NICK PASSANISI
My experience of presenting started when I was asked to speak to fellow students at my high school. After I graduated I continued to do school presentations for past teachers of mine and for friends who became teachers. This grew into about 15 schools annually for a number of years.
I developed a passion for the Performing Arts and studied acting for two years at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) which then led me to study drama teaching at Murdoch University.
Professionally I have participated in and contributed to various training DVD’s, many of which have been with Elephant Productions for Transperth, and the Department of Transport. I have also filmed Community Awareness advertisements for the Disability Services Commission and Channel 7.
Having Cerebral Palsy and being confined to a wheelchair since birth gives me the best qualifications for disability awareness training. I am living proof that people with disabilities can function successfully in society and within a community.
I understand that life for people living with a disability in Australia today is about independence and to have the opportunity to have careers, relationships and to be able to live independently within the wider community.
I believe that with my experiences I am in a unique position to share my knowledge and help give a more realistic view point of what it is like to live with a disability in an ever changing modern world.
In this fast growing society we live in I feel that education is the key to continuously improving the understanding and importance for the inclusion of people with disabilities into our lives and workplaces. As more and more people with disabilities are welcomed and accepted within our communities the sharing of information has become even more important.
My presentations aim to ‘break down’ the barriers of society’s assumptions and perceptions of people living with a disability.
They are entertaining, honest, engaging and above all informative. It is important to me to encourage audience participation as much as possible to stimulate their minds into awareness, understanding, to satisfy curiosity and make them at ease when with people with disabilities.