Spectrum Care

19/10/2026

Looking for Halloween plans? We've got you covered. 🎃

Glow Party is making a return!

After an awesome launch event in August, Gig Buddies Auckland is once again teaming up with Spectrum Care Media Lab for a Halloween edition.

Last time there was non-stop music, face paint, glow sticks, light shows and a pumping rave cave. This time, expect more of the same, plus haunting decorations and spooky tunes.

Dress up is encouraged. Come as you are, or come as someone else!

If this sounds like your kind of party, head to https://www.gigbuddiesauckland.org/event-details/glow-party-halloween-special and book your spot.

See you on 30 October for an evening of BOO-gying. 👻

Let's Get Spooky! After an awesome Glow Party launch event, Gig Buddies will once again be teaming up with Media Lab to present a Halloween edition!

18/10/2026

Have you had a baby in the last two years? 👶

Researchers want to hear from disabled parents and whānau about their experiences of postnatal midwifery care in Aotearoa.

The Birthing Whānau study is particularly seeking the experiences of disabled people, tangata whaikaha, Deaf people, neurodivergent people, people with chronic illness and others with access needs.

If you received postnatal care from a midwife after giving birth, your experiences could help build a better understanding of what good postnatal care looks like.

There are a range of accessible ways to take part, with support available where needed.

The study brings together Ara Institute of Canterbury, Otago Polytechnic, The University of Waikato, and the New Zealand College of Midwives, alongside lived-experience researchers and midwives.

👉 Find out more and express your interest: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/r/MNtb5cZQHT

12/10/2026

Liam was hesitant about this interview.

The spotlight pointed towards him and his first instinct was to hide from it.

And that tells you a lot about who he is.

When Liam was younger, he had no idea what he wanted to do.

“School never really grabbed me, and my favourite subject was probably lunch.”

Then, at about 15, he discovered boccia, an indoor ball sport. It was the first time he found something that “genuinely fit”.

He went on to become New Zealand’s youngest-ever international boccia representative, competing at the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens, where his team won silver.

Today, Liam Sanders is Regional Manager of Independent Living Services at Spectrum Care.

For one person we support, that might mean learning to catch the bus while still living with their whānau. For another, budgeting, shopping or meal planning. For someone else, working towards living in a home of their own.

Liam uses a wheelchair and comes to this work with his own history of receiving disability support.

“I’ve seen it all. The good, the bad and the ugly.”

More than 20 years after his own parents were trying to secure the support he needed, Liam still speaks with families facing many of the same challenges.

“In some ways it can feel like we have not moved far enough.”

When the system you work within is also one you’ve spent your life navigating, some moments carry an echo.

But Liam also gets to witness the other side of it: what happens when we get it right.

“My role gives me the privilege of seeing people achieve their goals every day, and that is what really gets me out of bed in the morning,” he says. “Along with my support worker.”

And then there’s the word Liam is wary of: inspiration.

“I do not see myself as an inspiration,” Liam says. “I hope that over the past 39 years I’ve helped others in some way, or shown what can be possible as a disabled person. My parents always encouraged independence when I was growing up, and that’s really how I’ve lived my life – getting on with things and doing what needed to be done.”

His hesitation makes sense.

The problem isn’t that disabled people can’t inspire someone. It’s that disability is too often mistaken for what makes them inspiring.

Liam inspires us for a different reason: what he’s learned and what he chooses to do with it.

He knows what it means to live with decisions about support. Now he brings that understanding into the work itself, asking what support looks like when the person receiving it is the one directing it.

Liam doesn’t inspire us because he uses a wheelchair, built a career or competed at the Paralympics.

He inspires us because every time the spotlight lands on him, he turns it towards what might be possible for somebody else.

07/10/2026

Our Auckland region came together to celebrate Filipino culture. 🎉

An entire double gymnasium was filled wall-to-wall with the people we support and our kaimahi, all sharing in the traditions of MassKara Festival: a celebration of community, resilience and the joyful spirit of the Philippines.

It was the biggest turnout the event has ever seen. Filipino hospitality was more than ready for it, with food stations of traditional dishes stretching the length of two basketball courts.

The crowd came to life with dance, music, singing and applause.

For some, it was a space to feel at home. For others, a chance to learn and embrace Filipino culture.

Celebrating culture is about supporting people to be uniquely themselves, and fostering a community where everyone belongs.

A big thank you to our Filipino Committee, performers, volunteers and supporters who made this possible.

Photos by Jomar Cabuyao and Ignacio Navarro. 📸

07/10/2026

Supported decision-making should always come first.

But in rare cases, a legal decision-maker is needed for a particular decision about someone’s health, care or where they live.

Often, that’s a whānau member or someone else they trust.

But what if there isn’t anyone suitable?

Across the ditch, Queensland has a backup. An independent, government-funded Public Guardian can be appointed as a last resort.

And Queensland isn’t alone. The Law Commission found that almost every overseas system it reviewed had a publicly funded way to fill this role.

New Zealand doesn’t.

Our own Law Commission has called Aotearoa an “outlier” and described the shortage of people able to take on these roles as a “significant issue.”

Through our advocacy work, we’ve been looking at what this gap means for the people we support.

There is movement. The Law Commission has recommended bringing oversight and support together under one public agency and has explored a publicly funded option for people with nobody suitable to take the role. The Government has also agreed in principle that our current law needs replacing.

That’s progress.

But there’s still a gap to close.

Because when no one else can step in, the system should.

30/09/2026

Wellington, you only have one week left…

to visit Made by Maranga's Pop-Up Shop!

Find us at 123 Cuba Street (next to JJ's) until October 7.

Everything, even the price-tags, are entirely made by our talented crew at Maranga.

From cat toys to tomato relish, there's something for everyone. So come along and support some local mahi toi.

If you can't make it, make sure to follow Made by Maranga for updates on where they'll be selling next! 👀🛍️

23/09/2026

David spent the first three decades of his life behind locked doors.

Considered the only option at the time, he was sent away at just three years old and grew up moving through institutions.

David was visually impaired. At 14, he shared a dormitory with 30 other boys. He recalled that he “had to hold onto someone’s arm to move around.” If there was no one to hold onto, he had to wait.

At 19, it was the same story. He shared a dormitory with 50 people. They were locked in and told “when to get up, shower, shave, and have breakfast,” David said.

No choices, just orders and locked doors. David knew all he needed was to get out.

At 31, he finally left institutions behind and moved into a Spectrum Care home.

Here, David’s life was a series of open doors. He did what he wanted, when he wanted.

He and his flatmates knew each other from institutions, but they never had the chance to really connect. In their new home, they cooked together, walked together, sang, danced, went out, and simply lived lives of their own alongside each other.

He also reconnected with his whānau. Spending long weekends and every holiday with them, celebrating birthdays and milestones together. As any family should be able to.

David spent the start of his life surrounded by too many people, treated as just one of many.

In his new home, he was surrounded by people who knew him and understood him.

Over time, his confidence grew, and eventually he no longer relied on others to move around.

He didn’t have to wait on anyone.

David has since passed. His legacy speaks to the power of connection: sometimes what a person needs to live a good life is the right people to share it with.

The past reminds us why we keep going.

21/09/2026

“It felt like I’d been hit by a train or a car.”

Vikae was ten when she tried to explain the pain in her legs.

Growing pains, she was told.

Years later, hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (hEDS), POTS, MCAS and bipolar II gave language to experiences that had never quite made sense.

But having the language does not always settle the argument.

Even with diagnoses, invisible disability can make you question your own experience.

For VÏKAE, getting a medical alert bracelet felt strangely validating.

“If you qualify for one of these, you’ve clearly got some problem.”

Because the questions still come.

“Surely everyone is in pain a little bit.”

“Maybe I’m just getting older.”

“Am I being dramatic?”

When so much of what affects you leaves no visible mark, proof can become strangely precious. And as other people demand it of you, you begin to demand it of yourself.

That same self-doubt followed VÏKAE into work.

She moved through hospitality, teaching and corporate building management. There were jobs she could do, technically. But eventually, she says, “It was breaking my body every single day.”

Around that time, a friend gifted her an orchid.

Not a literal one. An idea.

She told VÏKAE she was like an orchid. Beautiful, powerful, a presence, but something that needed the right conditions to thrive.

It shifted something. Maybe VÏKAE wasn’t the one who needed to change. Maybe the environment was.

Today, VÏKAE is a Community Facilitator at Makatoa Aspirations in Onehunga, supporting disabled people to build connections and pursue the things that matter to them.

When asked what her experience of disability brings to that work, her first answer is:

“For a long time, nothing.”

But then she keeps talking.

About advocacy. About believing someone when they say they are tired, sore or not okay. About saying “I’m sorry to hear that” and actually meaning it.

And about music.

At high school, a music teacher gave VÏKAE somewhere to go when the classroom was too much.

When asked what music has given her, she cries.

“Home.”

Now, through Easy Beats, the music sessions she facilitates with Media Lab, VÏKAE gets to help create that same feeling for other people.

A place to move. Stim. Laugh. Play. Communicate in the ways that belong to them.

Somewhere they can “just be completely themselves.”

VÏKAE calls it “magic”.

Living with disability can make you fluent in everything it costs.

It can take longer to realise what has grown around it.

VÏKAE’s first answer was nothing.

By the end of her story, that answer feels much harder to hold onto.

21/09/2026

🎤 Athlete Voices

Fantastic to see Special Olympics New Zealand Athlete Leader Laetitia Tan on 1News last night, sharing her voice and encouraging others with intellectual disabilities to do the same.

Laetitia, who has self-published several children’s books with support from , had a clear message:

💬 “Even though we have special needs, we are superstars. We want to show that our voices and our actions need to be seen and to be heard.”

As an author and Athlete Leader, Laetitia is putting those words into action.

Ka pai, Laetitia! ❤️

📺 Watch the story (timestamp 15:08) at the link below. You’ll need to sign in to a TVNZ account to view. https://www.tvnz.co.nz/player/tvepisode/1news-at-six-s2026-e263-1news-at-six

📸 Pics of Laetitia speaking at the Special Olympics New Zealand Foundation evening during the 2025 National Summer Games.