About this Short Film
Looking Past the Wheelchair, by Mountain Creek State High School (Australia, 2021), is a school-made short that reflects on inclusion, achievement and the everyday realities of people with congenital and physical disabilities, including spina bifida. Rather than presenting a single plot, the film offers moments from school, sport and work life, and examines the effects of bullying and the role of teachers and peers. Its honest, student-led perspective asks audiences to look beyond assumptions and recognise capability. Screened in the Focus on Ability International Short Film Festival, it joins other works that celebrate achievement, promote access and encourage respectful, practical change.
Film Details
Film Transcript
I was born with spina bifida, so I've been in a wheelchair my entire life. Basically spina bifida is where the spine did not develop properly, so the individual bones stopped growing around the tailbone and I've got no feeling below the knees.
I started playing for the Suncoast Spinners wheelchair basketball team when I was about six or seven years old. Then I got asked to play in a national basketball team; we represented the Sunshine Coast when I was about 10 to 13, and at that very same competition I got asked to play for Australia in Queensland. I've travelled, you know, from Brisbane all the way to Redcliffe, all the way down to Melbourne where I supported Queensland, and it was basically a mini Olympics really. We played down in Melbourne — unfortunately we came last.
We are very involved in the community because we want to show people that just because you're in a wheelchair or you've got a disability, you can still play sport, you can still be active in the community. We're very supportive and we welcome anybody to come and try, come and play, because we feel that it opens people's minds to that. Like I said, just because we're in a wheelchair doesn't really change things.
Another reason why I chose to be a teacher aide is because I personally want to stop bullying in school and I want to show people that, hey, just because you've got a disability doesn't mean that you can't do what you want. I was bullied and bashed in primary school because I was in a wheelchair; I was different to everybody else, and that just made me want to show people more that, hey, I'm just like you. I still like to go out, I still like to play games, I like to travel. A lot of students wouldn't know that, hey, you're in a wheelchair you can't drive, but here I am.
I've been a radio presenter; I was doing that at a community station up in Noosa, but I've recently left that station to pursue it on my own, so I'm trying to start my own radio show from home. I've been very active in the Brisbane heavy metal scene and there is a bit of a stigma there with heavy metal being very angry, but a lot of the people were very open-minded which was great for me because they didn't see the wheelchair, they saw me. I've made a lot of awesome long-time friends.
After I graduated I was stuck at home for a very long time because at the time I didn't have a car and I didn't have a job, which I've only really just started working in the last 10 years. Before then it was very difficult to find a job because again all people saw was the wheelchair. That's another thing I'm trying to do — I'm trying to break that stigma in society that, again, you've got a disability so you've got to stay home, you can't work, you can't do whatever you want.
You know, when I go to concerts and stuff I have to climb 10, 20, 30 stairs just to get to the venue, which I don't mind because I love the music that much — because, you know, at the end of the day we all bleed the same colour.
Filmmaker
Mountain Creek State High School is the filmmaker behind this entry. See every Focus on Ability entry from Mountain Creek State High School.
