Melinda J Smith – October 25 2020

‘We’ll Make A Change’ Trek – October 25 2020 (postponed to 2021 due to COVID-19) – (Choice Passion Life, formerly Cerebral Palsy League)

Melinda is an artist, dancer, writer and inspirational speaker. She was awarded an honorary doctorate in 2019 from Deakin University and in 2020 became a member of the Deakin University Disability and Inclusion team as a lecturer in Inclusive Arts. Melinda has worked as a primary school teacher’s aide, Community Development Worker at Communication Resource Centre, SCOPE (Australia), and Mentor and Product Consultant for Liberator Australia. She continues to develop her work as a trainer and mentor for people with diverse physical needs and is currently working at Melbourne’s Cerebral Palsy Education Centre in their Physical Education and Movement program. Melinda’s performing career began in 2006 when she performed with Amuse Ability. In 2010 she helped establish a small dance troupe of wheelchair users known as Wheel Women, and developed the stage production, Perfectly Imperfect. This was the first time Melinda experienced dancing out of her wheelchair and it saw the beginning of a dance mentorship and collaboration with Dr Dianne Reid that has spanned several years. In 2016 Melinda received grants from the Australia Council for the Arts and Creative Victoria to collaborate with Dr Reid on their duet practice and performance Dance Interrogations and, in 2017, for the creative development of her solo work, Spasmotive. Their work features in Dr Reid’s documentary Nothing but Bones in the Way. The next phase of Melinda’s work sees her working as a Director of the Board of Melbourne’s Women’s Circus. Melinda lives with cerebral palsy, which has necessitated the use of powered wheelchairs and speech generating devices. All Melinda’s books took her ten years to write, painstakingly, with one finger. Her third published work is Through Your Eyes. Melinda was awarded the Order of Australia Medal in 1985 for services to the community, particularly to those with disabilities.

In a Wheelchair – So What?
Spectrum Publishing, 1982; ISBN 9780867860108
Contains poems and prose autobiographical pieces. In 1984 the Spastic Society of Victoria produced a video documentary, also titled In a Wheelchair – So What? This production features the book’s author Melinda Smith, a young woman with cerebral palsy, demonstrating how she copes with communication difficulties and working life as a primary school teacher’s aide. Author’s note: In a Wheelchair – So What? has been written to show that although we might not all look alike or speak alike – we all share the same emotions of love, happiness, sadness and sometimes fear – and the same desire to have a fulfilling and useful place in society. With love and thanks to all those who have encouraged me.

Second Thoughts
Spectrum Publications, 1989; ISBN 9780867861853
Second Thoughts contains Melinda’s poem ‘Wall Between Friends’ about a man’s rejection of her as well as a short prose piece about her grandfather, now dead, titled ‘The Way I Knew Him’ which grabs you by the heart.
“Melinda’s ‘voice’ as a writer is unique … her poetry possesses an inherent authority that commands attention. Her skill lies in telling it how it is, in such a way that compels the reader to empathise….’ – Judy Nichol, Foreword
“Through Second Thoughts we have a rare and special privilege of meeting a truly remarkable human being.” – Morris Stuart, Pastor (Truth and Liberation Concern, Melbourne)