Member Stories

Hi my name is Doug Thomson. I live in Brisbane but been in Townsville for a lot of my life, as a small baby and in the 60’s and 70’s when my mother had twins and she sent me to Townsville so I could go to school there.

I used to live in the Townsville Cootharinga Nursing Home which was formerly known as the North Qld society for Crippled children.
It was first opened in 1951 which was good, as a lot of children had previously been living in the Townsville General hospital before this. The Matron running the nursing home sent letters to the families of the children weekly as we did not get to see our families very often. Prior to this I also spent some time living in the bush.

I love using the internet as I can connect with lots of people and keep informed and I also enjoy going out and connecting with my community so I can remain independent. I feel that NDIS will be much better for us, because clients can make decisions where their funding should be and what is important to spend it on. For example I may have a better chance of getting the house more modified to suit my needs. I have been a member of the network for many years and enjoy the connections I have made.

To see Doug’s video story click here