05/04/2026
A note from Ash-
Easter in Bendigo is incredible. It's not accessible for everyone (my son stayed home for the big Sunday easter parade as it's just not doable, but my daughter was excited to go).
I would like to acknowledge of Greater Bendigo for their wonderful accessibility options this year- they are hitting the mark and I don't think there is an easy way to limit big crowds!
Good Friday in the park was excellent, for an hour. We knew there would be a time limit for everyone, so we had to plan ahead around what were the most important things to do (For us, contributing to Bendigo Bricks mosaic and Farmer Darryl's Mobile Animal Farm , who were amazing and honoured our sunflower lanyards).
I want to acknowledge the amount of planning it takes for our families to attend an event like this. Where are the toilets? Are they accessible? Where are the noisy areas? How many regulating food snacks will I need to bring? Have we packed the earmuffs? Do we have some fidgets? Do we need to bring two cars so if one child isn't coping they can go home? Are they going to manage getting back to the car? Is it close enough that if someone has a meltdown I can carry them? Can we bring a wagon with a shade over it if it all gets too much for one of them? I feel you.
One cool kid and I went to the day parade today (other cool kid decided it would be too hard a sensory experience, and I was proud of them for that). During the parade I was overcome with Autistic joy that almost made me cry (IYKYK) around the sense of community and how incredible the community groups are in Bendigo. We saw marching bands, lion dancers, the most incredible cultural dancing, drama groups and families joining businesses in their floats. The sense of community was so strong- people out there getting together and doing cool things!
It also made me feel a bit sad.
It made me think about how- for neurodivergent families, or families with members with disability, it can be really hard to access this feeling of community. The feeling of having a place you can go with your whole family on a weeknight and knowing that everyone will enjoy themselves, be OK and be accepted and embraced. To feel like you can take your kids somewhere without judgement.
Treehouse is looking at different directions that might allow us to be more community embedded. I would love to hear from everyone - Do you have safe spaces or cool organisations you can access in our region you feel you can belong? Let's promote them! How do you get a feeling of community? What would you envisage a safe place for your family to connect with others would look like?
How can we make this happen for those who might feel isolated, or unsure?
(Also, cool kid in the photo is well informed and consented to using his photo with a chicken for this post ;) )
