"Care is Everywhere"
Episode transcript: Pride Month 2026 - Sam's Story
https://carersqld.com.au/lgbtqia/
[00:00:01] Announcement:
Welcome to Care Is Everywhere, a Carers Queensland podcast. In this episode, we celebrate Pride Month, a significant event on our calendar as we support people with disability from the LGBTQIA community. Today we're joined by Sam, a proud non-binary member of the community who shares their journey of growth, empowerment and advocacy. Sam reflects on how respectful, affirming support from the NDIS helped them build confidence and capacity. I started by asking Sam about their early life and living with neurodiversity.
[00:00:42] Sam: Well, I'm genderqueer, grew up as femme. I was late diagnosed when I was 16, which is still quite early for ADHD and femme presenting people in high school was when it really was picked up on, that there was a divergence, literally that I wasn't neurotypical and in…It was… I think it was after high school that I was able to get on the NDIS.
[00:01:25] Interviewer (Tracy): What was life like before the NDIS?
[00:01:32] Sam: I was lucky in that mum, my main support, had access to and we were able to access some therapies on occasion, but it wasn't structured and it wasn't. I wasn't able to, like, it didn't feel right. We didn't know what we were really looking for or have any suggestions past just kind of scattergun it and then it was just, yeah, kind of just push through, just get through it and try our best.
[00:02:10] Interviewer (Tracy): What were some of the challenges you faced as a neurodivergent queer person, Sam?
[00:02:16] Sam: It was primarily challenges faced as a neurodivergent person because in my queerness, I do still present quite comfortably as what people assume I am. So that part didn't factor as much for me. But as a neurodivergent, it was…. There was a lot of, why can't I just get my brain to work? Why can't I? Sorry. Wow. Okay.
[00:02:51] Interviewer (Tracy): It's okay. It's difficult, isn't it?
[00:02:53] Sam: Yeah. I didn't think… I was quite comfortable.
Why can't I, you know, just sit down and through the study, like all of my other.
[00:03:10] Interviewer (Tracy): It must have been challenging and frustrating all at once. Was it?
[00:03:15] Sam: Oh, yeah, very. Both from the outside, like from my mum looking in going, you know, we can see you're highly intelligent, but there's so much struggle here, what's going on, as well as from the inside, because I could feel that I knew kind of what to do at times, but I just couldn't even start it sometimes.
[00:03:41] Interviewer (Tracy): So you reached out for support and you, you got the access to the NDIS and what were some of those supports that really helped you with your neurodivergency, Sam?
[00:03:54] Sam: So a lot. So outside of study, which I did eventually find like my own little ways without therapy or that sort of thing just because I'm also a little stubborn and I don't like people telling me what to do all of the time. But in terms of like life skills and life things I would like, I needed more support there. So actually one of the first things that I got support for was in home support.
So I had a support worker come in and help me with things like literally the laundry, washing up, vacuuming, just because like I know how to do all those things. And I did previously know how to do all these things, but it was the starting and the getting through the task that was the struggle for a long time. And so having that weekly support, I had weekly support. Having that weekly support helped lift the burden on my mind of doing it every other day of the week.
[00:05:04] Interviewer (Tracy): If you think about support workers and the role they played, Sam, what makes a good support worker for someone like yourself?
[00:05:12] Sam: Someone absolutely someone who's understanding and, and understands that everyone has different ways that they like things done and is open to learning how you want things done in your own home because it is your home. While it is their workplace, it is your home. So it is very important that they understand that it still needs to be comfortable for you. And there have been some… I have had some brilliant support workers who've learned how I am comfortable to have things done and how I like things done because I also have sensory issues. So a big thing with laundry was like the way my clothes were hung because if they weren't hung in the way I considered correct, they didn't sit on my body correctly. And then I had sensory issues with that. And so I've had, you know, some support workers who have just come in and just not cared and just hung it any which way and I've had to go back and correct it.
I've also had one support worker who just came in and just started touching and doing things and I'm like, what? None of this was on the list for today. Why are you doing this? So it is very important that the.
Sorry, that's a bit of a longer answer. But it is very important that the, the person that is being helped is listened to and considered at all points in the process.
And it is understood that it is their home, even though it is the support workers workplace. And each person, the support worker and the person who's being helped should feel safe in that process.
[00:06:59] Interviewer (Tracy): Such a great answer, Sam, and thanks for sharing your experience there because unless you've lived it, you might not know some of those things, right?
[00:07:07] Sam: Yeah.
[00:07:09] Carers Qld Announcement:
Our LAC in community sessions are held regularly throughout Queensland to help you with your NDIS journey. In these sessions you can talk one-on-one with our dedicated local area coordinators to learn more about your NDIS funding, getting the most out of your NDIS plan, finding and working with service providers and utilising the My Place online portal. If you're not on the scheme but would like to be linked with services and supports within your local community, we can assist you to find them. To register, visit our website: carersqld.com.au or call our enquiries line on 1300999 636. LAC and community sessions bringing the NDIS to you.
[00:07:58] Interviewer (Tracy): Okay Sam, so support workers in the home and I imagine there were also some useful therapies that you were funded for as well.
[00:08:06] Sam: Yeah, so for a little I have cover for things like occupational therapy and psychologists and that sort of thing. Or I was very much resistant to psychologists for a while even though I studied psychology just because at previous in the past I've not been matched well with a psychologist and that can be a traumatizing experience in itself. However, once I was able to seek it out by myself, I was able to find someone, a couple of people actually who have worked really well for me and even though like the goal was to use different sorts of therapies, not CBT, that didn't work well for me in the past, but some things like EMDR due to other things, while those didn't end up being used talk therapy, just to verbally process everything in the past like two weeks or a month or whenever the gap was was very helpful for me.
[00:09:18] Interviewer (Tracy): Sam, you're actually quite a success story for us because you are through the therapies and through your plan, you are actually exiting the NDIS you're hoping to. Is that true?
[00:09:32] Sam: Yes, that is correct. I'm hoping I'm looking into exiting and going without the supports I've had up until now. Some of my supports that I've had up until now continuing with some but on my personal account, where are you
[00:09:51] Interviewer (Tracy): And now that allows you to feel that way that you can do this without those supports.
[00:10:01] Sam: So over the years of having it's been mostly, particularly my in home support that I've been working through and building capacity with doing my own household things independently just because outside of the home I'm quite independent as it is, quite confident as it is as an adult in home. I've been building my capacity over the years to initiate and do more within the time that I've allotted to having home support. So when I started, it was the very basics of vacuuming, washing, laundry. Now it's gone up to. I'm now meal prepping for each week. I'm doing, you know, up to multiple loads of laundry if needed because I do sporting as well as general stuff along with other chores around the house. And I now feel at a capacity where I have a routine. It's helped me build a routine to then do this by myself and schedule it for myself.
[00:11:10] Interviewer (Tracy): Are you living independently, Sam?
[00:11:12] Sam: I am, yes. I'm working almost full time at the moment. I'm a pharmacy assistant, so I am in the front shop at the moment of pharmacy serving customers. I do also assist with the Webster packing, so the medication packs.
[00:11:35] Interviewer (Tracy): So it sounds like you have really come on a real journey. Sam, what would you say, what feels like your biggest success from the journey?
[00:11:46] Speaker B: Being able to fully separate actually, my parent from being my main support and independent from my parent. Being my support or living is actually one of the biggest things, I think.
[00:12:08] Interviewer (Tracy): Why is that important to you?
[00:12:11] Sam: It's important to me because I get anxious about having them so involved in my life and they were also feeling the, I guess, stress of trying to help me manage my life. So it was very important to us a couple years ago to organize that separation of support. Like my parent is still there for questions and that sort of thing, but not as involved in organizing appointments and that sort of stuff.
[00:12:48] Interviewer (Tracy): And that must make you feel very empowered, I would imagine.
[00:12:52] Sam: Yes, yes.
[00:12:54] Interviewer (Tracy): Grown up. I just want to pivot now and talk about advocacy and inclusion and the rainbow space. Sam, you're an advocate for including and respecting the use of pronouns. Can you tell us how pronouns helps with true inclusion?
[00:13:11] Sam: It helps because it acknowledges the person as who they are and who they identify themselves as. Without that acknowledgement, it can. You might try to be helping them in other ways. And while those supports may be successful without that acknowledgement and true inclusion of who they are and who they identify as going to feel as though they are treated as other or treated as a separate person.
[00:13:46] Interviewer (Tracy): And how important is it to feel respected around your identity and your pronouns?
[00:13:52] Sam: Incredibly, it's. It can be the difference in a bad day or a good day. It can be the difference between having, you know, feeling like you are actually supported versus feeling like just an object.
[00:14:11] Interviewer (Tracy): Why do you think organizations should work hard to get this right so that they can make a difference for people from the queer community?
[00:14:21] Sam: I think it's important to get it right because it's other than quite simply the right thing to do. It's important to show that they do have an understanding of the people that they are working with. Because while, you know, corporations will have numbers and statistics and all that, the end of the day is that they're working with people and those people should be treated as such. As people, not as numbers.
[00:14:58] Interviewer (Tracy): Yes. Because it's a. It's a lived experience, isn't it? It's not just a theory. This relates to self-esteem, confidence. Would you agree with that?
[00:15:12] Sam: Absolutely. It can. Yeah. It can vastly impact the mental health if someone feels as though, like either they're not respected in their identity or they don't feel safe to be out about their identity in a space where they're meant to be receiving support.
[00:15:34] Interviewer (Tracy): Absolutely. And that leads me to when we met you at our Pride Festival on the Sunshine Coast recently. How great was it to see… (Yes) It was great for us to see you there and it really showed us the importance of how organizations show inclusion. And how did you feel being at Pride Fair Day that day?
[00:15:55] Sam: It was fantastic. I was actually there with my sporting league, my roller derby league, the organizer of or one of the organizers of the day, Sophie, she's actually a part of our league and it was just fantastic to be there supporting her, seeing all the support for all the different personalities and people. I saw there was a stall for queer aged, like aged queer people and supporting them. And there was an opportunity to like write a lovely note for. As a young person, for an older person. And it was just excellent to see that interaction and see those mixing of personalities and people and ah, it's great.
[00:16:41] Interviewer (Tracy): I agree. There were also First Nations representatives there as well.
[00:16:46] Sam: Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. I, I saw that as well. And I. There was multiple of them and it was so much fun meeting everyone and having it like I went up and down on my skates, which is how I met you guys. And talking to everyone, having a chat with everyone, that was, it was one of the best parts of the day.
[00:17:10] Interviewer (Tracy): We found the same doing the badge… We did a badge making activity as you know, and it was around pronouns and flags and that was hugely successful, especially amongst teenagers, I found Sam.
[00:17:24] Sam: Yeah, I think that from. So I've had experience as a club coordinator for a university queer club called the Rainbow Society at Griffith and the pronoun pins are massive throughout the younger generations. I think I don't know as much about the older generations. I haven't had that experience, experience with them. But every, like, open day, every market day, we are almost out of pronoun pins by the end because everyone just comes through, like straight, queer, gender non-conforming or not. Everyone goes, yes, I like. I want to represent that in a way that I am safe. And here are my pronouns as well, that I understand that people are different because that's what it is, I find is, even if you aren't a part of the LGBTQIA community, people who are, you know, CIS and het, if they like, or just even just CIS if they have a pronoun pin, I can safely assume, or I can at least somewhat assume that they have an understanding and they are more likely to be a safe person around.
[00:18:44] Interviewer (Tracy): When you look at the generations, you're 26 now, Sam, and you look at the younger generation coming through. Isn't it wonderful to see the uptake of this and, and what do you put that down to?
[00:18:56] Sam: I think it's an openness that it's been over the generations, it's gotten more and more open and out, like it was quieter and under the covers behind closed doors in previous generations. But slowly people have been brave and people have stepped forward in previous generations and been out and proud, and that's given us the confidence to come out more and more and more. So I think part of it is previous generations paving the way, and part of it is also, the world's so chaotic right now as it is, why not just be as we are?
[00:19:40] Interviewer (Tracy): Sam, last question for today. What message would you have to any young people from the LGBTQIA community who are neurodivergent? What would be some advice and what would be your message to them after your journey and what you've lived?
[00:19:57] Sam: I think I would say it is worth letting go of the image of what you think you should be to live as you are.
[00:20:11] Interviewer (Tracy): And that was Sam, a proud member of the LGBTQIA community this Pride Month. And if you or someone you care for is looking for safe, affirming support, we encourage you to reach out to Carers Queensland's rainbow responders. Email:
[email protected]
You can also visit our website to see the Pride events we'll be attending throughout the year and learn more about how we're staying connected with the LGBTQIA community.
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