gwunspoken - Beyond the Plan
gwunspoken: Beyond the Plan
Hear the person beyond the plan.
This podcast is where NDIS participants, families, and supporters reclaim their narrative. We dive into life beyond the diagnosis, beyond the reports, and beyond the plans—exploring identity, strength, and voice.
Whether you're a parent seeking connection, a support worker craving understanding, or someone walking their own NDIS journey, this space is for you.
Because labels don’t define people—stories do.
gwunspoken - Beyond the Plan
Car Ride Confessions: Navigating the Unknown with Brodie
Have you ever wondered what happens when someone who hates surprises gets taken on a mystery adventure? That's exactly what unfolds in this heartwarming, rain-soaked Saturday morning journey with Brodie and his mentor.
The episode captures a real-time exploration of uncertainty as Brodie finds himself in a car heading toward an unknown destination. What makes this conversation compelling is the raw emotional journey – from initial confusion and resistance to growing curiosity and excitement. Brodie's discomfort with not knowing where they're headed (rating it a mere "1 out of 10") stands in fascinating contrast to his enthusiasm for the potential activity (an impressive "8 out of 10"). This perfectly encapsulates the complex relationship many of us have with the unknown.
Throughout their drive, we witness a beautiful example of supportive friendship. The simple reassurance "I'll always do it with you, even though you'll be better than me" transforms what could be an anxiety-producing situation into an adventure. As Brodie cycles through guesses – from bungee jumping to snake pits, from trampolines to axe throwing – we see his impressive memory at work, recalling specific conversations and experiences from their previous meetings. His reactions to each possibility provide a window into his comfort zones and fears, creating a psychological profile more revealing than any formal assessment.
This isn't just a car ride; it's a masterclass in how companionship can help us navigate uncertainty. Whether you're supporting someone with unique needs or simply looking to understand how friendship can transform our experience of the unknown, this episode offers valuable insights wrapped in genuine warmth and humor. Listen to the first part of their journey, and stay tuned for the follow-up recording that reveals whether the destination lived up to the anticipation!
Welcome to another edition of GWN. Spoken doing the plan on behalf of EngageU, and I am in the car with my mate Brodie. Yeah, how are you, mate? Happy Sunday.
Speaker 2:Where are we going? I don't know. You won't tell me so.
Speaker 1:I've picked him up this morning at 9 o'clock and he's in the car. He's got his little pink footy ready to go. It's raining.
Speaker 2:By the way, I'm not gay, I just have a pink footy, it's alright, it doesn't mean you're gay if you've got a pink footy.
Speaker 1:No, I was kidding. And so Marty's trying to guess where we're going today, because this is the thing he's getting challenged, because he doesn't like surprises or not knowing where he's going. Yeah, so go have a guess. Church, we're going to church. No, we're not going to church, but that's a good guess. Ziplining Is that close? Maybe that's a little bit close, that's actually Bungee jumping. Would you do bungee jumping?
Speaker 2:No.
Speaker 1:I would freak out if I was on bungee jumping. Do you like heights? No, ooh. I wonder if that'll be changing what we're doing today.
Speaker 2:Oh wait, Is it one of those things where you do parkour in the air?
Speaker 1:Glass bridge. What's parkour? What's that?
Speaker 2:Glass bridge where you walk on glass on a mountain. I've heard of that. Have you done it before? No, what do you do in that One of?
Speaker 1:the glass cracked once on someone because he was too fat, so they're walking on top of glass and it breaks.
Speaker 2:Yeah, sometimes we got to do that today. Yeah, if it's around you that someone has a glass pool on top of, connected in between two buildings, that sounds cool.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but there's a long drop. Oh, that sounds, and it's clear you can see underneath you. Oh, that's, and it's clear you can see underneath you. Oh, but see, that would freak me out, wouldn't that freak you out?
Speaker 2:No.
Speaker 1:Okay, what if I said we are going bungee jumping, no? And I'd say we both have to do it, but you go first.
Speaker 2:I'm not going first. You paid for it If.
Speaker 1:I went first, would you still? You might climb down and go.
Speaker 2:I'm not doing it, see ya, I'd push you off With me.
Speaker 1:Talk together a tandem one. That'd be pretty cool, actually. Alright, so no, not bungee jumping what?
Speaker 2:else. Do you think you're doing Boxing ring? Ooh, would you like that? Yeah, turn it on, boy.
Speaker 1:Do you remember last time we had our meeting on Thursday, what we did?
Speaker 2:Yeah, what did we do? I don't know. You said yeah, oh, yesterday.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Thursday, Remember Thursday night we went shopping. Yeah, we went around Ikea looking at different things. Remember we saw a bed that looked like yours. Yeah, my childhood room. Yeah, your childhood room. Different things Remember we saw a bed that looked like yours. Yeah, my childhood room. Yeah, childhood room. But remember there was something else you said to me on the way home that you'd like to do. Can you remember, Because you've got a pretty good memory. But I mean, we talked a lot, but was there something in particular you remember? Is this where we're going from there? It's not exactly what you wanted, but it's to do with that, which will help you what you want to do. There's something you said you want to do next time we meet.
Speaker 1:I'll just take his time thinking, because you can see he's looking hard here. Oh, that means saying we've got 44 minutes to go. We've gained some time here. We've got to start at 10 o'clock where we're going today.
Speaker 2:It says we're going to bed at 10.03 now.
Speaker 1:Alright, we'll make up some time here. Oh, what's something you don't want to do? You've been pulled up and you said nah, there's no way I'm getting in a car, I'm not doing that.
Speaker 2:Snake law yeah.
Speaker 1:I hate snakes.
Speaker 2:Oh wait, you're trying to confuse me. I know where it is, but I can't remember Okay.
Speaker 1:What. So was I at a Kia when I asked you I think you asked me after you saw your friends in the shopping centre. Ooh, I'll give you, I'll have that for a hint. So you saw the group of girls in the shopping centre. Ooh, I'll give you, I'll have that for a hint. So you saw the, the group of girls in the shopping centre and you said did my face go red? Yeah, and I said no, you did a really good job. You said oi.
Speaker 2:You said hey, how you going.
Speaker 1:I'll be back at school soon. That's what you said. After about five minutes later, he went oh, next time we see each other. Can we do this? Because normally Brodie gets on the podcast and he's really keen to do his own, be his own rap star, superstar, don't you know? That's your goal. Yeah, and we looked at massive houses. Remember how expensive some of those houses were? Yeah, how much were they? How much were they? Something million, 30 million? Yeah, it was like $39 million. That he wants to live in Puerto Rico?
Speaker 2:Are we going to look at houses?
Speaker 1:No, but that could be another thing if you want to do that, because you're very good at dream building with that.
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah, oh, I think.
Speaker 1:Well, it's like how he takes his time to think about it. What people don't know about Brody is he's got a very, very good memory. As I said, he can remember things we've done in the past, even a couple of weeks ago. But today I've actually picked him up. He was still in bed watching a cartoon. What was the cartoon called Invincible. Is it good? Yeah, Was it like just a series one?
Speaker 2:Series Okay.
Speaker 1:So he's watching Invincible and then I said you've got to jump out of bed, mate. We're ready to go. And he's here. He's ready to go, but he's like what? But typically he finds it challenging if he doesn't know where we're going. So today he's sitting here with his seatbelt on, we're driving 100km an hour towards the city and he's doing a job, regulating himself, thinking I wonder what we are doing. But remember, I'll do it with you. I'll always do it with you, even though you'll be better than me at this probably.
Speaker 2:I think I might. No, Is this something to do with a rollercoaster?
Speaker 1:What do I think I might know? Ooh, this is going to be very. Is this something to do with a roller coaster Like you mean, like SeaWorld or DreamWorld or that MovieWorld the Joker? Oh, you wouldn't go on that. Are you showing me pictures of that?
Speaker 2:remember, Are we going on there?
Speaker 1:Would you like to go on? There Are we. Would you like to? Yes, not today, ah, but that's a good guess because again, that's an example of his great memory that he had.
Speaker 2:Wasn't it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so you'd actually go on that roller coaster. Yeah, a few. So let me get this right. If I said to you we're going to Movie World and I held onto all the gear and said, okay, bro, off you go, you've gone by yourself, you'd say no chance. But if I went with you you'd go, Yep, Because you'd want to see me nearly crying yeah, An adult man crying, because you know I'm scared of heights.
Speaker 2:Yep.
Speaker 1:Yeah, she's saying like my daughter, who wants to see me going to ride too. You showed me a picture of that thing, a video where they threw it, and some of them were like screaming and stuff.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you have to give me a clue of where they're going.
Speaker 1:Okay, it. It's somewhere in the city. I'll give you a hint that you have to try and work it out, since it's raining. Do you think it's going to be indoors or outdoors? Indoors, okay, good, so we're going to go indoors. Are you very good at bouncing on trampolines? There's a bounce. Are you good at bouncing on trampolines? Yes, do you like bouncing on trampolines? Is it bounce? Are you good at bouncing on trampolines yes.
Speaker 2:Do you like bouncing on trampolines? Yes, is it bounce?
Speaker 1:That's a good guess, but no, it's not.
Speaker 2:Is it?
Speaker 1:axe throwing. I saw that. Have you done that before? Yeah, is that good? Yeah, no, but that was on my list, well done. I gave him a list of four things that he could have been on, didn't I? The arcade, not the arcade. But again, his guesses are really good. It's coming good. Now here's a question, because we're going to stop the podcast soon and then I'm going to podcast Brodie again On the way home after we do this activity and there's going to be like a before and after Of how we've gone. So I'm going to ask before we leave, before we leave the podcast, this first half are you excited, nervous, worried? How are you feeling on the way into where we're going to go right now?
Speaker 2:Confused.
Speaker 1:Okay, good word, confused. Are you out of 10? How much are you looking forward to it? Eight, okay, so you're excited to go. Yeah, how are you feeling, not knowing where we're going? I don't know, probably one. You don't like it, and this is why I love talking to Brody. I love how he challenges himself, because this is one of the things he hates, but even though it's a one, he's still eight, excited to go. So any last remarks before we get off the podcast.
Speaker 2:the first time, Are we going to the Central Sea concert?
Speaker 1:Oh, you'd like to go to a concert, wouldn't you? No, how about we finish off by? I'm going to ask you, you and I might actually slip While we're actually going Into these questions, so you still won't know when we're going, but it could be right. Okay, we're going to go A bit of a scale. Wait, what if I just Go like that? Don't wreck the maps, because you're Doing a wrecked surprise. I don't even know where it is. So we're going, we're going in. Alright, a list of activities that we could be doing. One actually might be the one we're doing, and he's going to give me a number out of 10, how much he would actually love to do it. So if he'd love to do it, it's a 10. If he's going no, I'd hate that it'd be a 1. You ready? Yeah, going to the cinema 10.
Speaker 2:Okay, oh yeah, we might be doing that.
Speaker 1:I'm not massage. Ten Going to a theme park like movie world. Ten Going to a live football game Eight, okay, eight, going to an indoor swimming pool Eight, eight, going to an arcade 10, ooh, they're all good things you like. Going to a pit of snakes zero. Going to a place like trampolining and bounce 8, I think. 10, 10, ok. So just so people out there listening will know this was that one of them?
Speaker 1:that was one of the things I was thinking about doing. I looked will know this. Was that one of them? That was one of the things I was thinking about doing. I looked that up.
Speaker 2:Is any of them one of them?
Speaker 1:Maybe Can't give it away. We're turning off here towards the city, but Brodie was asked to put his shoes on today, so maybe that's a bit of a hint. I didn't bring any other shoes though. No, but remember, we said you better wear socks and shoes, and you said I haven't put my shoes on yet. Yeah, so wearing your shoes was important for where we're going today. Yeah, so you must be doing activity where you need shoes.
Speaker 2:Um, I'm not sure what if I said we're going to go fishing in the rain.
Speaker 1:What would that be out of 10?
Speaker 2:that was the second time you said that, but I don't know.
Speaker 1:I haven't asked it in the podcast that's a weird name for a place would you say fishing in the rain is a fool. Yeah, what if I said we're just?
Speaker 2:going to go, would you say?
Speaker 1:fishing the ranks of all. Um yeah, what if I said we're just going to go drive straight in the city, in the middle of the city, where it's all busy, and we're just going to go shopping the whole time looking at shops?
Speaker 2:Can we do that? What would that be out of ten Ten?
Speaker 1:I'll give you a deal. If there's time at the end, we can do that, because I think we'll be close to the city. Okay, all right. All right, well, we've got 35 minutes to go and we're going to sign off in a second. We'll come back for the second half of this podcast on the way home and we'll see if Brody enjoys the day, whether I've picked the right place, and then he will give us a rating at 10 of how he went today.
Speaker 2:Yep 10 of how you went today. Yep Deal, yep. Thanks for joining us on the podcast. Sorry, baby, yeah.