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
Two Brothers Navigate Life's Challenges While Supporting Each Other
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What happens when two young brothers sit down for an unfiltered conversation about life's challenges and joys? Twelve-year-old Oscar and his younger brother Arie deliver a refreshingly honest dialogue that reveals the complex, beautiful reality of growing up in today's world.
Oscar bravely shares his journey with ADHD, explaining how medication has transformed his school experience: "Ever since I started the medication, I've gotten much better. I'm behaving a lot more in my classes." His matter-of-fact approach to discussing neurodiversity offers a powerful lesson in acceptance and adaptation.
The brothers take us through their shared passion for gaming, particularly Roblox and Fortnite, revealing how digital experiences create meaningful connections between siblings. Their detailed explanation of "Grow a Garden" – complete with strategies for helping each other advance – mirrors their real-life dynamic of competition balanced with support.
When asked about the worst aspects of school, both brothers immediately respond with "bullying," reminding us that despite increased awareness, these challenges persist in children's lives. Oscar candidly recounts specific hurtful incidents while demonstrating remarkable resilience.
Perhaps most touching is their perspective on navigating life between two households. With wisdom beyond their years, they appreciate different aspects of each home – from their mother's structured approach ("She makes me do chores... if I do it, I'm not going to be lazy later in life") to their father's more relaxed gaming rules.
Through rapid-fire questions about everything from favorite foods to fears, we glimpse the authentic personalities of these remarkable young men. Oscar's admission about being terrified after catching an enormous fish and Arie's beautiful impromptu song performance reveal vulnerable moments that celebrate childhood in all its complexity.
Listen to this episode for a reminder of the wisdom children possess when given space to express themselves authentically. Their voices might just help you see the world through fresh, hopeful eyes.
Welcome to an edition of GW Unspoken where we discuss stuff we don't typically talk about but probably should. And we're here as part of Beyond the Plan and Engage you and I've got two very special guests here, our returning guests. Now, ari, how are you Good? How about you introduce our guests? Who have we got over there sitting across from us today? My brother, we've got your brother. We've got Oscar. How are you, oscar? Good, mate, first time for you for a podcast. How are you feeling Good? Good, are you nervous? Yeah, I'm nervous too. Are you nervous, ari? No, ari just doesn't get nervous about anything. Also, to ask you a few questions, because people don't know about you yet. So how old are you?
Speaker 312, turning 13.
Speaker 113, very shortly July the 4th, I heard Yep. All right, and what's something that you really love doing?
Speaker 3I really love playing video games, yeah Do you have a favourite. Yeah.
Speaker 1What is it?
Speaker 3Fortnite.
Speaker 1Fortnite Ari, do you play Fortnite?
Speaker 3No, it's 12 and above.
Speaker 1A bit young for you. I reckon Ari's favourite would be Roadblocks. Is that right?
Speaker 2Yeah.
Speaker 1Do you play Roadblocks as well? Mm-hmm, are you good at that? Yeah, do you play Roblox as well? Mm-hmm, are you good at that? Yeah, when you play Roblox, can you guys like play each other, or can you team up, or how do?
Gaming and Growing Together
Speaker 3you do it, we can friend each other and then we can join each other in the games. Okay, there's some games that Ari and me agree on, some of them we don't. The one that we mostly agree on is Grow a Garden, yeah.
Speaker 1What do you do on that one?
Speaker 3You get seeds and then. So you first buy fruit seeds and then you plant them in your garden, and then you wait for them to grow and then you can take them to and you sell them.
Speaker 1Oh nice.
Speaker 3And then you get money and then you can get the more expensive seeds. The best one is an ember lily. He doesn't have it, but I do. Okay, I've got two beanstalks as well. Those are the only two prismatics in the game.
Speaker 1Can anything eat them? No, you can't eat them.
Speaker 3And then you can also get gear like watering cans. Oh yeah, sprinklers, yeah, sprinklers, it goes from basic sprinkler all the way to a master sprinkler.
Speaker 1Oh, so the idea is to build, so the idea is to grow your garden. Is that right? Yeah, how do you lose? Do you lose in that game? No, you just keep seeing how you grow your garden the fastest.
Speaker 3People can steal from you as long as they have 37 Robux, that's a bit harsh, they can steal your garden. Yeah, but no, they only steal like fruits. I've stolen fruits, but for him.
Speaker 1Oh, to help him out.
Speaker 2From Dom's friend.
Speaker 1Oh, okay.
Speaker 3Yeah, I stole a beanstalk.
ADHD and School Improvement
Speaker 1You know what I heard in the car on the way over here, which is really cool, how you guys are talking about, how you sort of support each other, no matter what disability you may have or what you know, because Oscar you were saying about so you might have some OCD and ADHD, yeah, I do have.
Speaker 3I definitely have ADHD Okay.
Speaker 1And what is it that makes you go crazy, did you?
Speaker 3say, if I don't take the medication, then yeah, I can not be calmed down. Yeah, unless I'm stopped by my parents.
Speaker 1Yeah, but you said too that you haven't had any problems at school. Once you've had that, hey, you've got a lot better at school behavior and stuff.
Speaker 3Yeah, ever since I started the medication, I've gotten much better. Yeah, I'm behaving a lot more in my classes.
Speaker 1Oh, well done, and also you've got some goals. Haven't you trying to put a bit of weight on and stuff?
Speaker 3Yeah, I've got to put on 10 kilos.
Speaker 1We can help you, Ari. We're going to help that with some hot dogs later. What do you think?
Speaker 3Yeah.
Speaker 1Last time we were here, Ari made some hot dogs. Do you remember what we put on them?
Speaker 2You got onions and tomato Tomato sauce. Yeah, you remember, right.
Speaker 1And then what do you have on yours?
Speaker 2Cheese and tomato sauce.
Speaker 1And a sausage.
Speaker 2Yeah.
Brothers' Relationship
Speaker 1Yeah, and the guy at the butcher gave you a Frito sausage too. Remember last time? Remember you gave it a little cheerio. You gave it a cheerio last time. Yeah, you're lucky he wasn't there today. We can get that All right. Well, let's talk about you guys as brothers. Here's a question for you, because no one can see you. Here's a truth question. Would you say you guys usually get along pretty well, or you argue most of the time In the middle. In the middle.
Speaker 2Yeah.
Speaker 1All right. What good things do you guys do together?
Speaker 3We play with our scooters, like we go outside and we try to do some tricks on our scooters. Sometimes we play Minecraft.
Speaker 2Okay, that's cool.
Speaker 3And then play.
Speaker 2Roblox Yep. Okay, cool With our friend Yep.
Speaker 3Dom we play with.
Speaker 1All right. And what about if you guys like sat on the couch and mum or dad said let's watch Netflix a movie? Would you decide on the same movie easily or not?
Speaker 2Not all the time. Not all the time In the middle. In the middle.
Speaker 3Because sometimes we fight over like what we want to watch.
Speaker 1Yeah, yeah. Do you like similar movies or not?
Speaker 3I like action ones. I don't know about him, but he loves this action one that I love, which is Lego Ninjago. It's episodes.
Speaker 1Oh episodes.
Speaker 3It's gone from the Rise of the Serpentine all the way to Dragon's Rising.
Speaker 1Okay, ari, what about you? What type of movies do you like?
Speaker 2Mufasa Moana 2, moana Inside Out, inside Out 2.
Speaker 1So you like all the animation movies too? Yeah.
Speaker 3I only like, like the action ones.
Speaker 1Okay, here's a question, ari, do you cry in movies? No, oscar, do you cry in movies?
Speaker 2in movies.
Speaker 1No.
Speaker 3Oscar, do you cry in movies? One I nearly cried. We were watching Jurassic Park.
Speaker 1Oh yeah.
Speaker 3And then when the T-Rex got out of its cage it started roaring. I thought that was real for a second.
Speaker 1That sounds scary.
Speaker 3Yeah, and I just hid underneath pillows.
Speaker 1I'd be frightened of that in real life. I'd be scared.
Speaker 3I was hiding underneath pillows, because I thought it was real for a second, because I was like I was scared.
Speaker 1Yeah, I nearly cried. I bet what about you? Are you scared of Jurassic Park or any movies?
Speaker 3He didn't even get scared when the T-Rex started roaring. I do not even know how.
Speaker 1So what in the world makes Ari scared? What are you scared of?
Speaker 2Jurassic World, not Camp Cretaceous.
Speaker 3Camp Cretaceous Chaos Theory. Yes, that's the one. He hates that one.
Speaker 1You tell me, Ari, what's scary about that one.
Speaker 3The creepy eyes, oh yeah there's this baryonyx, there's a baryonyx that sounds scary. And it's missing one of its eyes. On one of its eyes, it's missing a pupil Like the entire eye is white. Stop, I'm getting scared?
Speaker 1Yeah, that's the thing, he. I'm getting scared.
Speaker 3No, yeah, that's the thing he hates.
Speaker 1I'd be scared too. Ari, that sounds terrible, and I think there's another part.
Speaker 3There's this girl that was like there's two versions of it. Brooklyn yeah, brooklyn. She lost her hand, but her friends thought she died.
Speaker 1You know what you do when you lose your hand, what you have to go to the second hand shop.
Speaker 3Oh, no, no, no, is that funny. She got a robotic hand. Oh, it was like a machine. Yeah, oh my gosh, but she was able to use it.
Speaker 1With special powers, was it stronger than the other hand?
Speaker 3I think so I don't know.
Speaker 1Would it hurt her head if she scratched her head with a bionic hand? Probably that would be weird, wouldn't it? Yeah, imagine having a bionic hand. Yeah, here's a random question. Think about that. If you had to, would you rather lose an arm or a leg? None of them, I'd lose it.
Speaker 3None of them I'd lose, I'd rather lose my left arm because I like my right arm.
Speaker 1You can use your right-handed.
Speaker 3Yeah, because I'm a right-hander.
Speaker 1Yeah, what about you? What if you had to? What if you lost one of them? What would be the worst? Your left leg, yeah, you'd have to walk on one leg. That'd be hard, wouldn't it? I'm already limping yeah you've got a bit of a sore ankle at the moment, haven't?
Speaker 3you. Yeah, I've hurt tendons in the front of my ankle.
Speaker 1That's not good.
Speaker 2Oh yeah, he has a sprained ankle Sprained ankle.
Speaker 1That's not good, is it?
School Experiences
Speaker 3And it's also a tendons nerve that I've hurt. Oh it, okay, and it's been two weeks and one day since that I've had this.
Speaker 1Okay, you guys are doing very well taking turns about speaking on the podcast, especially for your first time, oscar. You're doing a great job. I'm going to ask you some fun questions in a minute, but I'm going to ask you because last time I saw you you were only two days back into school and I know that you sort of regret what you did with school last time. How's it going Good? Is it getting back on track now? Yep, did you end up seeing your three friends you talked about last time? Are they all back now?
Speaker 2Yep.
Speaker 1Ryder, is that right?
Speaker 2Lachlan Lachlan Levi.
Speaker 1Levi, and there was a girl too, wasn't there?
Speaker 2Sienna. Sienna, that's right, and you've seen them again, yeah.
Speaker 1Yeah, cool, all right, your favourite friend. Do you have a couple of favourite friends at school? Do you want to do a shout out and say hello to them?
Speaker 3Yeah, I had one, but he's moved schools now.
Speaker 1Oh, okay.
Speaker 3Tyler Adams. Okay, but his older brother, liam Adams, is my friend as well. Now.
Speaker 1Okay, nice.
Speaker 3And then there's what's the name Amesh.
Speaker 1Okay.
Speaker 3And then there's Mason I don't really know, because he doesn't really hang out with me anymore.
Speaker 1Okay.
Speaker 3Zenith, yeah, zenith, definitely Zenith, and also Daxton. Okay, yeah, I can easily make friends anyways, that's good. And now?
Speaker 1you've got some good friends too, hey, yeah, all right, ready. I'm going to ask you boys a question. I'm going to ask Oscar first and then Ari, and the next question is going to go Ari to Oscar. All right, so we're in order, if that's right. So first Oscar. We've got oldest to youngest Ready. Yep, best thing about school.
Speaker 3My teachers Best my teachers.
Speaker 1Best thing about school.
Speaker 2My teachers and my friends.
Speaker 1Okay, ari, what's the worst thing about school?
Speaker 2Bullying.
Speaker 1Bullying. What's the worst thing about school, do you?
Speaker 3think Oscar Bullying as well. I get a lot of it. I keep getting called Oscar no balls.
Speaker 1That's terrible, isn't it? Yeah?
Speaker 3That's not very nice. And then two years ago I was getting called like Oscar. But that kid Toby Gazelle. He left at the end of last year.
Speaker 1Okay.
Speaker 3Which I'm happy.
Speaker 1That's because I was playing. Yeah, all right, what about Oscar? It's your turn to go first again.
Speaker 3The best thing about holidays I don't know how to go to school.
Speaker 1What's the best thing about holidays Ari?
Speaker 2That sometimes I get to go to holidays.
Speaker 1Go away for holidays. Yeah, do you have like a favourite spot? You go to Melbourne now. Yeah, we're going there on September I think it's September this year Holidays.
Speaker 3Yeah.
Speaker 2Do you have like a favourite spot? You go to Melbourne now Melbourne.
Speaker 3Yeah, we're going there on September. I think it's September this year.
Speaker 1September.
Speaker 3Yeah.
Speaker 1Okay, ready. Here's a tricky one. What's the worst thing about holidays? What are you guys smiling at each other for? What's going on here?
Speaker 2Is there a bad thing? No, I'm going to school.
Speaker 1You sort of miss school a little bit with your friends and stuff yeah. Yeah, okay, that's fair. Yeah, what do you think?
Speaker 3I'm not seeing my school friends.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 3I don't have them on my phone.
Speaker 1Okay.
Speaker 3Like on my messages.
Speaker 1Yeah, do you know, I hear some crazy things at school and and when kids come back after holidays, I go how was your holiday? And they go it was boring, I'm like, but you don't like school, I know, but at least at school I can see my friends. Is that true? Yeah, is that how you feel? Yeah, all right, all right, you ready for some fun stuff? Oh, first, before we keep going, some more serious stuff. Whose turn is it Oscar? Your turn again.
Speaker 3Best thing about mum's place she's always on me Like if I haven't done my lunchbox at night. She will not let me go to bed until I've done it.
Speaker 1So you like that. So she makes you sort of cannibal. Yeah, yeah, that's good, that's a good, mature answer.
Speaker 3And she also makes me do chores.
Rapid-Fire Questions
Speaker 1Yeah, there's going to be a lot of people thinking out there, isn't? That a bad thing, but you're saying it's a good thing I love chores.
Speaker 3Oh, that's good, Because if I do it I'm not going to be lazy later in life.
Speaker 1Perfect, some good morals. Your mum's teaching there, that's good. What about yourself?
Speaker 2What's the best? Thing?
Speaker 1About my mum At mum's place. What's the best thing about mum's place?
Speaker 2Seeing my kitten and mum. That's all.
Speaker 1Okay.
Speaker 2What's the best thing, ari, about being at dad's place that I get to game oh Dobbin At their at our mum's.
Speaker 3We have a time limit but at our dad's. We don't.
Speaker 1Oh, this is on the podcast now, so dad watch out, you could be in trouble here you guys are lucky. You've got parents who love you and look after you, aren't you Very good? All right, so we make some fun questions. Now Should we do the same thing, like take turns about yeah, should we get Ari first this time? Yep, you ready for this? You're looking pretty relaxed, so you don't get stressed out there.
Speaker 1Just here with the hands out ready to go, okay, ready. And Ari, you might have had some of these questions before, but that's okay, we can go over them again. Okay, you've got to answer these as fast as you can. So the first thing that comes to your mind you ready? Yeah, your favourite lolly.
Speaker 2Snakes.
Speaker 1Oh, lolly snakes, Oscars is Tough ones. There were so many good ones.
Speaker 3I'm going to have to go with the same as Ari. Snakes I love them, even though our nan doesn't buy them anymore.
Speaker 1Okay, unfortunately, all right. What about if I said your favourite, this is you, oscar. What's your favourite chocolate?
Speaker 3I'm going to go crunchy.
Speaker 1Oh, nice yeah, Honey came in it yeah.
Speaker 2Milk chocolate.
Speaker 1Milk chocolate, just dairy milk chocolate, plain chocolate. That was quick.
Speaker 2All right, okay, I got a fright there. Milk chocolate?
Speaker 1No, you jumped out of my chair. Then, Ari rightio, what about your favourite flavour of milkshake?
Speaker 2Chocolate.
Speaker 1Oscar everything's chocolate the same.
Speaker 2Chocolate.
Speaker 1Everything's chocolate, the same Chocolate, oh chocolate. Okay, what about Oscar, your favourite ice cream?
Speaker 3I have two actually.
Speaker 1Okay, you can allow two. You're allowed two.
Speaker 3Chocolate, and then cookies and cream.
Speaker 1Oh yum, all right, ari quick man, what have you got?
Speaker 3I think it's the same.
Speaker 1I pulled it, sorry you did. You guys know each other very well. Yeah, very good. Okay again, we've done this before. Ari favourite colour.
Speaker 2Blue.
Speaker 1Oscar Red Red. Do you have a favourite number, Oscar?
Speaker 3Yes.
Speaker 1What's your favourite lucky number or number you like?
Speaker 2Seven.
Speaker 1Seven.
Speaker 2Nine.
Speaker 1Nine. My wife's is nine. She likes nine as well. Okay, do you like cats or dogs better? Cats, even, even. Do you like cats or dogs better?
Speaker 2Cats.
Speaker 3Even.
Speaker 1Even Do you like horses? Eh, 50-50? No, no, okay, if you were in the jungle, what would be the scariest animal you would see?
Speaker 3Snake Tiger. Tiger, I am hiding. I'm going to cut a hole in a tree and just show myself in this, and the tiger can't get itself in.
Speaker 1Hide, yeah, okay, ready, oscar. This is going to take a bit of thinking, you two here, Although, are you noticing, I think, if I said to you, oscar, on the way home, we're going to put Spotify on yeah, which someone over here knows my code to get into my phone, don't you? Don't tell everyone on the air what it is, oh, no, no, no, no no.
Speaker 1All right, Oscar, if I said to you we've got Spotify on the car on the way home, you get to play your favourite song on Spotify. What's your favourite song at the moment on Spotify?
Speaker 3I don't actually have Spotify, but I do have a favourite song. It is Empty Are your Pockets by Juice. Wrld, yeah, it's WRLD, yeah. It only has the one, only one swear word.
Speaker 1You know what. This is the truth, right? I was looking after a boy this morning and you know what he said.
Speaker 2What.
Speaker 1His favourite singer is Juicewold.
Speaker 3That's ridiculous.
Speaker 1That's crazy.
Speaker 3Juicewold died in 2019.
Speaker 1Oh, was it 2019, was it? Yeah, yeah, I thought it was a bit later. Okay, yeah, yeah, but he was saying the same thing. He was telling the same story. Should we play some Juice WRLD on the way home?
Speaker 2Yeah, without the swear words.
Speaker 3Yeah, when the swear word comes up, you just go beep it only does like he's like in the music video you can know like he, which I can see it on Apple Music he's jumping on these balloons and on this balloon that he jumps off of and then he slides across and then he just slides on it.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 3That's when he says the he says F but then ED at the end.
Speaker 1Oh, okay, yeah, okay, yeah. Well, he's one of the rappers or singers who swears a lot of other ones, so it's good. I actually don't mind that in the car because I don't really like much language and stuff in there. All right, a couple of quick questions. You guys are doing too good at this too well. All right, do you like fishing?
Speaker 2Nah, yeah.
Speaker 1Yeah, yeah, what was that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. What was that? Was that yes or no? Yeah?
Hot Dogs and Song Time
Speaker 3When I was younger. No, but yes now, because when I was younger, we were at the Murray River. Okay, I was getting nothing on my kids' bods, so I think it was like my mum or dad. It let me use an adult one. And when I chucked it out into the water I felt this heavy fish, so I reeled it in and it was like the width of this chair.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 3Like this long.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 3And then it was like this tall and I was just like I'm out.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 3And I just sprinted to the front of the houseboat and then went in through the front door of the houseboat. Oh, okay, all right and I think I ran into my room. I can't remember.
Speaker 1Okay, ready. This is the next question. Would you rather summer or winter weather?
Speaker 3Summer because I can go into the pool. Okay, Summer.
Speaker 1Okay. Do you like spicy food? No, 100%. No. Do you like Nutri-Grain?
Speaker 3Yes.
Speaker 1Nutri-Grain, the cereal with a little.
Speaker 2Yeah, that's cereal.
Speaker 1Yeah, I like it. Okay, what's your favorite thing to put on toast?
Speaker 2Butter and cheese. I mean butter and Vegemite.
Speaker 1Okay.
Speaker 3It's only if I'm in the. This is only if I do eat it. Only if I'm in the. This is only if I do eat it. Lettuce no, it's either chicken lettuce and mayo or egg lettuce and mayo.
Speaker 1Oh, very good, it's healthy, that's good.
Speaker 3I love it. My mum is the best at making it. That sounds delicious. All right, Now is there anything else?
Speaker 1You guys are doing well. It's over 20 minutes already. You guys are speaking Now. Is there anything else you guys are doing well. It's over 20 minutes already. You guys are speaking so well. Is there anything else on the podcast? We haven't spoken about that you want to speak about no.
Speaker 3There is one thing, my favourite dinner that my mum has cooked and does cook, and I think she and I'm pretty sure that right now that we're in winter, I think, yeah, she's going to make this fried rice.
Speaker 2Her fried rice is the best.
Speaker 3And the best thing I love about it is when there's leftovers, I get to have it in my lunchbox.
Speaker 1I love leftovers. It's so good, yeah, so good. Well, ari, we've done this before. We've gone and fed the turtles and the ducks, and that too.
Speaker 2Yeah.
Speaker 1So we're going to do it again too. We might take one. And then we might go and buy a soccer ball today. So if you ever want to play soccer I know you're a sore foot so maybe not today but at least we'll have one.
Speaker 3I use my right foot to kick mostly.
Speaker 1Yeah, okay, and that's the one where my tendons, where I hurt my tendons, Okay, and then we might cook up some hot dogs now, yeah, and then after that, if there's time, we can play some little Jenga or some games on the field with a soccer ball. Would you like that? Yep, yep, all right. Well, boys, I just want to thank you for coming on. The show Spoke very well, oscar, your first time, ari, great as usual. Are you going to have a song before you leave or not? Yeah, I nearly forgot. That's terrible. I nearly forgot. That's bad. Sorry, what are we singing today?
Speaker 2I want to get numb and forget you, where I'm from. Just looking in your eyes and looking at the sun, I feel like you're the moon, I feel like I'm the one. I want to get numb, numb, numb, numb.
Speaker 1Unbelievable. Have you been practicing that? That sounds really good, doesn't he? That's unbelievable. Oscar, are you going to sing?
Speaker 3No. I'm not really a singer.
Speaker 1You're the only one still.
Speaker 3Yeah, I usually sing if it's like if I'm on my own in my room.
Speaker 1Yeah, Okay, that's okay. I Seeing if it's like if I'm on my own in my room. Yeah, okay, that's okay, I like doing the shower, because then no one can hear me except for me. Is that weird? Don't tell anybody that it's on the microphone now Everyone can hear, that Is that weird. Do you sing in the shower? No, do you sing in the shower Very rarely. I do feel weird, sorry. Thanks, boys, for coming on the show.