Cérge

"As I have hereditary nerve deafness I would normally feel a little bit anxious about going to a brand new venue. I would normally feel frustrated if there was a communication barrier, or hopeless at having to rely on my husband to communicate for me.I have a two year old who is also Hard of Hearing and I want her to be able to learn how to communicate and see inclusion not frustration.In past experiences, if the first person I deal with has a thick accent, I can be there for ages with us trying to work each other out. It’s time consuming, frustrating and sometimes embarrassing for us both. I had put in my “Must Know” that I needed the customer service person to not have an accent please.When I arrived the first person who served me had an accent. I pointed to the sign and said Cérge app, and he immediately grabbed the Manager as they knew I was arriving and that was their plan.Other times, I normally just divert to my husband and let him talk for me which is irritating and not sustainable long term as I want to be able to communicate for myself.When we arrived at Stromlo Leisure Centre, the Manager, Bianca looked after us. She spoke clearly to me, introduced herself, showed us where to go, and went through what the different pools were.It was such a nice feeling to feel like we were looked after and not a bother. We were able to get what we needed seamlessly. Bianca was professional and kind.We would certainly normally visit these kinds of venues as we do take our daughter to swimming lessons and as mentioned above, if there is a communication barrier, I let my husband talk for the both of us instead.If Cérge was more available, it would certainly make things easier for our family, especially in areas where it's normally a noisy environment.We had a wonderful time at Stromlo and it is a great place, so many things to do! I felt quite happy leaving and would happily drive out of our way to come here again for the simple fact I felt included.I would love for Cérge to be in some local Canberra cafes, even the local clubs (Vikings, Southern Cross Club, etc) that would make so much difference to me and my friends Looking forward to our next visit!"

Hey Cèrge,I would like to say a big thank you for inviting me to be apart of this app and community. Today was my first time visiting the Tewantin RSL for lunch, the staff are amazing so helpful and friendly they made me feel welcome and the food was so good I will give them a 10/10#rsl #hospitality #inclusion #customerservice Tewantin Noosa RSL Noosa Shire Council #brisbane2032 #accessibletourism

My life story is a long one and I don’t need to go into all the details, but I have been diabetic from aged 7. I had a sub arachnid haemorrhage (SAH) two years ago. I have an ABI which caused a stroke and I still don't have full mobility. Because of this I tire quickly when walking. I'm immune suppressed from a double transplant of kidney and pancreas therefore I get anxiety with big crowds. I won’t even start with the 3 emergency c sections. That’s for another day! Due to my immunity choosing adventures outside is always good for me, fresh air is a good medicine and less germs. However,I need to plan my days around my mobility and the access to a venue. I use a walker at times, big days I use my wheelchair. I make the most out of life and enjoy trying new things. It can just be exhausting trying to plan for support workers, access, people staring, people assuming. I also have trouble finding the right words and need people not to slowly talk to me like I’m stupid but also not talk at me at a million miles an hour. Just please have a conversation with me and give me a chance to respond. The world can be so fast and especially when trying to process new information. I saw the social media stories about Cérge and wasn’t sure whether it was for me. I checked it out online and asked some questions to get clarity from the Cérge team. I don’t like to stand out but I do like to get involved in life. I liked that Cérge seemed like a wide variety of people were using it and that you could literally just access the information and go about your day. I like that I’m in control. A support worker is completely different to using Cérge.Using Cérge is like being able to support myself fully because I have the information before I go and then use support for the things I’ve already decided I’d like to do not the other way around. I browsed through the different venues and started to feel very excited, there is an access guide and visual story plus a virtual tour. I get more information about the venue online than even being at the venue itself and missing stuff hahah I chose to visit Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. What a day. Wow! I find it really hard when ppl look at you and see the disability and treat you different. Here I didn't feel that. I felt like everyone else enjoying the animals and the nature. Oh the nature! I saw so many koalas, saw a Tassie devil growl…. And yawn. They aren’t terrifying at all! Hehe I got to feed kangaroos and wallabies. The paths are awesome, heaps of tables for me to wheel up to! We’re cruising along and I saw the dingos being walked. I got to get up close and personal as the handler said it was good training for them to be around wheelchairs. The encounter with the Dingo was pure timing and chance. My lucky day :) Cérge, thank you! Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, thank you. I am so full of adventure and life and feel excited about all the venues I can now try out and add to my life and LIVING! YES!

I use a mobility scooter for all of my outings so it is vitally important that I have access to information about different places. I can’t tell you the amount of times I get caught where I can’t access a grocery aisle, a corner store, a clothing store or a chemist. Things like the size of the aisles, the doorways can all mean I can’t access them. Not to mention not being able to reach things on shelves. My partner is also my carer and so when I heard about Cérge we had a chat and decided to see what all the fuss was about. I don’t like to make a bother for people, I just want to be able to access the places I need and want to enjoy my life. Seeing Mudgereeba Aquatic Centre on the Cérge website was great, so close to me and a place I wanted to visit for hydrotherapy. My partner and I sat and looked through the Visual Story and Access Guide to make sure I was, 1. Find suitable parking 2. Able to get inside from the carpark 3. Get in the doorway 4. Have somewhere I can get changed 5. Get into the pool 6. Water at a temp that is ok for my hydrotherapy 7. Enjoy myself with minimal anxiety After looking through the tools I felt happy and equipped with the information to be able to attend. Abby was the staff member who greeted me when I arrived and she was so welcoming and helpful. She was a breath of fresh air and had the whole situation under control and we felt very at ease. I use pool noodles and enjoyed such a great swim. You need to take your own equipment to the pool which is pretty standard. We felt very accomplished and I would love to return to this pool! It’s so good for my body to move but it’s even better for the mindset! I really enjoyed myself, thank you everyone :)

I was a competitive swimmer when I was younger, it was my happy place. Life happened, kids happened and it felt like a lifetime ago.For the past two years I’ve battled with a disease called Small Fibre Neuropathy (SFN) which makes it extremely hard to do everyday tasks. SFN is extremely painful.I have two boys, I’m tough, I’m a positive person and I’m the last person who would think of myself as having a disability or barrier. It’s just who I am. It took about 12 months for doctors to work out why I had such excruciating pain so often. I could barely walk. Still, there are days I struggle. I hate talking about the struggle because it’s not who I am. I just want to be able to feel good for my boys.I have followed Cérge for a while after seeing a really uplifting story and although I didn’t think its was for me, because again, I don’t feel like I have a barrier. I realised that actually I could try this app to give staff a heads up on what’s going on for me. Cérge seems like it’s for everyone who just needs something a bit extra or different and I didn’t feel like it was going to make me feel like a burden.I saw on the website that Cérge was at the Nerang pool which is reasonably local to me. I was nervous even thinking about exercising when standing to cook dinner causes me pain. How would I ever exercise? But, I don’t know, something made me feel like it was worth the attempt. Maybe Cérge was my little motivator friend.I took a look at the website and got a good idea of the pool and the amount of stairs etc. u was pretty nervous about being sore after swimming, and to be honest, I am .
But, my heart is full! My energy is back and my vibe about having something for me is fuelled!I love swimming, I always have! It’s been 8 years since I even dipped a toe in. I was terrified to go back, always too busy, always too much in. Nothing like a bit of pain to motivate you hey.
I do have to say, if Cérge wasn’t there and I didn’t feel like the pool was a safe space I wouldn’t have tried and another 8 years would easily pass.“Swimming” is now booked in to my calendar every week! This is going to help me on so many levels!
 

We avoid the shops like the plague as Henry (autistic) normally is overwhelmed within minutes of arriving. To be honest sometimes even before we’ve made it through the car park to get to the shop.This happened a few weeks ago when we had to leave mid shopping experience, I thought we would be ok but it was a disaster. There were boxes everywhere, the store was loud as the music was playing through the loudspeaker and Henry had had enough before we even managed to get half way through our list. We left. Again.I don’t know how many times we have had to abandon cart mid shop, mid car park or just plain avoid shopping altogether. When people say “I’ll just pop into the shop on the way home” because it’s just something they can do. I think to myself I can’t imagine that ease as that is not anything like our life.We notified them via the Cérge app an hour before arriving with our must haves - low noise and light levels if possible and plenty of space for Henry to walk, hold (swing around ) a basket and for the pram if required.Henry is autistic and has a walk which requires more space and I have a pram for him as he can tire easily. We entered the store and within minutes had a lovely woman come up to us and explain that they had received the Cérge notification and could see the must haves and if there’s anything further she could do for us to let her know. I was impressed immediately.The music was off and it was quiet with the staff members moving anything out of the way as we approached and giving us a smile, making sure we could find everything and not showing any bother about it. Do you know how good it felt to not feel judged or like we were annoying people!They also did not stare at his AFOs and spoke to him rather than ignoring him like we experience in other places. This was such an incredible and beautiful extra. Instead of “just avoid, don’t look” which I think sometimes is because people don’t know what to do and I get that. But gee it was nice to feel like a part of the community having chats whilst shopping and Henry happy.My anxiety was the lowest it’s ever been whilst shopping! Henry was getting a little overwhelmed by the end of our shop and Jodi (Manager) opened up another register for us so that we could move through faster, including the kids in the process and again asking if there was anything else we needed help finding.So good! This kind of inclusive and also intuitive experience was so amazing! It was a wonderful experience and definitely a place we will shop again! I didn’t feel the usual stress I do when Henry started showing signs of being overwhelmed (which was right at the end this time, not the start!) as I knew we had the support of the staff members and this was such an incredible feeling of comfort.Henry has already asked when we are going again!!Wow!!Wow!!Wow!!