Lauren Killen is losing her sight, but what she is gaining along the way is a fierce determination to ensure inclusive sports and recreational activities exist for people with disability in regional areas. The 38-year-old has played and volunteered in multiple codes of sport, including netball and tennis. She has also been a pony club instructor and judge for many years and used to compete as an equestrian rider.
This year Lauren has started playing Blind Tennis with Tennis Australia and completed a level one sports trainer course to do first aid for the junior rugby league club that her sons’ play at.
Taking after their mother, Lauren’s three children all play sport at representative level.
They also have retinitis pigmentosa, the degenerative eye disease she, her father and her grandmother have. It’s the love and devotion Lauren has for Alivia, Mark and Logan that’s fuelling her desire to drive inclusive change in and around Warwick, a small country town in the Southern Downs Region.
“I am extremely passionate about making sure there are sport and recreation activities for people with disabilities in rural and regional areas,” Lauren said.
“My wish is to become a role model and voice for people with disability in my community to help them overcome any challenges or barriers they face when trying to take part in sport.
“I also want to make sure children with disability are given opportunities to take part in sports and recreational activities that they love, not just those that are accessible to them.”
Lauren, who is legally blind, was last year supported to access the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) through Carers Queensland, the state’s largest NDIS Partner in the Community.
The NDIS funds support workers for Lauren to help with cleaning, cooking and other essential daily tasks, with the mother saying the assistance is “absolutely fantastic.”
Lauren also has an occupational therapist helping to maintain her independence for as long as possible.
“I think when you’ve got retinitis pigmentosa you don’t realise how much you rely on feeling and how bad my sight actually is,” Lauren said.
“I make such a mess in the kitchen, it’s like a bomb has gone off after I’ve done some cooking, and prior to NDIS supports I did have a few accidents.”
After her marriage ended about five years ago, Lauren worked three jobs to take care of her children, quietly battling away as a single parent.
Because she had been so independent and self-sufficient for so long, Lauren said it was hard to accept NDIS help, particularly having someone come into the family home.
“Learning to accept help wasn’t easy at first and having a stranger in the house was weird for the kids to start with but now they’re getting used to it and it’s definitely helping our family,” she said.
A few years ago Lauren got a job at an optometrist, which she loved until her own vision problems deteriorated and conversations she was having with older people on the verge of losing their licences became triggering for her.
Lauren now works full time at non-profit Best Employment in Warwick where she uses her life experience as a person with disability to help clients develop their skills and confidence to seek out employment opportunities. Because Lauren is no longer legally allowed to drive, Lauren uses her NDIS supports to access a support worker and uses taxis so she can travel at night to watch her children compete.
To keep her own mental and physical health in check, Lauren stays active, running a carefully mapped out course and going for the occasional horse ride.
Growing up with poor vision meant wearing thick glasses and Lauren says she was an easy target for bullies in her small rural town of Inglewood.
“It was an absolute nightmare, and horse riding was the first thing that I was good at and it was my life,” she said.
“I’ve actually just started riding again and I’m hope to one day get back into competitions. What I’d really love is to eventually make it to the Paralympics.”
Lauren admits getting back on the saddle isn’t as easy now her vision has deteriorated but says she’s at her “absolute happiest” on a horse.
“When I’m on my horse I don’t feel blind because I’m so busy thinking about what this horse is doing and how I’m going to do this and do that, thinking back to all the skills that I’ve learned over my lifetime,” she said.
Lauren believes staying active is incredibly important for people with disability, saying for her it keeps her anxiety at bay.
“Providing sport and recreational opportunities for people with disability should not be an afterthought. I feel like it’s as important as homecare and should not be seen as a luxury,” she said. It’s Lauren’s passion for creating change that saw her jump at the chance to work with Carers Queensland on its Inclusive Sports and Recreation project as a member of the organisation’s Beyond the Sidelines Reference Group.
As one of Australia’s largest NDIS Partners in the Community, Carers Queensland has a key role to play in driving inclusive change in communities.
Its Sport and Rec project aims to increase the representation and participation of people with disability in sport and recreation, both on and off the playing field, in the lead up to the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Lauren is one of eight people with disability who will be instrumental in helping the organisation to identify best practices in sport and recreation for people with disability and help remove barriers.
“When I was losing my sight I was told ‘you can’t do this; you can’t do that’ and it was just so frustrating,” she said.
“So now it’s my mission to try and help people like me to access sports that make them happy because there’s nothing like it,” she said.
“And it’s not just about team sports, I want to help people with disability pursue individual recreational activities like fishing, I love fishing but these days I can’t just hop in the car and go.
“I feel like we also definitely need to have a conversation about local sport in rural areas being more inclusive.
“The same goes for people with disability volunteering, I think there should be an avenue for those who want to get involved on the sidelines.” Lauren said there was an all-abilities touch team in Toowoomba but for many people with disability, including herself, it was out of reach to get there. She said in areas such as Inglewood, Warwick and Goondiwindi there were few sporting opportunities for people with disability.
“We need to make it so people can just go to their local sports club and have a go in some way,” she said.
“This is particularly important in kid’s sport in rural areas where numbers are dropping dramatically, with areas such as Texas and Millmerran not having enough players to make up a rugby league team.” Lauren says she is feeling optimistic and positive about the future and wants to harness her resilience and strength to help people in regional and rural areas who live with disability.
“You just keep going, don’t you. I just want to get better and better and use what I’ve been through to help inspire other people,” she said.
“I’ve heard others speak and it’s motivated me to be a person who inspires and encourage others to live life to the fullest regardless of what life throws at them.”
