Drivers for Dion’s Bus Service are taking part in the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower program. Photo: NSW Government.
Eight months since Dion’s Bus Service stepped up as the region’s first in the internationally recognised Hidden Disabilities Sunflower program, its drivers are well and truly on the road to improving the public transport experience for people with hidden disabilities.
The program gives people with non-visible disabilities such as autism, dementia, chronic pain and anxiety a distinctive green and yellow sunflower-themed lanyard to wear to signal their need for assistance while using public transport.
Administration officer Mel Garcia, who jumped at the chance to onboard Dion’s as the Illawarra’s first “Sunflower-friendly” bus service, says it has yielded some remarkable examples of community connection.
“One of our drivers after doing the training noticed a regular passenger using one of the lanyards who was nonverbal. Of his own accord, he learned a bit of sign language so he could say ‘Good morning’ and ‘Good afternoon,'” Mel says.
“One afternoon that passenger came on board with their carer and he asked if it would be OK to ask the passenger their name, so they could be on a first-name basis. I think that’s special.”
Dion’s is joined by Port Stephens Coaches, Keolis Downer Hunter (Newcastle Transport) and selected CDC NSW services on the Far North Coast and Coffs Harbour regions as the first regional and outer metropolitan operators to join the program.
Drivers for these operators have been trained to recognise the Sunflower lanyard and provide appropriate support, such as helping passengers in boarding and disembarking or navigating stressful situations.
“The training explains to drivers what a hidden disability is, what it means for a person to have a hidden disability and what they can do to help that person,” Mel says.
“It has helped break down barriers for some drivers who might be unsure about offering assistance. Sometimes if they offer it to a person who doesn’t want help, it can feel like they’ve done the wrong thing by that person. The lanyard assures that when they ask this person if they want help, they’re doing the right thing.”
Dion’s Bus Service managing director Les Dion says the initiative sheds light on the concept of hidden disabilities.
“It’s something our drivers really haven’t been aware of,” he says. “I think once the word gets out there that we provide for people with hidden disabilities and people start getting the lanyards, it’ll eliminate some of that anxiety of getting on the bus and if we can do that and make it easier for our drivers, I think it’s a bit of a win-win.”
One in five people have a disability and 80 per cent of those have hidden disabilities.
Parliamentary Secretary for Disability Inclusion Liesl Tesch says for those with hidden disabilities, public transport can be “full of unseen challenges, which are often invisible for those without lived experience of disability”.
“Public transport provides freedom for so many in our community and the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower program goes a long way to support that freedom,” she says.
Free Sunflower lanyards can be obtained from Transport for NSW by emailing [email protected] or by picking one up at any of 35 selected train stations. For more information, visit Transport for NSW.
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