Peta Hooke
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Peta is the creator and host of The I Can’t Stand Podcast, a weekly podcast answering the audiences’ questions about what it is really like to live with a disability. Peta is a single, thirty-something living with Cerebral Palsy.
Peta Hooke is a disability advocate and podcaster. Her show, The I Can't Stand podcast, answers questions that people have about what it's like to live with a disability. Peta has recently started interviewing guests as well who have a disability.
As a guest on her show, I can tell you that Peta is thoughtful, engaging, and curious. I always enjoy speaking with her. In our episode, we learned about her childhood, her ambitions, her experiences in school, and why she started podcasting.\
Even though Peta grew up in Australia, it was interesting to see how similarly we experienced living with a disability, while part of it is because of socioeconomics and another part because we both choose to be optimistic human beings.
If you have a question for Peta to answer, you can contact her via www.icantstandpodcast.com or follow her on Instagram @petahooke.
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Peta Hooke.mp3 - powered by Happy Scribe
Welcome to the Enabled Disabled Podcast. I'm your host, Gustavo Serafini. I was born with a rare physical disability called PFFD. My journey has been about selfacceptance persistence and adaptation. On the show, we'll explore how people experience disability, how the stories we tell ourselves can both enable and disable.
How vulnerability is a foundation for strength and why people with disabilities can contribute more than we imagined.
I hope that leaders.
Companies, clinicians, families and friends will better understand our capacity to contribute to the world and help enable us to improve it.
Heda Hook is a disability advocate and podcaster. Her show, The I Can't Stand podcast, answers questions that people have about what it's like to live with a disability. Peta has recently started interviewing guests as well who have a disability. As a guest on her show, I can tell you that PETA is thoughtful, engaging, and curious. I always enjoy speaking with her. In our episode, we learned about her childhood, her ambitions, her experiences in school, and why she started podcasting. Even though Peda grew up in Australia, it was interesting to see how similarly we experienced living with a disability, while part of it is because of socioeconomics and another part because we both choose to be optimistic human beings.
I wonder if you the listeners will have different insights as to what our similarities and differences are. The Enabled Disabled Podcast as an exciting announcement, we've activated a recording feature on our website where you can ask past guests and future guest questions. If we get enough questions for our past guests, we'll invite them back to answer your questions. Please stay tuned to the newsletter where we'll be previewing future guests and giving you the opportunity to ask them questions. Before we record the show, just go to www.
Dot enableddisable. Com and press the Start Recording button to leave us your questions. Thank you. Thank you so much for being here. It's a pleasure to see you. As always. I'm really happy that you made the time.
Thank you for having me. I'm really excited.
You're very welcome. So let's start from the beginning, more or less. Can you tell us a little bit about your disability? What it was like growing up in Australia, some of the experiences that helped shape you?
Yeah.
Sure.
So first of all, I'm 31. So I was born in 1090 just to give you a bit of context. I live in Melbourne in Australia, and I have cerebral palsy, which is a lifelong condition that for me, occurred when I was born. I was born prematurely at 28 weeks. I was in a humor crib for four months, and I was, I think, £2 when I was born. Sorry, I was really small. I was about the size of it, not much bigger than a cabbage milk bar. It was very small.
So I'm very lucky to be here. And to be honest, it's taken me a long time to consider myself to have a disability. I don't know whether that was just the culture of growing up in the 90s.
But.
I learned to view myself as Peter first and my disability second. And today I certainly think it's more intertwined as far as my identity, but I can't discount having that ability to see myself first and not focus on the negatives that can come with having a disability because it made me really resilient. It made me be able to think of the positives of life, and I was never unable to make friends because I just saw myself as me. And why wouldn't anybody want to be friends with me?
Do you think some of that came from your parents? Like, how did that identity of just focusing on you as a person and not really identifying as someone with a disability? What does that look like growing up or talk a little bit more about the environment in Melbourne in the 90s for people that you're the third Aussie we've had on the show, which is great, but I still don't know much about what it's like growing up there.
So my parents were invaluable in creating my identity and making me such a strong person. I think it was and you can't say it was the wrong thing to do because at the time it was the right thing to do. And I think context is everything. Periods of time is everything. But I was certainly brought up to think that I didn't have a disability, I just couldn't walk. So today now we know that's probably not correct. But I would also say that today it's more something to be proud of to have a disability.
Whereas in the 90s, I think there was definitely a thought that if you had a disability, particularly as a child, your life hadn't started and will never start and you will never have the potential of your fellow peers without a disability. So my parents really tried to teach me that anything was possible and to not let my disabilities stand in the way.
I know. It's context driven, and I know that there's more nuances today, but that was in large part the way my parents tried to teach me right as you can do anything you set your mind to. Just because you have some limitations physically doesn't mean that you should restrict yourself from getting educated, from having a career, from doing all the things that you want to do. And I think that's extremely healthy. It may not get to the deeper questions of what does my disability mean for me and who am I as a human being as we get older.
But for me it was a very healthy way to grow up.
Yeah, I certainly had the viewpoint, and I don't know whether this is just being an only child and having the ability to sort of to analyze what how other people's lives are like and putting myself from the perspective in other people's shoes. I knew very quickly that regardless of whether people had a disability or not, didn't mean that people didn't have challenges. So I just saw my disability as my version of my challenge that I had to overcome. Yes, it was very ingrained in me and probably in my personality just by default, that I was a very motivated person to prove people wrong, that I was capable of doing whatever I set my mind to, and I'm still very much like that today.
But I have to say that I wasn't naive in thinking that I was not the only one with challenges, regardless of whether you have a disability or not.
Yes, which is important.
And.
Part of that is just being empathetic and being able to put yourself in other people's situations. And seeing that life isn't perfect for anybody, we just make believe that it is.
Don't get me wrong. I really do realize how privileged I am sitting here today. Like, yes, my cerebral palsy varies quite a lot, and that's why I struggle to identify what cerebral palsy is for people who don't know what it is. But basically, it's a form of brain damage that occurs when you're really young and it presents really differently in different people. So for me, that means that I'm weak on my right side. I'm very left hand dominant and I can't walk, sand or transfer, which means that I use an electric wheelchair every day.
And I started using an electric wheelchair at five before I started school. And that was very much a decision from my parents to make sure that I could keep up with my peers, play with them in the playground and not feel isolated or segregated from my friends and the people I love? Absolutely.
And what was the schools that you went to? Were they accessible enough to be able to access all the classrooms and the bathrooms and things like that for you?
My primary school, which is you start at age five and finish at age twelve. My primary school was very good, and they were probably way ahead of the curve as far as inclusion, it wasn't necessarily because I had a disability. It's just because they wanted to include Peter as much as they could. That was sort of the angle that I was brought into the school as my parents had meetings with the principal, and they said, how can we make the school best for Peter? So when I first arrived, it definitely needed work, but they were so willing to do it.
So accessibility in the school was always challenging, and it was a learning experience for both me and the school and my parents in regards to what I needed because you don't know what you need until you get to that certain stage of life. But definitely my primary school is so excellent.
That's a beautiful attitude, because even when you talk about universal design and they say that what is accessible and easier for one type of disability could prove to be a barrier for another type. So it's really difficult to have a perfect or a near perfect solution, but to have the mentality to say, look, let's make this experience and this environment as good as we can make it for you, even though we're not there yet. I don't think you can ask for too much more than that. That's incredible.
Yeah. And I think I certainly didn't understand how lucky I was because I basically just came into such an inclusive, welcoming environment at the time. I was the only person to my knowledge, with a disability at the school, and then later on, they had more people come into the school with different needs and abilities. But I didn't know what the concept was to be discriminated against until I got much older. So again, I know how lucky I was, and I know that that's not experience for a lot of people.
As you got older and you went through school, can you talk about when was the first time that you felt like, hey, people don't have my best interests in mind, and they're not treating me like everybody else and not making things inclusive for me. When was that first experience?
When I got to high school, I was really sick. I just had an operation that went wrong. It caused nerve damage, so cerebral palsy doesn't affect I have feeling in my legs. I can swim like my legs work. I just don't have the ability to stand, walk, or transfer. But this operation that I had before going into high school caused me to lose feeling from my waist down, and I had chronic nerve pain, and it required me to relearn the sensations. Now I was on such strong medication at the time that I probably wasn't in the right head space to walk into high school.
However, I went to that school because that's where my family had always gone to. All my friends were going to that school. It was a private, prestigious school in my area, and I didn't want to be any different. So I was very keen to go, but it was very clear from day one that not only would I be the anomaly, but really, I had to make all the changes like I was pushing it uphill.
And did that improve over time? Or was that consistently your experience in high school?
It did improve a little bit, I think, as they saw me as a person, and rather than just a person with a disability, they became more willing and started to understand what my needs were. And today, actually, even today, I'm now working with them to try and get them to be more inclusive for future students. So I'm very pleased that they're sort of trying to progress in that area, and they're starting to recognize that. But I think when you go to a private school, it was very much focused on if you're not academic, if you're not good at sport or music, you're not really valued in that sort of community.
And Unfortunately, I'm not good at all three of those things.
Okay, so when you say you're not good at what was the difficulty with academics?
So because I was so sick with my operation, the drugs really did affect my cognitive ability. I was really foggy, couldn't take much in and I was in a lot of pain. So I really did miss a lot of school all the way up until about 16. So while I consider myself academic now, having gone to University and getting a master's degree at the time, I just couldn't catch up.
And they wouldn't accommodate or change your schedule around or give you some extra help to get you through that process.
I think they really did try, but I don't think myself or my parents realized how bad it was until you look back on it. I'm just very much like it'll be fine. I'm a tough cookie. I'll work hard. I can get through this. I'm getting better at asking for help, but definitely in my team. I didn't want to ask for help because I didn't want to become an issue. I didn't want to make a scene. I just wanted to get through it, be the best student I could be and be the best person I could be and just keep my head down and just keep going.
So how did the transition go from high school to University? What changed.
So fantastic. I love University, even though I didn't get the score that I needed. I got into University by doing another course. So I did that course concurrently to my first degree, and I think it was a combination of getting my car license and having that independence. But also, I don't know whether you have these in America, we have integration AIDS which are like assistants that help a person with a disability in the classroom. So along with the main teacher at the front of the class, a student would have an integration aid that would help them.
So I had two integration aides throughout my primary school and my high school and they were invaluable in my education in enabling me to keep up. However, once I got to University because of the flexibility of only having to be there for two or 3 hours and then going home, I was able to do it all intimately by myself. So I loved just being there just alone. I didn't feel like I was being chaperoned or being looked after. I just felt like I was a young adult attending University just like everyone else.
And that must have felt very empowering.
It was awesome. And don't get me wrong. I love my integration AIDS to this day, but it really made me grow as a person to just having to rely on myself.
That's terrific. I think also from remembering my journey in College. It was the first time being away from home and having those experiences of, like you said, relying on yourself, making decisions, figuring out your problems and understanding how to navigate the environment. And, yes, there's a sense of freedom that I never had before that it sounds like you experience a lot of the same thing.
Absolutely. And I think whether it's College or University, you're also studying the things that you're passionate about. So it's no longer having to sit in math class trying to learn algebra that you know, that you'll never use. You're not passionate at. I certainly wasn't anyway. And meeting the sort of same people that are passionate about the same things you are. It was really fantastic to sort of put my energy into certain areas that I knew I could thrive in. And I knew I wanted to use going forward.
So what did you study at University?
So my first degree was a Bachelor of business and commerce. And then I did a Masters of tourism. So my bachelor's in business and commerce. I did a major of tourism. My greatest passion in life is travel.
And.
I'm really connected to the idea of making that industry more inclusive and making it more accessible for people like us. And by doing my master's degree, I was able to complete a thesis inaccessible tourism.
Fantastic. So what is it about travel that makes you so passionate? I don't have the same passion. I enjoy traveling, but it's not a deep passion for me.
I've always traveled. My first plane ride was, I think, five months my parents have taken me sort of everywhere. And I've really enjoyed to be engaged in different cultures and understanding how different people live, to also realize how lucky I am to live where I do in year nine, which is when you're 15 in high school. My school took my cohort to China because they weren't Chinese. And now at the time, China was really inaccessible. So my parents decided, well, not only do they learn Chinese, they also learn German.
So let's take Peter to Germany instead. So my parents took me on a five week trip through Europe at 15, and it really formed me as a person to truly love being in different cultures.
What was Germany like?
Europe is one of the most beautiful places on Earth. Germany is like being in a chocolate box children's fantasy. Sometimes it's just like, how is this not Disneyland? It's not even fake. It's actually reality. It's amazing.
Can you give us an example of that?
Yeah, sure. There's a place in Switzerland. We'll do Switzerland. And I think it's named the map. But don't quote me on that. It's been a while and covered, maybe a little fuzzy on different areas. But it's a beautiful little town that you get to by train. There's no cars allowed. So it's only horse and cart, and it's up on a mountain. And it's just that have been there since the 1000 1000 hundred s. It snowed. It was just beautiful.
Okay, that sounds nice.
And.
I'm sure through Europe you noticed certain places that had better accessibility in certain places that didn't.
That'S certainly where my brain started to tick. I started to understand how accessible Melbourne was in certain ways, but how inaccessible and inflexible it was as well. Things like I was able to get on gondolas in Europe, we don't have that many gondolas here in Australia. And when we do, certainly I wouldn't be able to get on one, which is the ones that go up the mountain, not the boats in Venice, the ones that go up the mountain. Things like I could get on trains and sit in my wheelchair for long haul distances.
We don't do that in this country. So that really started to get me thinking about how I could make my country more accessible.
And so when you finished your Masters, what was the next stage in the journey.
I traveled throughout? My last trip overseas was in 2014, at the end of my master's degree. That was part of my master's degree, where we went to the World Tourism Expo, which is in Berlin. And I was so determined to make sure that I got into this industry and I networked really hard. But something in my gut knew that this just wasn't happening for me. People sort of would glaze over when I would talk about the importance of inclusion and accessibility, we really weren't recognized as a profitable market at the time, even though it was projected that we were going to be 20% of the overall market.
So I finished my master's degree and I struggled to get work. It's such a cliche, but I experienced the same thing that many people with disabilities do experience. I could not get work. Nobody recognized the need for accessible tourism. I would write letters to all our tourist associations and say, I can help you. I'm happy to work for free for a little while. Just let me help you. And it just didn't happen. So I volunteered at a lovely little travel agency for people with disabilities for about six months.
And after working there for free for about two days a week, it was clear that there was not going to be a job at the end. So I left. And then I kept working on my resume. And somebody I knew knew someone. And they said, hey, there's a not for profit organization looking to get into disability tourism. Would you help them? So I started with that organization on a voluntary basis for over. I think it was a year. I work for free for three days, and then they offered me a position.
But unfortunately, it was just such a hard slug. And in the notforprofit sector, things change very quickly. We lost funding, and then all of a sudden I found myself working in administration in the same company, not doing what I love.
That has to be really difficult and frustrating. Did you feel like, were you able at least to get in front of people face to face and have conversations with them? Or was it even like we're not even going to interview you because this just isn't feasible right now?
I was really shocked when people kept advising me to stop putting the fact that I had a disability on my resume. And the reason why I say that was I was trying to get into the disability tourism sector, so I only saw my disability as an asset. Like what better way to understand what is needed than a lived experience? That is my reality for the rest of my life. So when people said to me, no, take your disability off my resume. To me, it just didn't make sense.
So I kept applying. And eventually I did take my disability off my resume. And then I would start and get interviews. And then after the interview, of course not. Like I can hide that I have a disability. I'm in a wheelchair and nothing is situated.
Like you said, it sounds cliche, but it's real, and it's persistent.
Yeah, I was really angry and frustrated, particularly on the behalf of other people with disabilities that hadn't had the opportunities that I'd had. I'd come from a private school education. I traveled extensively and I had a master's degree and I still wasn't being recognized for my value. What hope do other people have?
And so what was the pivot.
Pivot? Another cliche was covered. Okay, so at the end of 2019, I was in a rough. I was stuck in this job that I've been in for over five years. I wasn't going anywhere in the organization. They kept losing funding. I knew I was a valued employee as far as I did my job really well, but they weren't going to move me up the ladder. So just before covert hit, I put in my resignation and the plan was I was going to travel again for a number of weeks to Mark my 30th birthday.
So I'd saved and saved and saved all this money to go overseas. And then the week of my last day at work hit here in Australia in March of 2020, the day I was leaving the organization, it was announced that the organization was going to close. So it was a very weird experience because it was meant to be my last day. But it turned out to be most people's last day. So it was quite an emotional day that I don't think I'll ever forget. While most of them went to work remotely at the time, they didn't know what that meant, and a lot of people were really scared.
Quite rightly, of course.
So.
In March 2020, I quit my job and thought, okay, this covers thing might be an issue with going overseas. What am I going to do. And Luckily, I had a really good colleague at work. But when I did put my resignation letter in, she said, you need to use your voice more effectively in and around disability. So that sort of planted the seed. I sat in my parents'house for about two weeks trying to figure out what I was going to do. And then I decided, you know, what a podcast sounds like a good idea, and that's where it was born.
Yeah, I can't stand podcast.
That's correct.
Okay, so tell us about the podcast. What was the idea of it in the beginning? And how has it kind of changed and evolved?
It's called the IconStand Podcast, available on all podcasting platforms. It's a weekly podcast that comes out on a Tuesday. It's super short to the point. There are only about ten to 15 minutes, and I answer a question from the audience about what it's like to live with a disability. And that idea came from the fact that I would only have to walk out my front door and get a cup of coffee and a stranger would ask me a question. And I'm more than happy to as long as the question is for life, I'm more than happy to answer the question, but I thought surely there's got to be a more efficient way to educate people and educate and help people's curiosity with disability, because most of the time it's only curiosity.
So let's do a podcast. So I answer a question from the audience every week, and I love what I do. And now I also interview other people with disabilities as well as to make sure that there's a wide perspective of what it means to live with a disability.
You gather the questions from the audience. Do they email you? Is it a Facebook group?
How do you get the questions so people can follow me on Instagram? My Instagram handle is at Peterhooke P-E-T-A-H-W-K-E. They can email me at Icatstandpodcast at gmail. Com or they can contact me through my website. I can't standpodcast. Com.
What are some of the most interesting or unexpected questions that you've had?
I would have to say the most unexpected was probably Linda, which is a mutual friend of ours. She emailed me and said, do mobility AIDS make me more disabled? I had to think about that one and understand her perspective because that can be taken honestly the wrong way, because disability is often seen as a negative by people who don't have a disability. After doing some research, I realized that Linda herself had a disability, so that sort of made me really think about it. And I really loved that episode.
And she made me really reassess what having a mobility aid means for me.
Interesting, I think Linda, Linda has been on both of our podcasts now, and she's really on a mission to make mobility AIDS, not do any more harm to our bodies than they're doing. So rather than have a mobility aid that has side effects, so to speak.
Right.
She wants to create. She is creating mobility AIDS that actually help strengthen the parts of the bodies that we can use, or at the very least, not do any more damage to it. So it's a really interesting. I love her work and she's brilliant, and I think it's a really interesting take on mobility devices in general.
Yeah, it was a really great chat. How often do you get to speak to somebody who's a black belt and also understand what it's like to live with a disability? Like it's such a perfect perspective. And it was such a great chat. So either way, guys, if you're listening to this, regardless of whether you listen to Gustavo's version or my version, it's a great episode. I encourage you to listen.
I say listen to both clearly, to learn something new about Linda and what your approach was when you were speaking to her.
Yeah, it was really fun. The only other episode that really sort of got me thinking was somebody asked me what it was like to be drunk with a disability. So I thought, Right. Okay, how am I going to explain what it's like to be drunk with a disability? And I thought, okay, well, the best thing to do is probably to illustrate. So I recorded half the podcast over and half the podcast. Not so far. People could hear the difference.
That's a great day. That's a perfect solution.
Because.
I have to go hear that episode. I haven't heard it now I want to hear. Yeah.
My drunk Peter is a fan favorite.
I bet. Look, alcohol affects everybody a little bit differently. Some people get angry or sad, some people get very energetic, some people get relaxed.
So.
How did it affect you? I don't know. I don't want to guess. You tell me.
Look, I'll just say drink responsibly everyone. I'm not a big drinker in general, but I have to say there was a lot of high pitched giggling at myself, a lot of editing that I had to cut out. It was a lot of fun and such a strange experience to be sitting in a room drinking, speaking into a microphone, talking to yourself.
Interesting. I might have to try that one day.
It's good fun.
And your podcast. So people know it did win the new and noteworthy award from Apple, right?
It won again last week. So double newer noteworthy Ponti to Apple.
Fantastic. That has to be an amazing feeling.
It is great.
And how did that come about.
With the first one I put an application in and basically said, why I think this sort of topic and education is so important and why my version of the podcast is so powerful. And I must have said something, right. Because Apple agreed with me. Amazing.
That's awesome. And how do you see this platform that you're building evolving. So you are using your voice now, you are making an impact. You are changing people's perceptions about disability and making them feel comfortable about asking you questions. Where do you see this building to?
To be honest, I don't know. It was one of those questions, like when you go in for an interview guest, when they say to you, Where do you see yourself in five years, I think Covert's proven to all of us, but we can't predict what's going to happen next month, let alone what's going to happen in a year. So as long as I'm making a difference in both disabled people and non disabled people's lives and how they either perceive themselves or other people with disabilities, I'm happy with that.
That's my overall goal. I'm just wanting to make a difference, because every day I'm reminded of how much work there's left to do.
Absolutely. So if we reframe the question just a little bit and say, if you could, you had that Genie bottle and you could make that wish, where would you like to see yourself? Where would you like to see the impact that you're making? What are you dreaming about in that respect.
I'd really like to see disability go mainstream and not be something that people engage in because they have a knowledge of disability, but because they don't and they want to learn and understand. I'd love for people with disabilities to be seen as people and for people to realize that, yes, we might be different in some ways, but we're more like you than not.
Absolutely. And where do you think we're I don't want this question to sound like this has nothing to do with blame. But where do you think we're still missing the Mark, right. As people with a disability, in that communication or in what we're doing?
I'm not sure. I think a lot of it has to do with not having the opportunity to communicate to people and not being reflected in things like popular culture. There aren't that many famous actors that have a disability. For example, there's certainly not that many people here on television with a disability, no news anchors or anything like that. So until we're seen as part of the mainstream, I don't think people with disabilities should be blaming themselves on not being able to make change, because in the end, the change is really systemic, and we've got a lot of work to do.
We do.
But I think to kind of build on your point, where are the super successful entrepreneurs with the disability, right? How many billionaires are there in the world and how many of them have a disability or even you could say, multi millionaires? Where are they? Where are the politicians? There are some here and there, but it cuts across all the elements of society. Yeah.
And I think politics is probably an area that's more accessible for people with disability. I know that you have a few veterans over there in politics, and that's probably because we want to fight and make change. But not all of us want to do that. Some of us just want to live our lives and do other things that has nothing to do with our disability. I agree with you. I often try and Google and find people who are successful who have a disability, and there really aren't that many of us the only person I can really think of, either Paralympians sports people or Stephen Hawkeye.
Yeah. I'm struggling to think of someone who's made it into the mainstream. I think there is an entrepreneur in Australia that I read about that has done extremely well. I'm forgetting his name. We'll look it up and put it in the show notes.
But.
I can't think of anybody in the US anyways, and it also goes back to what you were talking about earlier and to what another guest, Christina Ryan, says, is that there are successful entrepreneurs who have a disability who their disability might be invisible, and so they don't disclose it, which is unfortunate.
I don't necessarily think it is unfortunate, like everybody has the right to disclose whatever they're comfortable with. And if someone doesn't want to identify as disabled, that's their right to do so. But I really do admire people who do are proud and happy to talk about their disability, because the more that we're seeing in society, the better off it is for all of us. Absolutely.
And I meant unfortunate in the sense that they're probably doing it. They're probably not disclosing it because they feel like it will put them at a disadvantage. And that's the unfortunate part. Yeah.
We only have to go back to my conversation about employment to prove that point.
That's very true. I wanted to give you the opportunity as well to tell us a little bit about what's been on your mind recently. I know that you shared an email maybe a week ago where you said recently that your government does not consider you to be self employed, correct? Yeah.
So I'm currently in the process. I haven't talked about it too much because, like lots of people, once you start and talk publicly about issues with the government, we always see that's going to have a flow on effect to our life. But what I can say is they're very narrow minded in what they consider to be employment for people with disabilities, because I'm self employed and my income isn't on a consistent basis because it flows. They require me to go and get employed because they see me as unemployed.
And to be honest, I think that they would be more comfortable with the idea of me packing boxes for $2 an hour versus trying to help the very people that they support.
That's a difficult situation.
And.
If that's what you can say, we'll leave it at that. And hopefully that changes.
Well, yeah, they've come up against the wrong person. That's all I would say.
Okay. That's fair. Is there anything that you feel I've missed in the conversation that you'd like to talk about?
I want people to not feel scared to ask questions because I think there is such where we're so worried of asking the wrong question or being politically incorrect or upsetting someone's feelings. And those are all valid things. I pushed back on someone yesterday when they said I suffered with a disability, and I politely corrected them, and I said, to be honest, I'm a very privileged person. I'm not a person suffering. There's lots of people out there that are, but I'm certainly not one of them. Please don't mistake the fact that I have a disability, and therefore that means I must be suffering.
But I think it's important for people to be willing to ask the questions and to learn why that might not be appropriate or how they can better help, because I really do think that we're other and people are scared of us.
Still, I agree. And I think the political correctness has its place. Like you said, it's all about context and place. But there are definitely times when I think it builds more barriers.
Right.
Because like you said, people are scared to ask questions. People are scared to offend. People are scared to reach out. And I'm glad that there are people like you that are there to help correct that and say, like, no, I am willing to bridge the gap. I am willing to make the connection as long as people respond with respect, with curiosity and just in a genuine way.
Right.
Not in a if you're going to be blatantly disrespectful, then that doesn't help anybody. Yeah.
I think we can recognize when people are being rude and when people are just being curious, there's a Mark difference there. And I think that without communication and understanding, it only fosters alienation and to be honest, increased discrimination and a lack of equality. And that's what we're all fighting for. Absolutely. And.
It'S so important to just keep persisting in that and being able to like, I know when I meet with clients occasionally, I can see that some of them want to ask me something, but they're uncomfortable and then other people just come out and ask. And I always appreciate the people that come out and ask because of course, they're being respectful. They're just curious. And that actually builds a deeper bond with the person when they do ask, and they are willing to make that leap. It's a great point to emphasize ask questions, ask questions, connect.
We're just human beings. Yeah.
And I think I look at the people I love and support that are part of the Lgpqi community. And I think the openness that that communities had to educate and to answer questions and to be in front of the camera and to be visible and to stand up against discrimination really is what I'm trying to emulate. Because regardless of your sexual orientation, your religion, your ethnicity, or your disability, we're all people.
That's correct. We're all people, and we all want to be seen and heard and understood. That's just a universal thing.
Exactly. So.
Once again, please tell everybody, where can they find you? Where can they connect with you? And how can they learn more about you?
Well, I'm Super active on Instagram. I post every day almost. And that's where I really do feel people can get to know me. So my Instagram is at peterhooke P-E-T-A-H-O-O-K-E. My email address is icantstandpodcast at gmail. Com, and my website is icardstandpodcast. Com.
Fantastic. And your podcast come out every week on Tuesday.
They do Australiantime on a Tuesday. Yes. Okay. Yes.
Australian time on a Tuesday. That's fine. So please listen to the show. Please connect with I'm very happy that Linda introduced us. It's an honor to have you on the show, and I look forward to doing it again.
It's always great to meet a fellow person that truly gets it.
Thank you.
Helpful links:
I Can Stand Podcast: www.icantstandpodcast.com
Email: icantstandpodcast@gmail.com
Connect with Peta Hooke on Social Media:
Instagram: www.instagram.com/petahooke/