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
Birthday Reflections and Growing Up
Nine candles on a chocolate crown cake, Lego temples meticulously assembled in record time, and a Minecraft rug positioned perfectly between bed and table - these are the treasures that matter in the world of a newly-minted nine-year-old.
In this heartwarming conversation with young Arie, we journey through the landscape of childhood milestones and everyday moments that shape a child's perspective. From the excitement of birthday presents to the practical observations about a father's new "spacious" home (where privacy in the bathroom is noted with particular appreciation), Arie offers unfiltered insights that remind us how differently children experience their world.
The discussion takes us through life's transitions - moving homes, school frustrations, and even the poignant loss of a beloved pet cat that had his father "crying in the shower." Through it all, Arie's matter-of-fact delivery and unexpected humor shine through, especially when definitively ranking his food preferences (a firm "yes" to pork and cheese sticks; an emphatic "no" to cabbage and blueberries).
Perhaps most striking is Arie's candid admission about school being challenging because he "always has to do work" - a reminder that the structured demands of education can feel overwhelming to young minds, even as they recognize the value of teachers who provide safe spaces during difficult days.
This conversation captures the essence of childhood - the joys, frustrations, observations, and growth - all delivered through the refreshingly honest lens of a nine-year-old boy who's still figuring out his place in an adult world. For parents, educators, or anyone who spends time with children, these insights offer valuable reminders about what truly matters in a child's developing world.
What would the children in your life say if given the space to share their unfiltered thoughts? Listen, laugh, and perhaps gain a new perspective on the world through younger eyes.
Well, welcome to an audition of Beyond the Plan, and we're here on behalf of EngageU and I've got my little mate Ari here again. How are you?
Speaker 1:Good.
Speaker 2:Where are we?
Speaker 1:At the library.
Speaker 2:At the library, at your school again? Yeah, do you like these little podcasts at school time? Yeah, it's good, isn't it? Get to pull out and get talked. Now, how are you feeling today? Out of five, five, you're five out of five, you, how are you feeling today? Out of five, five, you're five out of five. You're feeling really good. What are you thankful for today?
Speaker 1:That I got my presents.
Speaker 2:Well, let's talk about that, because you haven't told me about this yet, but I do know you had a birthday on Saturday, is that right? Yes, and you turned 19. Is that correct? No, 18? No 29?
Speaker 1:No Three no 18?. No 29?. No 3?
Speaker 2:No, oh, you're in grade 3 though, is that right? Yeah, 9? Yes, you turned 9. Now can I ask you some questions about your birthday? Yeah, I don't know if I missed anything. You can tell me Ready, yeah, did you have a birthday cake? Yes, did it have 9 candles? Yes, did it have nine candles? Yes, was it in the shape of something?
Speaker 1:King.
Speaker 2:A king Crown, a crown. Is it because you're the king of the castle?
Speaker 1:No.
Speaker 2:How come was it? Why was it in the shape of a king you?
Speaker 1:mean the candles.
Speaker 2:Oh, the candles was like in a king shape, was it? Yeah, and was the cake round or square Round? And what flavour was it? Was it like just a sponge Chocolate? Was it good? Yeah, they had like chocolate icing as well. Yeah, did you have lots of pieces?
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Did you have a party or anything? No, so were you at mum's place or dad's place, or did you get to go to both places that day?
Speaker 1:Both places.
Speaker 2:Hang on, let me ask a question about that then. I'm just thinking about that. Does that mean you had presents at mum's and presents at dad's? No way Should we talk about some of the presents you got. Yeah, all right, who do you want to start with? Dad's presents or Mum's presents? Dad's, all right. Now hang on, let's set the scene. Let's talk about how did it start. Did you start at Mum's or Dad's that morning when you woke up? Dad's, okay. So you woke up at Dad's, yeah. And then, as soon as you woke up, did you get presents straight away?
Speaker 1:No.
Speaker 2:What did you do?
Speaker 1:I had to beg the no Wait.
Speaker 2:You woke up Saturday morning, it was your birthday at Dad's and the first thing you did was Get my presents. Ah, you did. All right, let's talk about the presents. A very lucky day, I got you some presents. What were you did? All right, let's talk about the presents.
Speaker 1:Very lucky day, I got you some presents.
Speaker 2:What were they? Can you remember Lego sets? Ooh, anything in particular. Was it like tractors or dinosaurs?
Speaker 1:It was a temple.
Speaker 2:Ooh, have you started it?
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Have you finished it? You finished it already. Yeah, have you finished it? You've finished it already. Yeah, what Are you a genius? Yeah, are you amazing at doing Lego? Yeah, all right, so you've got Lego. What else? Rug, oh nice, from Mum's Place. Oh, so, mum's Place, you've got a rug.
Speaker 1:Yeah and I. You got a rug, yeah and I got a keyboard and mouse.
Speaker 2:Oh, is it a wireless mouse?
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I got two $25 Robux gift cards.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1:And I got two actually Robux gift cards $10 and $25. What do they do? They give you Robux gift cards $10 and $25.
Speaker 2:What do they do?
Speaker 1:They give you Robux.
Speaker 2:Oh, and do they give you like special powers or things in the game?
Speaker 1:No, it is kind of like that. But what it does is you can steal from people in Grow A Garden.
Speaker 2:Oh, is that a good thing? No, it's not a good thing.
Speaker 1:My mum will ban me.
Speaker 2:She'll ban you if you see you doing those kind of things. Yeah, and my brother will especially tell on me. Oh well, what happens when they hear this podcast now and they hear this? Go back and delete it and go. Beep, beep, beep, beep. This podcast now and they hear this? Go back and delete it and go beep, beep, beep, beep, beep and delete it out. Yeah, all right. And did you get any other presents? Oh my God, lilo and Stitch Halloween. Oh, the costume, was it?
Speaker 1:That's cool. No, it was a. You know those things that come in like a packet Mm-hmm. Those things that I got was Lilo and Stitch.
Speaker 2:Oh, okay.
Speaker 1:But it's kind of like a mini fig.
Speaker 2:Okay, was it cool? Yeah, nice, what was a present that, when you opened it up the most, you went? Yes, this is exactly what I wanted. What was one of the best presents? You got E-scooter. Did you actually get an E-scooter? No, are you tricking me? Yes, you've got a good sense of humour. Do you know what that means? No, it means you can have a joke and laugh about yourself as well. I thought you did get an e-scooter. Then, did you get an e-bike?
Speaker 1:No, did you get an e-car. I was going to have a mountain bike.
Speaker 2:Oh, that's right, but I couldn't have it, okay. So what was your best present, then that you got, overall, my biggest?
Speaker 1:is what was your best present then that you got overall?
Speaker 2:My biggest is Lego. Was that your biggest present?
Speaker 1:My rug.
Speaker 2:Your rug. Yeah, what's on the rug? Minecraft, minecraft. And is it on the floor near your bed?
Speaker 1:The floor In the middle of my bed and my table.
Speaker 2:Oh nice. So it's a big rug, is it nice and warm in wintertime? You put your feet on it. Do you ever wipe your dirty feet on there? No, I washed them before. If your brother came home one day and had dirty feet and he rubbed his feet on your mat, on your rug, would that make you upset him? One day and had dirty feet and he rubbed his feet on your mat, on your rug, would that make you upset? Yeah, how is your brother? Is he good? Yeah, I haven't seen him for a while.
Speaker 1:Have you seen his ankle?
Speaker 2:What's wrong with his ankle?
Speaker 1:You know how it used to be hurt.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he used to be in that little crutch thing. Yeah, he had a little walking stick for a while. He doesn't have it. Is it better now? His ankles are good. That's good. He must be happy about that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and he can run again.
Speaker 2:Oh, that's good, Now he can chase after you.
Speaker 1:No, Well, this is the scariest thing about Lucas he had crutches.
Speaker 2:Is Lucas, your friend.
Speaker 1:No, he's my classmate.
Speaker 2:Okay, he's got crutches now.
Speaker 1:No, he used to, now he doesn't.
Speaker 2:Oh, what did he do to his leg?
Speaker 1:Oh, he fell off a motorbike.
Speaker 2:Did he break his leg, just sprained his ankle.
Speaker 1:No, he got stitches.
Speaker 2:Oh, that's no good. Have you had stitches before? Never, no, they're not fun. Yeah, I've had a fair few stitches. They're not fun.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I had some in my eyebrow once playing football, had like nine stitches across here, big black eyes Everyone thought I got punched in the face. It was from a football boot hit me when I was playing football, cut right across, oh my God. So it wasn't fun when they put needles in there and stitched up my eyebrow. Oh, but the doctors do a good job these days, don't? They Help you with the stitches and stuff. All right, well, let's talk about what else happened on your birthday. What else did you do? So you had your dad's in the morning yeah, presents there. And then what time about did you go to mum's? Was it around lunchtime, seven to eight At night time or morning?
Speaker 1:Morning.
Speaker 2:That's early. She had breakfast at mum's. No, I had breakfast at dad's. Okay, I woke up at like about five. You were excited, weren't you? You were excited to turn nine. Did you wake everyone up?
Speaker 1:No.
Speaker 2:Were they already awake? It was only dad and me. Oh, okay, dad was already awake. Oh, was he? I was going to wake mum. Now are you in your new house with dad? Yes, I was going to wake him up. Now are you in your new house with that? Yes, oh, is that good? It's amazing, is it? Why is it amazing? This is cool. Why is it amazing?
Speaker 1:Because it is spacious.
Speaker 2:Oh, that's a big word. What's that mean? That means it's got like space in there, like aliens from outer space.
Speaker 1:No, what's that mean? What's spacious mean. What's spacious mean.
Speaker 2:It means you got more space. Oh, so lots of room, yeah, oh, that's good. So it's bigger than the last place. Wow, do you have your own room now? Wow, all right, so that's amazing. What else about it is amazing? It's spacious.
Speaker 1:I don't have to go to the toilet and dad watches me.
Speaker 2:You've got your own toilet. Yeah, but I'm separate now, that's a good thing, isn't it? Yeah, you can have your own privacy. Yeah, that's a good one. That's really important. That's good. You're making me laugh over here. Anything else? No, that's it?
Speaker 1:Yeah, is it, and it's pretty close to mum's now?
Speaker 2:Yes, it's in Banio. How far a drive is it? About how many minutes If I was to pick you up from dad's and take you to mum's?
Speaker 1:Three kilometres.
Speaker 2:Is that all that's pretty close so what about five minutes drive?
Speaker 1:Dad's used one used to dad's Sappord Street.
Speaker 2:One Sapswood Street, yeah.
Speaker 1:He actually once drove there when he was actually living at the old place Okay, when he wasn't living there anymore Okay. Now here's a question, and the Sapsford Street was 10 minutes.
Speaker 2:Oh, a 10-minute drive, so it was further away. Do you like like? I know you said you like the house because it's more spacious with that now compared to Sapsford Street. But where you live, like the location, like where you live, is that better too. Yeah, yeah, is it close to shops or anything like that? What's it close to? It's close to Benyo Station. Oh, that's cool, and that's our station forever. Yeah, well, it's close to mum's and close to dad's now yeah.
Speaker 1:He's in bed now.
Speaker 2:I bet he's happy there now. Yeah, that's good. Dad deserves to be happy. Now here's a question. Yeah, Is there still boxes to unpack at dad's? No, no way. Are you saying it's all done? Didn't he just move in on Friday? Didn't he just move in on Friday? Didn't he just move in before the weekend? Just before your birthday? Saturday, Sunday, Monday. In three days he's unpacked everything. Did you help him? Mate? That's a quick unpack. That's good. Did you have to get a big truck to carry all the gear over?
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, obviously, because everyone needs a truck to get over.
Speaker 2:Well, some people just use a trailer. They've got a four-wheel drive, oh oh. But sometimes you have to go like the big things like fridges and beds. Sometimes you have to get a truck still for it, don't you yeah. Yeah, did you hop in the back of the truck? No, no, no, no. You hop in the back and say I need to go to Dad's too. Chuck me in the back, please, and tie me in. No, okay, fine, you have to put your seatbelt on.
Speaker 2:What was the hardest thing to pack, do you think? The fridge? Yeah, yeah, is there anything you'll miss about Sapsford Street? Dad, thomas used to live there. Oh, one of your friends, no, thomas, my cat. Oh, okay, yeah, but this is a sad thing. We can talk about sad things. He died, he died. Did he run away?
Speaker 1:No, he had a heart thing that came to his leg and he couldn't walk.
Speaker 2:Oh, so he got paralysed. That's sad, isn't it, when you lose a pet, because they feel like part of your family, don't they? Yeah, yeah, I mean sad for everybody, but it's sad for Dad too.
Speaker 1:He was crying in the shower.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, it just means Dad cares. That's a good thing, and sometimes it's good to have a cry to get all your feelings out to. Yeah. Yeah, guess what happened to our cats. They used to run away, I don't know why, like they were well fed and I looked after, we were nice to them, but every now and then we lived on the country, out on the farm and next thing they'd be gone on. So I don't know. And my sisters had cats. I've got two sisters and they had cats and they used to get upset when they'd go away and not come back. They were cat people and I was a dog person. Do you like dogs or cats better? Cats Wrong answer, d minus Only joking. You like cats better? Yeah, but don't you have dogs at mum's place? Yeah, but they're super dirty, are they? Hmm, is dad allowed to have cats or dogs at his new place? Yeah, is he going to have cats or dogs at his place?
Speaker 1:He's going to have Chester.
Speaker 2:What's Chester, my dog oh.
Speaker 1:Because we have a backyard finally. Oh, dad's got a backyard finally.
Speaker 2:Oh, dad, you have a backyard, do you? That's cool.
Speaker 1:So we can ram around and guess what.
Speaker 2:What.
Speaker 1:This is the fun thing about Chester.
Speaker 2:What's that? What's Chester do?
Speaker 1:He gets his own doggy house?
Speaker 2:No way, there's a doggy house in the backyard. Is it big enough for you to sleep in there?
Speaker 1:No, Only small for a dog, is it?
Speaker 2:What's it look like? Is it like a kennel? Yeah, has it got like a little sort of house.
Speaker 1:I can't really explain it.
Speaker 2:Okay, has it got a roof? Yeah, has it got a little doggy door? It has to get its paws open and open the door up. No, it doesn't. Well, he just walks straight in.
Speaker 1:He just walks straight in.
Speaker 2:He leaves the door open. What about strangers? What have you got? Other dogs visiting him? Okay, I didn't think about that. I don't think they probably can't get out the back, can they? Isn't he fenced in?
Speaker 1:There's a person underneath us.
Speaker 2:Okay, it's a two-unit, I get it Upstairs and downstairs, so hang on. Does that mean you both have to share the backyard? So the person are you upstairs? Yeah, so the person downstairs had to say it was okay to have a dog in the backyard too. Like, do you share the same backyard? Do you know what I mean? Like, the people downstairs, is it their backyard too? Yeah, yeah, okay, that's cool. I wish they had their own. Yeah, so you have your own backyard. At least you've got some space now.
Speaker 2:You know, back at the old place at Sapsford Street, did you ever go to that park across the road? No, did you, because I told you the first time I met you and picked you up from there. You know, that's where I used to be. I used to live there for university. I was at like number 13 or something, just up the road from you. So you know, when you go across the road and you go back up the hill not towards the corner shop, but up the hill there's a park and I was like about three or four houses up there and I stayed there when I was going to university. I used to live on the same street that you and your dad used to live on. How weird is that? Very, I don't think you should catch a train to Northgate Station, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, there you go Well.
Speaker 2:Dad's moved Ari's a year older. How's everything else going? Good School Not too. Oh, you're being honest today. That's good. Well, it's not too good, but I mean it's good that you're being honest. What's going hard with school Medium? It's just going okay. Are you getting frustrated sometimes? Yeah, Sometimes I get frustrated too.
Speaker 1:Are you getting frustrated sometimes? Yeah, sometimes I get frustrated too. I get frustrated at my dog, because he keeps barking at everything.
Speaker 2:Oh, does he At home? Yeah, and he poops everywhere. Oh, who has to pick up the pee-pee poop?
Speaker 1:Me and Oscar.
Speaker 2:Oh smelly. Sometimes all the time, but sometimes me and Oscar, oh, smelly, sometimes all the time but sometimes me and Oscar, if that turns about picking up, do you use a plastic bag or do you have a proper pooper scooper thing?
Speaker 1:No, I use a towel.
Speaker 2:A towel.
Speaker 1:Not a like a toilet roll.
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah, so you can throw it straight out. Yeah, and you have to wash your hands. No, you don't wash your hands, I do. Oh my gosh, I thought you said you don't wash your hands. That wouldn't be very hygienic, would it? Yeah, so your dog makes you frustrated at home because he barks and he poops everywhere. What makes you frustrated at school? That I always have to do work. But you're getting better, aren't you? Yeah, yeah, and so you've got three full days now and two half days, I heard at school now, each week, you go home earlier on Thursday and Friday, is that right? Yeah, I don't do speech anymore. Okay, okay.
Speaker 1:What are the good things about school that I get to see my teacher?
Speaker 2:She had a baby, yet no. Oh, I was talking to Miss Smedy today. She'll tell me some good things about you too. She seems nice looking after you as well. It's a safe space you can go to, hey, if you're having a bad day. Yeah, that's good. Now you look tired today. What did you have for breakfast this morning? Nothing, excuse me, d minus what. Are you laughing when I give?
Speaker 2:you all these bad results for no breakfast I got spaghetti Spaghetti for breakfast, or from like out of the tin, yeah, do you heat it up? No, oh, leftover, yeah, yum, who made that? Dad, mum, I mean Nan Dad made spaghetti bolognese. No, just spaghetti, what?
Speaker 1:Meatballs? No, he only makes steak.
Speaker 2:and rice, oh yum, and pasta. And that's where the spaghetti came from. Yeah, you're going to hear something really disgusting. Yeah, you're not allowed to laugh at this, you ready? Yeah, don't laugh. When I was younger before I played a game of football, I used to eat a tin of spaghetti straight from the can. What does that look like? That looks like you going. That's disgusting, gary. Yeah, would that be disgusting. Would you ever do that? I thought it gave me energy, so I ate it straight from the tin. And my sisters used to say what are you doing?
Speaker 2:That's disgusting. I'd say it's nice. You want to try some? They said no. I'd say fine, it's all mine. Do you like baked beans? No Sausages, yes Steak.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:Mashed potato, no, actually, yeah. Bananas, no. D minus, oh, I'm sorry. Apples, yes, pears, no. Carrots, yes. Pumpkin, no, carrots, yes, pumpkin, no. I didn't like pumpkin when I was younger either. I like it now. What about Brussels sprouts? Have you tried them? Little tiny cabbages no, I love them. Most kids hate them. Mangoes yes, definitely. Oh, you like strawberries, yes. Blueberries, no, oh, don't like them. What about rock melon, no. Watermelon, yes. What about peaches, yes. What about sweet potato, no. What about sweet potato, no. What about beans, no. It feels like you don't like many vegetables, yeah. Pasta, yes. Chicken.
Speaker 1:No, I mean yes.
Speaker 2:Pork, yes. Bacon yes, it's a bit like pork, isn't it? All these things, all these foods, yeah, okay, what's your worst food ever? If you saw it and you went, you looked on your plate. I'm not eating that. No matter what you say, mum or dad, I'm not eating that. What is it? Cabbage, oh, you don't like cabbage. No, no, why is that? Because it just feels funny, yeah, Do you like lettuce, though?
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:You like lettuce? Yeah. What's your favourite food? If they put it on your plate, you're like I'm definitely eating that. And you can't say lollies or chocolate If it's on your plate. Chocolate no, you can't say chocolate. Just kidding, there's your sense of humour. Again. You love pork the most. What's in your lunchbox today for lunch? Do you have like little things in your lunchbox, like when I had kids your age, I used to give them things like cheese sticks. Do you like cheese sticks? Yeah. Do you like the baby bell ones, the round ones, the cheese no, just the cheese stick ones. Yeah, the stringers.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, definitely.
Speaker 2:Sorry, you're laughing at that. Do you like yogurt? Yes, so if you had cheese stick and yogurt in your lunchbox, that'd be good. And some pork? What about sandwiches? Yeah. Vegemite, no, no. Peanut butter, yes, oh, very good. Okay, I'm just trying to think of what you like for lunch now. All right. Well, anything else you want to talk about? No, how long have you spoken for today? I don't know. Have a guess 11. 7-11?, nope, higher. Higher 17?. 17?, higher 20?, as in 2-0, 20.
Speaker 1:Higher 21?, higher 22?, higher 23?, higher 24?. Yes, 24 minutes. Well done 23. Higher 24.
Speaker 2:Yes, 24 minutes. Well done, proud of you. Always love having a chat with you. If in doubt, at school, if something goes wrong, you're going to go and Tell the teacher. Yeah, yeah, and they can look after you because there's safe people around here. Hey, yeah, yeah. And congratulations on turning nine. Do you know, next year you're going to be like Ten. You'll be two figures, one and zero. Does that mean you get two cakes, one in the shape of the one and one in the shape of the zero? You have two cakes. That would be good, wouldn't it? Yeah, two chocolate cakes. All right, mate. Well, thanks for joining us on the podcast and I look forward to talking to you next week. Bye, bye all.