What Self-Determination Means to Me – James Carey

James Carey shares his story showing self determination in action, defining what self determination means to him.

Learn more about the Young Leaders with Intellectual Disability project here.

Transcript

James: I’m born and bred a stage actor and I’m very proud to say I’m a good stage actor, too.

Director: Come on in, James.

James: Coming.

Director: How are you today?

James: Good. How are you?

Director: I’m great, thank you. What role are you going to audition for today?

James: The dentist.

Director: Great. All right. Give me a read of the dialogue when you’re ready.

James: Hey, ladies, which way to 1313 Skid Row? No, no. I’m not here to buy posies, girls. I’m here to pick up my date.

Director: Good.

James: Good afternoon. My name is James Carey and I’m 19 and a half years old. And this documentary is about me. My dream is to be in a professional production of a musical or of a play.

James’ mum: What is it you want to be, James?

James: The king in the Grim Tales production with Acting Up drama.

James’ mum: Okay. Do you know a bit about what the king does yet?

James: No, I just know I’ve always wanted to be a king.

James’ mum: Well, that’s a good point. What I think is a good idea, if we read a bit about the king.

James: So, I’ll sit down with my mom or I’ll go on social media and I’ll find a musical or a show or a TV job what I’m interested into applying for.

James’ mum: I’m going to set a test to see which of you is worthy.

James: I’m going to set a test to see which of you is worthy.

James: I’ll send them an email if I can do the job and I’ll ask, “Hey, my name’s James. Blah blah blah. FYI, I’ve got a disability.” And then they’ll either come back with a yes or a no answer. Normally at this stage, it’s a no.

James’ mum: This is a very big script to read.

James: It’s 75 pages!

James’ mum: It is, and I’m not sure I could remember that in a hurry.

James’ mum: We worry about things that may happen. James clearly doesn’t worry about the same things that we do. So, I think we’re also learning to step back from those worries and let his mind come first.

James: In a way, we’re all the boss. In a way, no one’s top dog.

James’ mum: It’s absolutely a team effort. I think it’s important we all have a strong voice and I think we’re equal.

James: What about that musical what we spoke about last night though?

James: I got into my first show this year. I felt pretty chuffed. I’ll be honest. The first time I ever saw my face in a program, I never expected by the year I left school I would be in my very first program. But only after a long hard hard road. Back in high school when I was in year eight, I wanted to go into music in year nine. So I begged and begged and begged my teachers and mom and dad to let me into the school music classes. Some teachers didn’t think I belonged in those form of music classes. I just kept on persuading them, persuading them and persuading them, days in and days out.

James’ mum: I think James has definitely trained us well to support him as he needs.

James: We were all a bit worried that the walls were going to shake down or that people would laugh or make fun of me for the rest of my life. But for me, that never happened really. I successfully got in the school music class for 3 years and I always tried out for lead roles, but no one would accept me. And I felt sad and I felt hurt. And then I went back and I tried again.

James’ mum: Failure is a great teacher. It’s clearly built his strength and resilience. So we welcome when things go a little bit pear-shaped and not straight away, but perhaps in a few days time or in a certain amount of time to then debrief and go over it. And he’ll ask some questions then and then next time he’s a lot more prepared for those things that happened last time. So it’s great for things to go wrong.

James: I get scared, but I keep on going. It’s always been important, and it always will be important to me never to give up. I tried to prove those teachers wrong. And in the end, we all won the jackpot. And I celebrated that I could even get that far.

James, singing: Can you feel it? Now it’s coming back. We can steal it if we bridge this gap.

James: Tonight we’re all going to Rock Band. Tomorrow morning we’re going to Black Cat Theatre and Saturdays I go to Bus Stop Films.

James’ mum: I think trying a lot of things is a great plan. If it doesn’t work in one month or one term, then we’ll give it we’ll give it a miss. But we never know.

James: They are all important for a creative artist always to learn and they will always be important to someone like me. What self-determination to me is, you can make your own decisions in life and you are free to live the life you want to live. Sure, you got to have boundaries, but try whatever you want to try in life. I am proud to call myself an advocate for self determination and disability. Sometimes I talk to primary schools. I want to teach them how to do what they want to do. I tell them to reach for the stars and I tell them everything will come into line if you put in your effort and you try and you work hard.

Director: All right. Do you have a song prepared for us today?

James: Yes, I do. (singing)What do you do with BA in English? What is my life going to be?

James: It really comes from a feeling inside my stomach what tells me you need to keep going. You need to keep going. You need to keep going.

James, singing: But somehow I can’t shake the feeling I might make a difference to the human race.

Director: Great. Well done. Thank you. All right. I think that’s all we need to hear from you today.

James: Thank you.

James: And it won’t stop me ever. Ever. Ever.