To Stand and Belong : Stories from the Tearoom (2025) — film still

To Stand and Belong : Stories from the Tearoom

2025 • Open Entrant Documentaries
Filmmaker: Head High Disability Service

About this Short Film

#Cognitive Processing Disability #Confidence #Down Syndrome #Employment Related #Group #Intellectual Disability #Perception, Viewpoint #Young Adult

To Stand and Belong: Stories from the Tearoom, by Head High Disability Service (Australia, 2025), is a short film that explores confidence, perception and work life for young adults with cognitive processing and intellectual disability, including people with Down syndrome. Through group interactions and everyday moments, it offers viewpoints that invite us to rethink assumptions about ability and belonging. Warm and honest in tone, the film highlights how employment and community shape identity and self‑confidence. Presented in the Focus on Ability festival, it aligns with our aim to showcase the abilities, experiences and achievements of people with disability.

Film Details

Country: Australia
Category: Open Entrant Documentaries
Genre: Personal Story
Festival Year: 2025
Filmmaker: Head High Disability Service

Film Transcript

I really wanted to see my young adults being able to present themselves with confidence, but I felt like I was seeing a lot of young adults who couldn't hold their head high when they were introduced to someone unfamiliar. I think when you present yourself with confidence, people get a completely different view of you. There can be an issue for young adults with a disability when they are often infantilised and treated like a child. If we can promote that confidence and they can walk into, you know, the bank or the local shop and present themselves with confidence as a young adult, then the reaction and the interaction is going to be different. Now I've got clients that will march ahead of me and go in and introduce themselves and ask for work experience or tell them about one of our events or initiatives. And yeah, that's just a joy to see. That's what we want.

They're more willing to try things rather than ask for help immediately. That's something we're really strong on: try and try again, and that we all make mistakes. My clients know that I'm always making mistakes and that's just being human. So I think with that confidence comes that ability to be able to say, "Okay, I can try this again. It didn't work out, but I'm going to do it again."

Adam is our musician of the group and he's going to play a piece for you called Walt's Melody. And I think also with that confidence comes friendships, comes that ability to start having a social life. Give it a big round of applause.

We tell each other secrets that Julie doesn't know. We can't stop talking to each other. We cry when we are happy with happy tears. We feel the best when we are together. Oh, smile. We are best friends.

But for some people the change is very, very small. That small change is life changing for that individual. So a minute change in communication or confidence might seem small to other people but the effect of that small change can be huge.

Happy family.

Our head hire is Jess, the queen of the tea-room. She studied absolutely diligently and so hard to get her RSA and was able to serve the alcohol. Yeah. I think I said to her family, "Did you imagine that you'd ever be sitting in a tea room and your daughter's serving you your procco?" And they said, "No, absolutely not."

And what's your big dream for the future? I am going to find a lot of money to get my own house.

If someone else said they wanted to do the same things as you, what would you say to them to do? Be right. Let's do it. Let's put no consent up and let's do it.

Filmmaker

Head High Disability Service is the filmmaker behind this entry. See every Focus on Ability entry from Head High Disability Service.

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