that he really
(12:05):
had no contact with any vision impaired and blind people
in his community. And um, as soon as he got involved,
it was like we had known him for years. So
he got along with all the other participants, were telling stories, laughing,
just enjoying each other's company. And eventually we get around
to the theme, like we get around to the trivia
or whatever it is we're doing. But a big part
(12:28):
of it is just like a like, it's like a, um,
like a support group. It's like a social network group.
And people just get the chance to come together and
have a chat. And around that I try to entertain
them and they might walk away with learning something new
as well, which is always great.
S3 (12:43):
So what are some of the themes that you cover
with your zoom groups because you said about trivia, but
what are the themes do you cover?
S5 (12:49):
Yeah.
S4 (12:50):
So your trivia is one, uh, we've got, uh, an
audio book club. So I just did one of those
last night, uh, where we all listened to an audio
book together, but not not straight away. We'll have, like,
a general chat and, um, a bit of a catch
up first, but the participants get the chance to to
to choose a book. So everybody, uh, takes turns and
(13:12):
audiobooks are great. Like, I'm not sure if you've. I
know VA has a has a great library, um, with
audiobooks but audible audible is is really good too. And, uh,
a lot of voice actors are getting involved, and even
a lot of, um, famous actors are getting involved in,
in reading out the book. So it's it's really entertaining.
(13:32):
Last night we were listening to Love Stories by Trent Dalton, who, uh,
has been spoken about a lot recently because he is the,
the right, you know, he created Boy Swallows Universe, which
came out as a TV show this year. And, um,
just a real interesting writer. And and he absolutely loves Brisbane.
So we're listening to his latest book and, and he
(13:55):
actually narrated it as well. So that really added that
was a nice little, um, nice little bonus. So that's
the audiobook group. We also do a, a podcast group
so similar I'll do research into all these different types
of podcasts, um, covering topics that the participants are interested in.
And I'll make sure that, um, they are actually good
(14:16):
quality podcasts, so I'll listen to them ahead of time.
I'll make sure that, you know, they're not you know,
they're tasteful as well, you know, not swearing and, you know,
sure carried away. Yeah. Uh, so we'll listen to a
podcast together and then talk about what our thoughts were afterwards.
You know, what what we thought of the episode. What
what kind of feelings and things did it bring up
for us? You know what what was the standout thing
(14:39):
that we heard.
S5 (14:40):
So that creates.
S4 (14:41):
Really, um, interesting conversation. And, uh, apart from that, we
do a, we do a hangout, which is kind of
what we do in most the most the groups. We
do a spelling bee.
S3 (14:51):
Oh very cool.
S4 (14:52):
And yeah, and I've also been playing around with the, um,
the medium a bit. So at the end of last year,
I put together what I called a, uh, Beyond Vision, uh,
Christmas themed zoom group where I had special guest speakers on.
So we had, uh, Rosemary. Uh peterswald. Uh, who is, uh,
the host of lots to chat about, uh, with Rosemary.
(15:17):
Uh peterswald on for Iph. We had, uh, the blind
Australian of the year, Courtney Wibbeke. We had, uh, Pete Vance,
who's a brilliant, um, jazz singer who has retinal pigmentosa,
and he also has bipolar. And he spoke to us about,
you know, what that was all about and how he
sort of, uh, navigates, uh, that, you know, that particular condition.
(15:40):
And then we had a special guest from America at
the end. So his name was Aaron Richmond, and he
hosts the, uh, the Aaron's Opinion podcast. And the great
thing about that particular day was that after I did
the interviews with, um, uh, each guest, um, whoever was
in the zoom group listening in could ask their own questions.
(16:01):
So I went around the group and, um, asked anybody
if they had any questions. And, and that made it
really interactive and really interesting. So this is so much
you can do with, with the medium. I'm also thinking
about putting on, uh, like a, um, a radio show
in in the sense that, uh, everybody can choose, you know,
(16:21):
a couple of their favorite songs and we listen to
them together because that's a, that's a function of zoom.
You can, you can share the, the sound. So you
can everybody can hear what I'm what I'm playing on my,
my end on my computer for sure.
S3 (16:34):
Yeah.
S4 (16:34):
Uh, so everybody chooses a song or two and then
after the song they can talk about, you know, why
they chose that song, what does it mean to them?
And so that I think that would be really interesting
and a great conversation starter and a great way for,
for people to learn more about each other. One other
thing we do, which I found um, has been great
for for rapport building, is also asking mindful questions. So
(16:59):
there's a couple of websites where they have these different
mindful questions, which could be anything from like, you know,
what is something that you remember, uh, growing up in
your hometown to, you know, what's your favorite food or recipe?
And again, that's just a great way to find out
things about other people that, you know, you might not
have known before.
S3 (17:18):
And what has been the response from the community to
these themed zoom groups?
S4 (17:22):
It's been a mixed response, I think. And and I
think you got to also take into account that I'm
only really accessing sort of one pool of of promoting
these groups at the moment, which is Facebook. And, uh,
you know, I don't I can speak to it on that,
(17:42):
on that level. So there's been some people who have said, um,
you know, why would you why would you charge for, uh,
for a zoom group? You know, no one's going to
pay for a zoom group to other people who are
who are sort of saying, this is great. This is
something that is definitely necessary and, you know, well done.
(18:02):
So it's sort of been a bit 5050 in that way.
S3 (18:05):
Well, I mean, I personally think it's a great idea.
In fact, that is what made me really want to
interview you is because I'm part of a couple of
the Facebook groups where you've advertised. Right? And I saw
you write up a report, I suppose, about the Christmas group.
And I also went and looked at your website about
other zoom groups, and I thought it was just so
(18:27):
fascinating that even though, yes, you are giving a service
to the community in the Brisbane area, You're also doing
something to serve the greater community of Australia in terms
of people with blindness and vision impairment.
S4 (18:39):
Well thank you. Thank you for, you know, looking at
my website and for the kind words too. And it
really is something that I feel passionate about. Like I
feel this inner drive to, to to keep going with this.
And somebody once told me that, um, you know, if
you're if you're starting a business, one of the best
things to do is, is to focus on one thing.
(19:02):
So when I first started with Beyond Vision, I was
I was trying to show people, uh, all the different
things that that you could, you know, that beyond vision
could provide and could offer you, which is definitely something
that I can still do with with the tailored outings and,
and the group activities and the home cooked meal delivery
services and all that. Those are definite services that I provide. But, uh,
(19:25):
this year I've been I've been trying to focus more
on all the benefits of these of these zoom groups
and just really encourage people to give it a go,
even if it's, um, even if you want to do
it once, you know, even if you just want to
see what it's like and, you know, there's none of my, uh, participants, uh,
have signed service agreements to do these zoom groups. So
it's there's there's no pressure in that sense. It's just
(19:48):
something that I believe is, uh, important, something that, you know,
connection is such an important thing in our lives. Isolation
is something that a lot of us are experiencing. You
don't have to be vision impaired or blind to, to
be experiencing isolation. And you can even experience that in
a in a busy city. You don't have to be
in a remote part of Australia. And I'm reaching out
(20:09):
to those people because I really do, um, feel like I,
I can support those people and, and, uh, try to
create something that would, that would benefit them. So I
encourage those people to, to give these groups a go.
S3 (20:23):
So if we rewind back a bit further, before you
started Beyond Vision and before you started working with Vision Australia,
what were your motivations for becoming a support worker?
S6 (20:35):
Oh well.
S4 (20:37):
I don't know if this is a common story or not,
but when I was leaving high school, I had no
idea what I wanted to do for a career. And
I actually remember, you know, towards the end of grade 12, um,
one of my I think it was teacher aides that
came out and they put this giant textbook on the
on the table in front of me, and it was
(20:57):
a textbook full of, um, occupations. And they said, just
go through this and, and try and pick what you
want to be. And that was, you know, like finding
a needle in a haystack. I had no idea. But
I'm very thankful that my mum, um, was was studying, uh,
you know, community support work, community services. And one night
(21:21):
I was looking at her notes and looking over all the,
you know, what she was doing. And I found it
really interesting. So I just thought, okay, I'll give this
a go. And and I ended up going to TAFE because, um,
I didn't have an op at the time. You need
an op to get into university and, uh, spoke to, uh,
(21:42):
an advisor at TAFE and said, you know, if I
do this and do that, you know, what kind of
jobs can come out of it. And they mentioned a counsellor.
I thought I wanted to be a counsellor, to be
with psychologist, support worker. So support worker. The idea of
that came much later. So I did a certificate three
in community services, a diploma in youth, did a couple
of placements, a couple of pracs and got a job
(22:06):
that was completely different. So I ended up working at
a Red Cross Employment Services, um, as an administration assistant.
And um, unfortunately I got made redundant there too. And
so I was looking online, uh, for different jobs and
a position came up or a position was advertised at
Vision Australia in Peru, Coorparoo in Brisbane and it just
(22:29):
it looked perfect. It sort of stood out for me.
Similar to these zoom groups, I got this feeling that
this is something that I should definitely look into a
bit more, and I did.
S3 (22:39):
100%. I can definitely appreciate that. So in all your
years of of support work, has there been a particular
activity or outing that stood out to you because it's
made an impact on somebody else?
S4 (22:53):
Oh, so many, so many. Because the great thing about
these outings is that it's like a transformative sort of process.
So when I remember when we were picking people up,
back when we were doing the outings at Vision Australia,
and even within my own business, when you're picking people up,
(23:13):
they're sort of a little bit in their shells and
you know it. It takes a little bit for them
to sort of become comfortable with the people around them
and the activity itself. But by the end of the activity, say,
we're going to cure a beach. We've gone for, like,
a beautiful walk along the beach. We've had a nice
Mexican lunch. At the end of that day, people are just.
(23:34):
The participants are just so much more happy and talking
to each other and just lighter. You can feel it.
You can feel like there's a weight that's been taken
off their shoulders. So that's that's something that's sort of ongoing.
More recently, I supported somebody and I was I was
really lucky to do this. This person didn't have a
lot of funds. So, um, they could only really receive, uh,
(23:56):
two hours of support a day. And, and social connection
for this person was very important, like, really, really important.
And this activity came up where we were going to
go all the way out to I think it was
like past Toowoomba like this, this three hour road trip
out to this, uh, place where, um, a gentleman was
(24:16):
going to play guitar for all these different, for all
these different people. And I was lucky enough to to
take this participant along. So their plan coordinator said, okay,
I think this will be really good for so and so,
but you can do this. So I took her out.
And the difference that that a full day's activity made
(24:37):
for this person was, uh, really interesting to see. So
she just became so engaged in the activity to the
point where there was a when, when the, the man
who was performing on the guitar was playing guitar, she
was up there. She was wanting to dance. She was
dancing with, you know, um, other volunteers that were helping
out in the day. And, um, she allowed me to
(24:58):
video it. And when you watch the video back, she
has the biggest smile on her face. And she's just
getting so involved. And, uh, it's really beautiful to see.
And even talking about it, I sort of get a
little bit choked up because that's really what I want
for the people I support, and just them really enjoying
themselves and, uh, being in the moment and, um, being
comfortable with, with what? That is.
S3 (25:20):
For sure. As a vision impaired person myself, I can
fully appreciate just how much social connection and just yeah,
like you said, a full day's worth of activity can
really brighten your spirits. I mean, I'm lucky enough that
I've been blessed with the set of circumstances where I
have a lot of social connection. But there was a
time in my life when I didn't. And I also
(25:41):
know a lot of other people that don't or aren't
as fortunate as me in that regard, and just seeing
them after a full day's worth of activity or, um,
there's an organization in, in Adelaide here that organizes, uh,
multi-day trips. So we go away for a couple of nights,
and even after that, they just so much more happier.
So I can definitely appreciate how that would have impacted her.
S4 (26:04):
It's so important. It really is. And I think that
these things need to be taken into consideration when, um,
you know, there's a couple of clients I support who
who are just not given the funding to be able
to do these things. They're just given like very basic funding.
So you know, they can afford like maybe a cleaner
to come out or maybe like a, you know, an
(26:25):
occupational therapist appointment or maybe one, uh, social outing a
week or maybe even a month with some of the
people I support. And these are people I'm talking about,
people who have multiple conditions. So people that are totally
blind and totally deaf and still aren't, uh, you know,
given the funding to, to do these social activities, which
(26:47):
are just so important for people that, you know, that
for anybody really, so that. Yeah, I'm getting worked up
a bit. Sorry.
S3 (26:55):
That's okay. Go for it.
S4 (26:56):
Yeah. Just that that kind of thing frustrates me a
little bit. And I think that the NDIS really need
to take that into account that, that for some people
social connection is, you know, just vital. That's so important.
S3 (27:11):
Even if you take the disability out of the equation.
Humans are inherently social creatures.
S4 (27:17):
Exactly, Exactly. And we are at our best, you know,
when when we are in these social environments and connecting
with others. And it can really help with a lot
of things. You know, it can help with depression. It
can help with, uh, just general well-being and exercise and,
you know, the list goes on and on and on.
S3 (27:37):
Exactly. So what are some of the challenges that you
faced when setting up Beyond Vision?
S6 (27:43):
Oh, boy.
S4 (27:43):
Um, well, I went into it all guns blazing. And, um,
like I said, I was in a in a fortunate position. Uh,
but some things came, came up. And this will happen when,
you know, you going out on your own and you,
you know, I suddenly become green again, you know, a
(28:05):
bit a bit like a bit of a novice. I'm
having to learn all these things as far as you know. What, how,
how to invoice, what line items do you use? You know, um,
some of my participants, uh, ran ran out of funding
because they they weren't, uh, you know, keeping track of it, unfortunately.
And I didn't realize that, um, you know, if you
(28:27):
speak to some plan managers, you can you can isolate
funds so they, they know how much your services are
going to cost for the entire year so they can
keep track of it. So if I knew that at
the start, then, you know, it would have been, um,
a bit more of a smoother process. I guess some
other challenges that that came up is you've got to
(28:47):
be realistic and that I can get some ideas that
are a little bit lofty. I can also get sort
of carried away a little bit. So for instance, being
out in the community, um, most days I would run
into other support workers I used to work with. And um,
they would say things like, oh, give me a call and, um,
I'll help you get some clients, you know, help you
(29:09):
get up on your feet, you get all excited, you
go home and you talk about it at the dinner
table and you're like, ah, this happened. and then you
try to connect with that person and you get ghosted
and you're like, oh, what happened there? And that happened
quite a few times. And and the more that, um,
it happened, I was really trying not to become bitter.
That was the biggest thing, not to become bitter. So
I tried to think about, you know, why could this
(29:31):
be happening? And a big reason was because it is
tough out there for for a support worker to attract clients.
And I imagine that when you've got those clients, you
want to do everything you can to to make sure that,
you know, you're you tried to keep them. I know
that sounds kind of bad, but try to keep supporting
them because that is your it is your living. It is,
(29:53):
you know, and there's no guarantees. So if you can
ensure some security yourself, I understand why people would, you know,
be a bit more, be a bit careful with that
kind of thing with, you know, suggesting clients to work
with and that kind of thing. So that came up
quite a bit. Uh, working with plan managers, every plan
Manager likes things being done differently, so one line item
(30:17):
used for one participant might be different to the next participant.
I always used to read about on Facebook that the
best way to to find new clients was to engage
with plan coordinators. So I did that and a variety
of different ways. I, um, there's an organization called One Community. Uh,
and I put something up on Facebook about this. And
(30:39):
so it's similar to the disability Expo where all these,
all these different organizations will you can purchase a table and, um,
it kind of works like a speed dating sort of thing.
So all the organizations have tables in this room. Big, big,
you know, they're all in a giant oval. And then, uh, the,
you know, then people will come around to each table,
(31:01):
spend five minutes at each table, and you try you
try your best to promote your business in the hopes
that that person will then want to engage in your
services themselves. So I did that and I didn't get
much out of that, which was unfortunate. So I guess
dealing with disappointment was a big thing. And again, trying
(31:22):
not to become bitter, but just also just remembering why
I'm doing this. I love doing this, so I'm going
to keep doing it. You know, some things people might
be interested in, other things they might not. And that's okay.
That's life.
S3 (31:34):
So looking forward, what are some of the initiatives or
activities or programs that you've got planned for the rest
of this year?
S6 (31:42):
Yeah, I've got a couple.
S4 (31:42):
Of things on I'm sort of looking into. I've been
really interested and sort of looking at how grants work,
because I think that'll be, uh, interesting to see if
I was to get a grant for, say, my zoom
groups to see then who would be attracted to it
if they didn't have to use their NDIS funds or
their own money? So I've been looking into that. I've
(32:04):
been looking into, um, teaming up with other organisations, um,
having grants with other organizations and running running groups for them.
Just going to continue promoting the the the zoom groups
and showing people all the different things that, um, that
you can do in them. And, uh, I would love
to put on another Beyond Vision catch up. I have
(32:26):
a couple of musicians that would love to join that day,
and I have a couple of ideas, but I'm just
I'm just needing, I guess, uh, participants to to, um,
show some interest. Um, so I can go ahead with
that and make it feasible, you know, as a, as
a small business owner. So be looking into that too.
And really, um, a lot more focus for me this
(32:50):
year has, has been on my family because I have
a 13 week old daughter. I have a four year
old son, and I've just been really enjoying spending time
with them. So I've been just trying to make that
a priority as well. Balance everything out nicely.
S3 (33:05):
Well, Peter, it's been so great chatting with you and
I wish you all the best for the future. Now,
for any of our listeners in the Brisbane area, or
for anyone in the greater Australian blind and low vision
community that want to get involved with your themed zoom groups,
how can they get in touch with you? Do you
have a website or an email address?
S6 (33:25):
Yep.
S4 (33:25):
So my website is w w. A r e beyond
vision b e y o v I s.com. Or you
can contact me directly by email. Peta underscore archer underscore
beyond vision at Outlook.com. You can also call me at 0412Â 406Â 869.
(33:53):
You can also follow me on Facebook by typing in
Peter Archer Beyond Vision one word. And I also have
a YouTube channel you can type in Peter Archer Beyond
Vision on YouTube and see all the videos, all the
things that we've been that I've done so far. And,
you know, we'd love to hear from you guys. And, um, yeah,
feel free to reach out. I mean, I always say that, uh,
(34:16):
you know, I'm a one man band. So the image
of my business rests rests on me. So if you
call me, I'm not going to. It's not going to
take a week for me to get back to you.
I'm going to get back to you as quick as
I can. I'm going to provide the best possible service
I can because, you know, that's you know, that's what
I really feel passionate about.
S3 (34:34):
Fantastic. Well, we will have all of the links to
your website. Uh, we'll put your email address, your Facebook
YouTube channel, and if you'd like your phone number on
our podcast notes so that anyone that listens to the
show can access those resources. And that's a wrap for
this week's show. A big thank you to Peter Archer
(34:55):
for being our guest on this week's episode.
S2 (34:57):
And of course, thank you for listening. You can find
the podcast of this program, including some extra content on Apple, Spotify, Google,
or your favorite podcast platform next week.
S3 (35:07):
How do you decide what to wear? Does your vision
affect your choice of clothing?
S2 (35:13):
We ask a few friends if fashion is an issue.
S3 (35:17):
But between now and then, please do get in touch
with the show. Whether you have experience of any of
the issues covered on this week's episode of Studio One,
or if you think there's something we should be talking about.
You never know. Your story and insight may help someone
who's dealing with something similar.
S2 (35:33):
You can email us Studio One at Vision Australia. Org
that's studio number one at Vision Australia.
S3 (35:37):
Org or of course you can find us on all
of the good social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram
by looking for VA Radio Network. We want to hear
from you.
S2 (35:49):
This program was made possible with the support from the
Community Broadcasting Foundation. Find out more at.
This is studio one on Vision Australia Radio.
S2 (00:16):
Hello, I'm Sam and I'm Lizzie, and this is Studio One,
your weekly look at life from a low vision and
blind point of view. Here on Vision Australia Radio.
S3 (00:23):
On this week's episode, I speak to Peter Archer, a
support worker who started his own business. His business seeks
to provide unique activities to the blind and low vision community.
S2 (00:34):
As we always say at this point, please do get
in touch with the show. Whether you have experience of
any of the issues covered on this week's episode of
Studio One, or if you think there's something we should
be talking about. You never know. Your story and insight
may help somebody else who is dealing with something similar.
S3 (00:48):
You can email us at studio One at Vision Australia.
That's studio number one at Vision Australia. Or of course,
you can search for us on Facebook. Just go to facebook.com,
slash radio network. Well. Hello, Sam.
S2 (01:04):
Hi, there. You sound, um, energized.
S3 (01:08):
I am rejuvenated, revitalized, re-energized, refreshed. All the good re
things that happen when one comes back from holiday.
S2 (01:15):
And reminded to retain some memories. Yes.
S3 (01:18):
Oh, wow.
S2 (01:18):
That's amazing. What have you been up to?
S3 (01:20):
Well, I was in Mount Gambier, if you remember. Last
week I mentioned I was in the beautiful Mount Gambier
area and, uh, I have just spent the last week
touring the caves, learning about the formation of the local volcanoes,
and I even ventured into Victoria for a short amount
of time to cruise on the Glenelg River at Nelson.
(01:42):
So it has been one of those really cool weeks
that I'm sure I'll never forget, and I'm probably not
allowed to mention. I was baptized yesterday, am I?
S2 (01:51):
Well, whatever. Um, it's. Well, we'll be covering something, uh,
similar to this in the very near future. Uh, as
far as the nature of spirituality among, uh, the blind
and vision impaired community, so we can probably talk about
that in another couple of weeks as we head up
to Easter.
S3 (02:07):
So very exciting.
S2 (02:09):
On with this show. However, um, how did you come across, um, Peter?
S3 (02:12):
Well, I had actually been following him on Facebook for
some time, uh, through various different groups. Uh, all disability
and blindness related. And one of the things that kept
coming up in these Facebook groups was the themed zoom
groups that he's running, which I thought were really interesting
because although his business provides community activities to people in Queensland,
(02:36):
the unique zoom groups give people around Australia the chance to, uh,
you know, just check in with community and not feel
so isolated, which I think is really important in these times,
especially for people who perhaps don't have the necessary funding
to get out and about, or they live in regional
or rural areas. So it's hard for them to find
(02:57):
that social connection.
S2 (02:59):
Well, without further ado, let's talk to the man himself.
S3 (03:05):
Peter, welcome to studio one. It is so good to
have you.
S4 (03:09):
Thank you very much for having me.
S3 (03:11):
So can you share the inspiration behind your founding of
Beyond Vision?
S4 (03:16):
Yeah, I'd love to. Uh, so it pretty much came about,
I think it was around about two years ago. I
was actually working for Vision Australia at the time. And, um,
got some unfortunate news that, um, all the support workers
were about to become redundant. And, uh, so I had
to think about what my, my next step was going
(03:38):
to be. And I love support work. You know, I
was I was lucky enough to, to do it at
Vision Australia for, for nine years. So I, I thought
to myself I want to continue doing this. Uh, but
but how how should I do this? Should I work
for another organisation? Or maybe I should give it a
go by myself? And, you know, I went for the latter.
I thought, let's let's try and give this a go.
(03:58):
And I just started thinking about, well, first, what's the
name going to be? And, um, I was, uh, lucky
enough to be in a position where I could continue
supporting a few of the clients that I was supporting
at Vision Australia. Yeah, because Vision Australia no longer was
delivering that service. So that that made it seem a
(04:18):
lot more, uh, realistic. And, um, the name Beyond Vision
came to me at about 3 a.m. in the morning. Yeah.
That's good. I got to remember that. I don't know
how I'm going to remember that. Maybe because if I
create a note on my phone, it's going to wake
up my wife. What am I going to do? I'll
just try. I'll try my best to remember it. Luckily.
Luckily enough, I did the next day. And, um. Yeah.
(04:41):
So began the, uh, the creation of Beyond Vision.
S3 (04:45):
So Beyond Vision offers a variety of services like home
cooked meals and community activities. Can you elaborate on some
more of the services that you offer and how do
they impact your clients?
S4 (04:56):
Yeah, so with the community access stuff. Well, it's kind
of similar to what I used to do at Vision Australia.
So I'll whoever my participants are, my clients, you know,
I'll get an idea of, of what they're, what they're
interested in. And, um, I'll do quite a bit of
research into to seeing if any, you know, activities are
(05:19):
happening in Brisbane or any events that are happening in Brisbane, um,
that sort of relate to that interest. And if there's
nothing on, I'll try and put something together myself. So
in the past, um, I've put this up on, on
Facebook and, and also my website, um, I've done a
couple of Beyond Vision catch ups. So that includes, you know,
(05:41):
putting on a lunch could be a barbecue, could be like, um,
the last one we did at West End, we got
some wraps from the Rapture Cafe in West End. Uh,
that's that's a great place to have lunch if you
ever have time to go there. And, um, we also
had some musicians that came along so different sorts of
artists we've had, you know, we've had classically trained people,
(06:03):
people playing violin, um, all sorts of different interesting instruments.
We've had people singing acapella songs, um, more sort of like, uh,
acoustic sort of pub rock sort of performers. So we'll,
we'll add that into, um, the activity and some more
things around that, like maybe we had a pinata. So
I tried to make it as interesting as possible and,
(06:25):
and I do my very best to make sure that
whatever I put together, it does sort of relate to
my client's interest, and they'll get a lot out of it.
S3 (06:33):
Yeah, amazing. I actually saw on your website that you
did a tabla drum workshop. I'm very interested because I'm,
I'm of Indian descent. So how did that come about?
S4 (06:45):
Yeah, that that was, uh, with Dheeraj. He's a he's
a great guy. Well, that actually came about because one
of my clients wanted to learn how to play the tabla.
And so I just started doing some research. I started
calling up some different people who, you know, who advertised
as as tabla teachers. And it's just about getting the
(07:07):
getting the right feel. So it took a while until
I actually connected with Dheeraj. There was a few people
I spoke to before him, and you know, I was
just doing some quotes. So it's important to try and get,
you know, the best possible price for your clients. And
so I was getting a couple of quotes, and I
think Dheeraj was like the third call I made. And
(07:28):
one of the first things he said to me was, um,
have you spoken to this guy and this guy? And
those were the last two calls I made. And he said, yes,
I taught those guys. You know, I'm, um. Yeah. They
came to my my house and I taught them how
to play tabla, and I've actually been playing tabla for
35 years. And he the way that he spoke about
it was just so passionate. And, uh, it turned out that, uh,
(07:52):
that he had a similar sort of aspirations as what
I had. That we were just trying to, you know,
create these sort of group activity experiences where they're enriching
for the people who are who are joining in because
a they were learning a new skill that they, you know,
(08:12):
probably knew nothing about before, because there is a lot,
as you probably know, that goes into the tabla. There's
a lot of a lot of, you know, counting involved
and a lot of, um, remembering different sorts of, um,
I guess, uh, patterns of, of playing the tabla. So
there's that and there's also the, the, the added element of, um,
(08:35):
connecting with others. So connecting with other people in the group.
And so that's what I, what I did, I tried
to put a group activity together, which means it's going
to be more cost effective for everybody.
S3 (08:47):
Yeah.
S4 (08:47):
Of course. And um, it's just going to make for, for,
you know, a better time. So I did that for
about a year. Year and a half. And drag. Actually, um,
performed at my very first, uh, Beyond Vision barbecue at
Link Vision in Fairfield, Brisbane. So I was really appreciative. Uh,
I really appreciated that he did that. He's one of
(09:08):
a kind. He's a great guy, for sure.
S3 (09:10):
Now, your activities and the community engagement that you do
is usually in the Brisbane area, but you do have
themed zoom groups. So what inspired these and what impact
have they had? Do you think on more isolated people?
S5 (09:27):
Yeah. So zoom groups with we're um.
S4 (09:30):
We're sort of playing around with that idea back. Uh,
when Covid hit that Vision Australia and had a bit
of success with it, they're coming up with different ideas.
And I always I always really enjoyed it. And I
found like, um, it brought the best out of me, uh,
as a support worker. And it brought the best out
of my clients because it sort of to me, it
(09:51):
seemed like they felt like they they felt like they
were the most confident selves when they're in the zoom group,
I suppose, because they're in the comfort of their own home.
And I do try to make it sort of like
a welcoming, uh, environment. So that that was always an idea. Uh,
when I started my own business, I just didn't know
how to get it off the ground. So I started
(10:11):
doing a lot of research. Zoom. The people at zoom, unfortunately,
aren't very helpful.
S5 (10:17):
That's sad.
S4 (10:18):
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So there's no real direct person you
can talk to. Uh, so you're writing to these people
on their site, and, and, uh, like, sometimes you get
the answers to your questions, and other times you just
feel like you're getting, you know, messed around a bit,
but I, I'm stuck with it and and ended up
getting the, um, you know, setting it all up on,
(10:39):
on my end on my computer here and my study.
And again, I was just lucky enough that a couple
of people already wanted to join because, um, for instance,
there was one particular person who wanted to work on
his speech because, um, had had difficulties, some some, you know,
(11:00):
some difficulties in conversation. So his parents wanted, wanted him
to get involved. So straight away I had, you know,
one participant and a couple, a couple more came on board.
But the way that I promoted it is that I
really felt like it was a good opportunity to reach
people from remote parts of Australia. And that's the great
(11:20):
thing about zoom is that I have a membership where
I can contact anybody, um, in Australia and anybody in
New Zealand, and they don't need a they don't need
a computer, they need anything like that. All they basically
need is a phone. So as long as they can
pick up the phone, I call them, they're in the
zoom group and and then we're good to go. So
(11:41):
I've uh, I posted all over Facebook, you know, I'm
involved in at least 15 to 20 sort of NDIS pages,
vision impaired and blind sort of groups, all sorts of
different groups. And I had a couple of people reach
out to me. One in particular was a young man
from Cairns, and I love this story that he really
(12:05):
had no contact with any vision impaired and blind people
in his community. And um, as soon as he got involved,
it was like we had known him for years. So
he got along with all the other participants, were telling stories, laughing,
just enjoying each other's company. And eventually we get around
to the theme, like we get around to the trivia
or whatever it is we're doing. But a big part
(12:28):
of it is just like a like, it's like a, um,
like a support group. It's like a social network group.
And people just get the chance to come together and
have a chat. And around that I try to entertain
them and they might walk away with learning something new
as well, which is always great.
S3 (12:43):
So what are some of the themes that you cover
with your zoom groups because you said about trivia, but
what are the themes do you cover?
S5 (12:49):
Yeah.
S4 (12:50):
So your trivia is one, uh, we've got, uh, an
audio book club. So I just did one of those
last night, uh, where we all listened to an audio
book together, but not not straight away. We'll have, like,
a general chat and, um, a bit of a catch
up first, but the participants get the chance to to
to choose a book. So everybody, uh, takes turns and
(13:12):
audiobooks are great. Like, I'm not sure if you've. I
know VA has a has a great library, um, with
audiobooks but audible audible is is really good too. And, uh,
a lot of voice actors are getting involved, and even
a lot of, um, famous actors are getting involved in,
in reading out the book. So it's it's really entertaining.
(13:32):
Last night we were listening to Love Stories by Trent Dalton, who, uh,
has been spoken about a lot recently because he is the,
the right, you know, he created Boy Swallows Universe, which
came out as a TV show this year. And, um,
just a real interesting writer. And and he absolutely loves Brisbane.
So we're listening to his latest book and, and he
(13:55):
actually narrated it as well. So that really added that
was a nice little, um, nice little bonus. So that's
the audiobook group. We also do a, a podcast group
so similar I'll do research into all these different types
of podcasts, um, covering topics that the participants are interested in.
And I'll make sure that, um, they are actually good
(14:16):
quality podcasts, so I'll listen to them ahead of time.
I'll make sure that, you know, they're not you know,
they're tasteful as well, you know, not swearing and, you know,
sure carried away. Yeah. Uh, so we'll listen to a
podcast together and then talk about what our thoughts were afterwards.
You know, what what we thought of the episode. What
what kind of feelings and things did it bring up
for us? You know what what was the standout thing
(14:39):
that we heard.
S5 (14:40):
So that creates.
S4 (14:41):
Really, um, interesting conversation. And, uh, apart from that, we
do a, we do a hangout, which is kind of
what we do in most the most the groups. We
do a spelling bee.
S3 (14:51):
Oh very cool.
S4 (14:52):
And yeah, and I've also been playing around with the, um,
the medium a bit. So at the end of last year,
I put together what I called a, uh, Beyond Vision, uh,
Christmas themed zoom group where I had special guest speakers on.
So we had, uh, Rosemary. Uh peterswald. Uh, who is, uh,
the host of lots to chat about, uh, with Rosemary.
(15:17):
Uh peterswald on for Iph. We had, uh, the blind
Australian of the year, Courtney Wibbeke. We had, uh, Pete Vance,
who's a brilliant, um, jazz singer who has retinal pigmentosa,
and he also has bipolar. And he spoke to us about,
you know, what that was all about and how he
sort of, uh, navigates, uh, that, you know, that particular condition.
(15:40):
And then we had a special guest from America at
the end. So his name was Aaron Richmond, and he
hosts the, uh, the Aaron's Opinion podcast. And the great
thing about that particular day was that after I did
the interviews with, um, uh, each guest, um, whoever was
in the zoom group listening in could ask their own questions.
(16:01):
So I went around the group and, um, asked anybody
if they had any questions. And, and that made it
really interactive and really interesting. So this is so much
you can do with, with the medium. I'm also thinking
about putting on, uh, like a, um, a radio show
in in the sense that, uh, everybody can choose, you know,
(16:21):
a couple of their favorite songs and we listen to
them together because that's a, that's a function of zoom.
You can, you can share the, the sound. So you
can everybody can hear what I'm what I'm playing on my,
my end on my computer for sure.
S3 (16:34):
Yeah.
S4 (16:34):
Uh, so everybody chooses a song or two and then
after the song they can talk about, you know, why
they chose that song, what does it mean to them?
And so that I think that would be really interesting
and a great conversation starter and a great way for,
for people to learn more about each other. One other
thing we do, which I found um, has been great
for for rapport building, is also asking mindful questions. So
(16:59):
there's a couple of websites where they have these different
mindful questions, which could be anything from like, you know,
what is something that you remember, uh, growing up in
your hometown to, you know, what's your favorite food or recipe?
And again, that's just a great way to find out
things about other people that, you know, you might not
have known before.
S3 (17:18):
And what has been the response from the community to
these themed zoom groups?
S4 (17:22):
It's been a mixed response, I think. And and I
think you got to also take into account that I'm
only really accessing sort of one pool of of promoting
these groups at the moment, which is Facebook. And, uh,
you know, I don't I can speak to it on that,
(17:42):
on that level. So there's been some people who have said, um,
you know, why would you why would you charge for, uh,
for a zoom group? You know, no one's going to
pay for a zoom group to other people who are
who are sort of saying, this is great. This is
something that is definitely necessary and, you know, well done.
(18:02):
So it's sort of been a bit 5050 in that way.
S3 (18:05):
Well, I mean, I personally think it's a great idea.
In fact, that is what made me really want to
interview you is because I'm part of a couple of
the Facebook groups where you've advertised. Right? And I saw
you write up a report, I suppose, about the Christmas group.
And I also went and looked at your website about
other zoom groups, and I thought it was just so
(18:27):
fascinating that even though, yes, you are giving a service
to the community in the Brisbane area, You're also doing
something to serve the greater community of Australia in terms
of people with blindness and vision impairment.
S4 (18:39):
Well thank you. Thank you for, you know, looking at
my website and for the kind words too. And it
really is something that I feel passionate about. Like I
feel this inner drive to, to to keep going with this.
And somebody once told me that, um, you know, if
you're if you're starting a business, one of the best
things to do is, is to focus on one thing.
(19:02):
So when I first started with Beyond Vision, I was
I was trying to show people, uh, all the different
things that that you could, you know, that beyond vision
could provide and could offer you, which is definitely something
that I can still do with with the tailored outings and,
and the group activities and the home cooked meal delivery
services and all that. Those are definite services that I provide. But, uh,
(19:25):
this year I've been I've been trying to focus more
on all the benefits of these of these zoom groups
and just really encourage people to give it a go,
even if it's, um, even if you want to do
it once, you know, even if you just want to
see what it's like and, you know, there's none of my, uh, participants, uh,
have signed service agreements to do these zoom groups. So
it's there's there's no pressure in that sense. It's just
(19:48):
something that I believe is, uh, important, something that, you know,
connection is such an important thing in our lives. Isolation
is something that a lot of us are experiencing. You
don't have to be vision impaired or blind to, to
be experiencing isolation. And you can even experience that in
a in a busy city. You don't have to be
in a remote part of Australia. And I'm reaching out
(20:09):
to those people because I really do, um, feel like I,
I can support those people and, and, uh, try to
create something that would, that would benefit them. So I
encourage those people to, to give these groups a go.
S3 (20:23):
So if we rewind back a bit further, before you
started Beyond Vision and before you started working with Vision Australia,
what were your motivations for becoming a support worker?
S6 (20:35):
Oh well.
S4 (20:37):
I don't know if this is a common story or not,
but when I was leaving high school, I had no
idea what I wanted to do for a career. And
I actually remember, you know, towards the end of grade 12, um,
one of my I think it was teacher aides that
came out and they put this giant textbook on the
on the table in front of me, and it was
(20:57):
a textbook full of, um, occupations. And they said, just
go through this and, and try and pick what you
want to be. And that was, you know, like finding
a needle in a haystack. I had no idea. But
I'm very thankful that my mum, um, was was studying, uh,
you know, community support work, community services. And one night
(21:21):
I was looking at her notes and looking over all the,
you know, what she was doing. And I found it
really interesting. So I just thought, okay, I'll give this
a go. And and I ended up going to TAFE because, um,
I didn't have an op at the time. You need
an op to get into university and, uh, spoke to, uh,
(21:42):
an advisor at TAFE and said, you know, if I
do this and do that, you know, what kind of
jobs can come out of it. And they mentioned a counsellor.
I thought I wanted to be a counsellor, to be
with psychologist, support worker. So support worker. The idea of
that came much later. So I did a certificate three
in community services, a diploma in youth, did a couple
of placements, a couple of pracs and got a job
(22:06):
that was completely different. So I ended up working at
a Red Cross Employment Services, um, as an administration assistant.
And um, unfortunately I got made redundant there too. And
so I was looking online, uh, for different jobs and
a position came up or a position was advertised at
Vision Australia in Peru, Coorparoo in Brisbane and it just
(22:29):
it looked perfect. It sort of stood out for me.
Similar to these zoom groups, I got this feeling that
this is something that I should definitely look into a
bit more, and I did.
S3 (22:39):
100%. I can definitely appreciate that. So in all your
years of of support work, has there been a particular
activity or outing that stood out to you because it's
made an impact on somebody else?
S4 (22:53):
Oh, so many, so many. Because the great thing about
these outings is that it's like a transformative sort of process.
So when I remember when we were picking people up,
back when we were doing the outings at Vision Australia,
and even within my own business, when you're picking people up,
(23:13):
they're sort of a little bit in their shells and
you know it. It takes a little bit for them
to sort of become comfortable with the people around them
and the activity itself. But by the end of the activity, say,
we're going to cure a beach. We've gone for, like,
a beautiful walk along the beach. We've had a nice
Mexican lunch. At the end of that day, people are just.
(23:34):
The participants are just so much more happy and talking
to each other and just lighter. You can feel it.
You can feel like there's a weight that's been taken
off their shoulders. So that's that's something that's sort of ongoing.
More recently, I supported somebody and I was I was
really lucky to do this. This person didn't have a
lot of funds. So, um, they could only really receive, uh,
(23:56):
two hours of support a day. And, and social connection
for this person was very important, like, really, really important.
And this activity came up where we were going to
go all the way out to I think it was
like past Toowoomba like this, this three hour road trip
out to this, uh, place where, um, a gentleman was
(24:16):
going to play guitar for all these different, for all
these different people. And I was lucky enough to to
take this participant along. So their plan coordinator said, okay,
I think this will be really good for so and so,
but you can do this. So I took her out.
And the difference that that a full day's activity made
(24:37):
for this person was, uh, really interesting to see. So
she just became so engaged in the activity to the
point where there was a when, when the, the man
who was performing on the guitar was playing guitar, she
was up there. She was wanting to dance. She was
dancing with, you know, um, other volunteers that were helping
out in the day. And, um, she allowed me to
(24:58):
video it. And when you watch the video back, she
has the biggest smile on her face. And she's just
getting so involved. And, uh, it's really beautiful to see.
And even talking about it, I sort of get a
little bit choked up because that's really what I want
for the people I support, and just them really enjoying
themselves and, uh, being in the moment and, um, being
comfortable with, with what? That is.
S3 (25:20):
For sure. As a vision impaired person myself, I can
fully appreciate just how much social connection and just yeah,
like you said, a full day's worth of activity can
really brighten your spirits. I mean, I'm lucky enough that
I've been blessed with the set of circumstances where I
have a lot of social connection. But there was a
time in my life when I didn't. And I also
(25:41):
know a lot of other people that don't or aren't
as fortunate as me in that regard, and just seeing
them after a full day's worth of activity or, um,
there's an organization in, in Adelaide here that organizes, uh,
multi-day trips. So we go away for a couple of nights,
and even after that, they just so much more happier.
So I can definitely appreciate how that would have impacted her.
S4 (26:04):
It's so important. It really is. And I think that
these things need to be taken into consideration when, um,
you know, there's a couple of clients I support who
who are just not given the funding to be able
to do these things. They're just given like very basic funding.
So you know, they can afford like maybe a cleaner
to come out or maybe like a, you know, an
(26:25):
occupational therapist appointment or maybe one, uh, social outing a
week or maybe even a month with some of the
people I support. And these are people I'm talking about,
people who have multiple conditions. So people that are totally
blind and totally deaf and still aren't, uh, you know,
given the funding to, to do these social activities, which
(26:47):
are just so important for people that, you know, that
for anybody really, so that. Yeah, I'm getting worked up
a bit. Sorry.
S3 (26:55):
That's okay. Go for it.
S4 (26:56):
Yeah. Just that that kind of thing frustrates me a
little bit. And I think that the NDIS really need
to take that into account that, that for some people
social connection is, you know, just vital. That's so important.
S3 (27:11):
Even if you take the disability out of the equation.
Humans are inherently social creatures.
S4 (27:17):
Exactly, Exactly. And we are at our best, you know,
when when we are in these social environments and connecting
with others. And it can really help with a lot
of things. You know, it can help with depression. It
can help with, uh, just general well-being and exercise and,
you know, the list goes on and on and on.
S3 (27:37):
Exactly. So what are some of the challenges that you
faced when setting up Beyond Vision?
S6 (27:43):
Oh, boy.
S4 (27:43):
Um, well, I went into it all guns blazing. And, um,
like I said, I was in a in a fortunate position. Uh,
but some things came, came up. And this will happen when,
you know, you going out on your own and you,
you know, I suddenly become green again, you know, a
(28:05):
bit a bit like a bit of a novice. I'm
having to learn all these things as far as you know. What, how,
how to invoice, what line items do you use? You know, um,
some of my participants, uh, ran ran out of funding
because they they weren't, uh, you know, keeping track of it, unfortunately.
And I didn't realize that, um, you know, if you
(28:27):
speak to some plan managers, you can you can isolate
funds so they, they know how much your services are
going to cost for the entire year so they can
keep track of it. So if I knew that at
the start, then, you know, it would have been, um,
a bit more of a smoother process. I guess some
other challenges that that came up is you've got to
(28:47):
be realistic and that I can get some ideas that
are a little bit lofty. I can also get sort
of carried away a little bit. So for instance, being
out in the community, um, most days I would run
into other support workers I used to work with. And um,
they would say things like, oh, give me a call and, um,
I'll help you get some clients, you know, help you
(29:09):
get up on your feet, you get all excited, you
go home and you talk about it at the dinner
table and you're like, ah, this happened. and then you
try to connect with that person and you get ghosted
and you're like, oh, what happened there? And that happened
quite a few times. And and the more that, um,
it happened, I was really trying not to become bitter.
That was the biggest thing, not to become bitter. So
I tried to think about, you know, why could this
(29:31):
be happening? And a big reason was because it is
tough out there for for a support worker to attract clients.
And I imagine that when you've got those clients, you
want to do everything you can to to make sure that,
you know, you're you tried to keep them. I know
that sounds kind of bad, but try to keep supporting
them because that is your it is your living. It is,
(29:53):
you know, and there's no guarantees. So if you can
ensure some security yourself, I understand why people would, you know,
be a bit more, be a bit careful with that
kind of thing with, you know, suggesting clients to work
with and that kind of thing. So that came up
quite a bit. Uh, working with plan managers, every plan
Manager likes things being done differently, so one line item
(30:17):
used for one participant might be different to the next participant.
I always used to read about on Facebook that the
best way to to find new clients was to engage
with plan coordinators. So I did that and a variety
of different ways. I, um, there's an organization called One Community. Uh,
and I put something up on Facebook about this. And
(30:39):
so it's similar to the disability Expo where all these,
all these different organizations will you can purchase a table and, um,
it kind of works like a speed dating sort of thing.
So all the organizations have tables in this room. Big, big,
you know, they're all in a giant oval. And then, uh, the,
you know, then people will come around to each table,
(31:01):
spend five minutes at each table, and you try you
try your best to promote your business in the hopes
that that person will then want to engage in your
services themselves. So I did that and I didn't get
much out of that, which was unfortunate. So I guess
dealing with disappointment was a big thing. And again, trying
(31:22):
not to become bitter, but just also just remembering why
I'm doing this. I love doing this, so I'm going
to keep doing it. You know, some things people might
be interested in, other things they might not. And that's okay.
That's life.
S3 (31:34):
So looking forward, what are some of the initiatives or
activities or programs that you've got planned for the rest
of this year?
S6 (31:42):
Yeah, I've got a couple.
S4 (31:42):
Of things on I'm sort of looking into. I've been
really interested and sort of looking at how grants work,
because I think that'll be, uh, interesting to see if
I was to get a grant for, say, my zoom
groups to see then who would be attracted to it
if they didn't have to use their NDIS funds or
their own money? So I've been looking into that. I've
(32:04):
been looking into, um, teaming up with other organisations, um,
having grants with other organizations and running running groups for them.
Just going to continue promoting the the the zoom groups
and showing people all the different things that, um, that
you can do in them. And, uh, I would love
to put on another Beyond Vision catch up. I have
(32:26):
a couple of musicians that would love to join that day,
and I have a couple of ideas, but I'm just
I'm just needing, I guess, uh, participants to to, um,
show some interest. Um, so I can go ahead with
that and make it feasible, you know, as a, as
a small business owner. So be looking into that too.
And really, um, a lot more focus for me this
(32:50):
year has, has been on my family because I have
a 13 week old daughter. I have a four year
old son, and I've just been really enjoying spending time
with them. So I've been just trying to make that
a priority as well. Balance everything out nicely.
S3 (33:05):
Well, Peter, it's been so great chatting with you and
I wish you all the best for the future. Now,
for any of our listeners in the Brisbane area, or
for anyone in the greater Australian blind and low vision
community that want to get involved with your themed zoom groups,
how can they get in touch with you? Do you
have a website or an email address?
S6 (33:25):
Yep.
S4 (33:25):
So my website is w w. A r e beyond
vision b e y o v I s.com. Or you
can contact me directly by email. Peta underscore archer underscore
beyond vision at Outlook.com. You can also call me at 0412Â 406Â 869.
(33:53):
You can also follow me on Facebook by typing in
Peter Archer Beyond Vision one word. And I also have
a YouTube channel you can type in Peter Archer Beyond
Vision on YouTube and see all the videos, all the
things that we've been that I've done so far. And,
you know, we'd love to hear from you guys. And, um, yeah,
feel free to reach out. I mean, I always say that, uh,
(34:16):
you know, I'm a one man band. So the image
of my business rests rests on me. So if you
call me, I'm not going to. It's not going to
take a week for me to get back to you.
I'm going to get back to you as quick as
I can. I'm going to provide the best possible service
I can because, you know, that's you know, that's what
I really feel passionate about.
S3 (34:34):
Fantastic. Well, we will have all of the links to
your website. Uh, we'll put your email address, your Facebook
YouTube channel, and if you'd like your phone number on
our podcast notes so that anyone that listens to the
show can access those resources. And that's a wrap for
this week's show. A big thank you to Peter Archer
(34:55):
for being our guest on this week's episode.
S2 (34:57):
And of course, thank you for listening. You can find
the podcast of this program, including some extra content on Apple, Spotify, Google,
or your favorite podcast platform next week.
S3 (35:07):
How do you decide what to wear? Does your vision
affect your choice of clothing?
S2 (35:13):
We ask a few friends if fashion is an issue.
S3 (35:17):
But between now and then, please do get in touch
with the show. Whether you have experience of any of
the issues covered on this week's episode of Studio One,
or if you think there's something we should be talking about.
You never know. Your story and insight may help someone
who's dealing with something similar.
S2 (35:33):
You can email us Studio One at Vision Australia. Org
that's studio number one at Vision Australia.
S3 (35:37):
Org or of course you can find us on all
of the good social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram
by looking for VA Radio Network. We want to hear
from you.
S2 (35:49):
This program was made possible with the support from the
Community Broadcasting Foundation. Find out more at.
Popular Podcasts
40s and Free Agents: NFL Draft Season
Daniel Jeremiah of Move the Sticks and Gregg Rosenthal of NFL Daily join forces to break down every team's needs this offseason.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.