Living in Australia by Hannan Abdallah

"A society where everyone, regardless of background or disability, feels welcome, included and supported"

My name is Hannen and I have lived in Australia for 22 years, with my family - six sisters, one brother and my parents. I have a visual impairment and my family has been very supportive. With their help and the support of guide dogs I have been able to learn new things and get to the places I need to go to.

Learning new things can be hard sometimes because I have to remember where everything is. Learning how to find places can also be hard because you have to learn all the street names and remember where they are.

I went to North Rocks School for the blind and made a lot of friends I still stay in touch with. The Royal Blind Society is great: they give you support and try to help you with cooking, using a computer, making friends and other things you need to achieve in life.

I have a disability but I am proud of who I am. I have lots of love and support from my family and friends. My hobbies are going out with my family, talking on the phone with friends, making new friends, learning new things, eating and helping around the house.

I like living in Australia because it is easy to make new friends. Going to places like TAFE and doing courses you make lots of new friends and learn new things, by typing on a computer that has a program using speech to tell me what is on the computer screen.

I think living in Australia is fun, a great place to learn about different cultural backgrounds and meet different people. I have learnt about different disabilities and been able to talk to people about their disabilities and my disability. I have made friends with different disabilities. Some use wheelchairs, some have a visual impairment like me and some have speech impairments. Sometimes we are a bit slower because of our disabilities but we are still people who get out into the community and do lots of the same things, like making friends, learning, going to the beach, playing sport.

Next time you see a person with a disability go just go up to them and say hello.

Hannen Abdallah