- My name is Mitchell Brown, and I live on Great Barrier Island. In my family, I got my dad, Mike, and my sister, Aimee. I live with some intellectual disabilities. I play Special Olympics golf. When I play golf, it's really easy to concentrate. I do find it pretty hard when I'm concentrating with other things. I just get very competitive, because I like to try and win. I don't wanna lose; I always like to win. Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2023 Living on Barrier is great, and it's really quiet. And I live on Medlands Beach, which is good. I like it because there's surf, and I can just walk down to the beach if I need to. - We're all living on Great Barrier Island, and we live` uh, have been living here for... probably about 13 years now. - It's pretty cool living on the island, because it's really relaxing and calm, and you don't have to worry about people all over the place. - For Mitch, I actually think the island is the best place for him to be. He is surrounded by a community that knows him and knows his boundaries and cares for him. For other young adults, maybe it's a bit restricting in what it allows you to achieve. But for Mitch, I think it's actually a really good place to be. - The normal challenges on the island is obviously we're off the grid. - There's no power, so you have to run the generator if it's not sunny. But if it's sunny, you get the solar power. Yeah, I enjoy the pace of the island, cos it's really slow. Basically, whenever there's surf, I go out. But if there's no surf, I always go to golf. (GENTLE MUSIC) - Mitch never knew his mum. Mitchie's mum found out that she had breast cancer when she was pregnant. We were concerned at that stage, because Kirsten had gone ahead with the pregnancy as a 50/50. When Mitch was born, he had to go straight into intensive care. That was when we realised that there was gonna be health issues. All I knew is I had a wife who needed attention, I had a newborn, and I had a toddler. And all of them seemed to be happening at once. - My family have been through a little bit. My mum passed away when I was 3 years old. And my dad moved us out here when I was about 9 years old. I think Mitch was probably about 7. - The island is... sanctuary, I guess. It was me and Aimee as a little wee kid, little girl, looking after Mitch, who was showing more and more signs of not only major health issues, but this disability with his development. We didn't know where to go. We didn't know what to do. So it was hard. It was hard getting into the system to get support. - I live with some intellectual disabilities. My energy levels are high sometimes. That means I do a lot of activities during the day. I don't like to sit around. If I'm not working, I always go and play golf to keep myself busy, so I don't annoy my dad while he's busy working. - As far as Mitchie's disability goes, we couldn't get a definition. It was a battle ` global development delay, autism, ADHD, Asperger's. And, as has probably been found since then, there's things like autism spectrum disorders. You know, it doesn't have to be just autism or just ADHD or just Asperger's or whatever. You can have a bit of each. So he's a blend. - For me, he's always been a little brother. He doesn't, kind of, act socially like a 20-year-old would. And so sometimes, you gotta remind yourself when you're, you know, dealing with him that, yeah, his brain isn't up to the maturity of what a 20-year-old would be. - I like the sounds and the smells of the ocean and the sounds of the waves crashing. It makes me relax and makes me more happier. (WAVES THUNDER) (BRIGHT MUSIC) Dad taught me how to play golf, and I really enjoyed it, and I kept playing it. - We got him a little, wee set of baby clubs. He started having a hit with those and obviously really enjoyed it, and it just developed. What are we gonna focus on today? - Keeping my cool. - What happens if you lose your cool? - You lose the game. - All right. What about technique-wise? What do you wanna focus on? - Just hitting the ball nice and straight. - You make it sound so easy. I don't even need to coach any more. - (LAUGHS) - So all you do is keep your cool and hit it straight. - Yeah. - Piece of cake. Done deal. - I'm training for the World Special Olympics Summer Games, working on hitting the ball straight and recovering well. My dad's my coach, and he keeps me calm and relaxed. - We're more of a team. We're a partnership. - The course at Great Barrier Island Golf Course is very tight and narrow. So you have to hit a good drive and hit straight. The Barrier Golf Course do not have any bunkers, but when you go into town, they have heaps of bunkers. - When I said to him we're gonna have to really practise sand bunkers, he said, 'Oh no, I just won't hit into them.' (CHUCKLES) So, yeah, I think a full seven. - Uh, maybe... - Slightly right. - ...towards that, um... that trailer in the background. - Trailer in the background. Yep. (THWACK!) Beautiful. - Their relationship completely switches up on the golf course, I reckon. I reckon they become more friends, more than father and son, which is really cool. Um, it's probably one of the only times Mitch really listens to Dad, which is also really cool. - Righto. Big as a bucket. - They work really well together, which is awesome to see. And that love for golf, for both of them, has given them that extra thing that's brought them together. - He's an absolute natural in general when it comes to sports. His eye-hand coordination for the golf is sensational, and the reason for that is the way he... thinks and the way he functions is to have intense focus on the here and now. And he can look at what he's about to do, and nothing else matters. Nothing else exists. Go, go, go, go, go, go... go. Ooh. Not bad, though, eh? - Pretty happy with that, Dad. - Yeah. I would be too. - Yeah. I ask my dad, 'How was my shot?' when I've hit it. And he sometimes says it's good. Or sometimes he says, 'Oh, you need to work on a few things.' - GOLFER: What a putt. Oh! - Well done, mate. - Nice try, Mitch. - Thank you. Yeah, 53. - Are you gonna go with your driver off here? - Yep. That's what I always do, Dad. - I know ` just making sure you haven't had a change of mind. - Nope. Sticking with something I'm confident with, Dad. - You do that. It's really just finishing up on those big courses, practising the bunkers and stuff like this here. Really, he's beyond this. He's` He needs to... get some of the long-course practice in before we go. - I'm working towards the Special Olympics Summer Games, and I've got some practice rounds coming up over in town next week. - Beautiful. What a great par. - Three. - He's focused on the gold medal. That's what he's going over to... He's expecting to win gold for New Zealand, for his community, for his family and friends. That's his... That's where his head's at. 'I'm going there to win.' (LAUGHS) (SOFT, UPLIFTING MUSIC) - In the morning, like, before I go to work, I always get up early. Morning, Aimee. - Morning, Mitchie. What time do you start work today? - Uh, 8.45. - 8.45? - Yeah. - As soon as he gets up, he's instantly chatty, ready for the day, asking a million questions. - How have you been anyway, Aimee? - (CHUCKLES) I've been good, Mitch. - Did you find it pretty cold this morning, Aimee? - Yeah. I didn't want to get out of bed. It's way too cold. - I know. - Going for a surf after work? - Yeah, if you're keen. - Yeah. Sounds good. - My sister, Aimee, is always there to look after me if I need... if I need help with things. She helps me to remind me about stuff that's coming up and that. - He can't focus his mind on more than one thing at a time. And so it's like getting ready for work, you've got to be like, 'Have you had breakfast?' And then focus on that ` he'll have his breakfast. 'OK, now, have you made your lunch?' If you gave him too many things to do, he'd spin out and do one and then forget everything else. - What else do I need to do, Dad, normally? - Well, have you had breakfast? - Yep. - You have? You had your medicines? - No, not yet. I'll go do that. - Good idea to have your medicines. - He's gotten a lot more self-sufficient, but he is definitely not, you know, completely self-sufficient. - Aimee can be a bit bossy sometimes. I reckon I need a little bit of bossiness in my life. Yeah. - Have a good day at work, Mitch. - Yep. - Yep. - Now I have a bike ` an e-bike. So I don't have to get rides from Aimee and that. - It's made him a lot more independent as well, actually, being able to bike down to work and then not have to wait for one of us to finish work and come get him. - With a community that supports him so well, he can ride himself around the island, and I don't have to worry about it. - We've got no traffic here, no traffic lights. Perfect. (EASY-GOING GUITAR MUSIC) Where I work is at the recycling centre. I just do three days a week. I do sorting on the recycling table on a Friday. And Mondays and Tuesday, I normally do the recycling run. So I pick up everyone's recycling, like, all the yellow bins. It's nice to have work friends there, and Jo's a nice boss, and I do enjoy it. - JO: We have to lay out what the task is and how to do it really clearly. So it's good for him to have a plan, to know what's happening for the day, what his role is, when something's going to change, as opposed to throwing things at him too randomly. - The team's awesome, yeah. They're really, really friendly, really happy, always smiling, always telling jokes, making me laugh. - One thing that Mitch would like over anything else is just to have, you know, constant friendships, people he can spend time with and enjoy their company. And through work, he gets that. - All the guys here treat me with respect, which is nice. And they know about my disability. So they don't make fun of me. They just carry on with things. - On the island, everybody does treat Mitch as one of their own. I mean, he is one of us. We're all different. (JAUNTY, LAID-BACK MUSIC) - We're at Remuera Golf Club. This is the practice round for the Special Olympics Germany golf. It's a full 18-hole course, and bunkers are gonna be challenging for me too, because I don't have bunkers at home. It means I have to think about every shot and know how hard to hit my ball when I'm putting. - Nice and easy. Righto, Mitch. Big as a bucket. - Yeah, I've always been behind other people in my age and sometimes, I struggle to do things. I try and learn new things. Six. Golf's one of them, cos I know... how to, um... how to stay focused on that one. (THWACK!) - Ooh. That might be in the bunker. - First bunker today, Dad. - Yep. - I needed bunker practice anyway. - 'Bout time you had a bunker shot to practise. Down to the fairway. That's it. Awesome. - Thanks, Dad. - I'll even tidy up the bunker for you, eh. - Yep. Thank you. - OK. He's actually playing it extremely well. So as far as a practice goes towards Germany, this is the sort of thing that we want. (THWACK!) (EASY-GOING GUITAR MUSIC) - My family likes surfing, and some of my family like golf. Not Aimee ` she gets frustrated with golf. Is it weird that we've both got the same sort of colour? - Mitch, that's my surfboard. That's why. I think on days like today, though, Mitch, you should be riding your other board. - Yeah, I do like my other board too. - You got to fix it before you go to Indo, though. - Yeah, I will. - Otherwise, it'll just break. - Yeah. My sister won the New Zealand National Champs in 2019. (TWANGY GUITAR MUSIC) - Yeah, I had a pretty successful junior career, and then I took a step back from competitive surfing. His surfing has come a long way. When we were younger ` I started surfing when I was probably about 6, whereas Mitch wouldn't touch the water until he was probably about 12 ` he was petrified of the ocean. - I was just scared of the cold, I think. Yeah. CHUCKLES: And the sharks, yeah. Pretty cool, 'cause I get to learn new stuff from Aimee when she's... When she's doing turns that I don't know how to do, I learn from her. - Surfing makes us bond the most, eh? - Yeah. - Yeah? We don't annoy each other` Nah, that's a lie. We do annoy each other in the surf, eh. - But not as much as at home sometimes. - (LAUGHS) Yeah. - Are you excited for Germany? - Very excited. - Yeah. Are you gonna take your competitiveness from out in the surf with me to Germany? - Yep ` definitely am. - Yep? - Yeah. - Is that gonna help you win? - Yeah. It's gonna help me win. Yeah. - Yeah. Mitch is funny. I love my brother so much. He has his challenges and creates some challenges for us, but we'll always be there for him, and he makes our day... interesting. (LAUGHS) - Aimee's an awesome sister, cos she looks after me, and I look up to her like she's my older sister. She's a lot better than me. - Oh! That's the first time you've ever admitted that. Whoo! He's always like, 'I'm better than you. Rah-rah-rah.' - (LAUGHS) I'm getting up there. - Oh, you're getting better. You gonna get better than me one day? - One day. - I'll be better at golf than you one day. - There we go. Look. (TWANGY MUSIC ENDS) (WHIMSICAL MUSIC) - This is one of my Disability Golf awards I won at the Disability Golf NZ tournament. This is a gold medal I won at the Windross Farm competition. This is the` Yeah, this is the gold from Summer Games. It was very awesome, 'cause I played really well that day. And I got this one from the... from Disability Golf NZ too. This is one of my All Abilities Golfer of the Year award that I won in 2019. My hopes is to bring back gold to put on my trophy wall. That'd be my dream goal to do. And then my dream will come true hopefully. Starting Special Olympics was really good to meet other people like me. - Living on the island with Mitch and his disability, the Special Olympics has shown him that there are a lot of other people out there like him. And he loves the opportunity to get together with them. - HOST: You're listening to Great Barrier Island radio station Aotea FM. We've got a visitor in the studio ` Mr Mitchell Brown. How are you doing, mate? - Good. - So, Mitchie, when are you actually taking off to Germany? - I take off on the 7th of June. - You must be so excited, mate. - I'm very excited. - Yeah. - And a bit nervous. - (LAUGHS) How are the people on the island and at the golf club? How are they getting behind you? - The Barrier had a little fundraiser for me, and we made at least 7 grand. - Yeah. - And it was a great turnout. Yeah. - The fundraising to get to Germany has been quite a challenge. The athletes have all had to fundraise $20,000 they all need each. - It's pretty cool to have the community behind me, because they like to support the young ones on the island. I'd like to thank all the Barrier crew for helping me out and supporting me. My focus is me and the ball, not anyone else. Just focusing on hitting that ball and not worrying about other people. My dad normally tells me to relax and just go out there and have fun. Pretend it's like a normal game. Just pretend you're playing a normal game of golf. I'm hoping to come away with a gold medal. It would be really cool to see someone from Great Barrier Island come back from the Summer games with a gold medal. (GENTLE MUSIC) - What do we need for some mince? - Onions. - Yeah. You wanna go get an onion, then? - Yeah. Whereabouts is it? In here? - Yeah? Because I'll have to cut it up, cos you can't cut it up. - Here, Aims. - Thank you. - I'm working on how to learn how to cook with Aimee. We're making spaghetti bolognese. It's one of my favourites. Yeah. - When that oil heats up, Mitch, you can tip the onion in there like you did the other day. - Yeah. I find cooking very challenging, because you have to cook on a hot stove, and you have be careful so you don't burn yourself. - Now, remember, you got to kind of crush it all up. Just recently, we've been trying to get him to help me a little bit more, just to get him to gain a bit more independence and be able to cook his own food. You can do it. Tip it all in. Stir it all in. Pull it in from the side. - He's showing more signs of independent thinking, which is good, but more of a challenge for the rest of us trying to keep up with understanding where he's at. - You can sit down now. - Thanks, Aimee. - Oh, you're welcome, Mitchie. - (GROANS) (LOW-KEY MUSIC) - Number 13's already had a red card as well` oh, yellow card. - Oh, well done, Mitch. - Thank you. - Heard you're gonna do the double, eh? So he does dinner and the dishes. - No, that's not the way it is, Dad. - It's not the way it works? - No. - In the future for Mitch, the biggest thing that I hope for him is good health. - I hope that we continue to get the support that we get to help Mitch. - Not bad. - 'I hope that Mitch has a happy life,' and that Dad and I can also continue on with our lives as well. - Probably keep playing golf and get better and hopefully get on a tour, PGA tour, and make some money. Yeah, I just want everyone to be happy and enjoy their lives. (PEACEFUL MUSIC) - Mum would be super proud of Mitch. She would see how far he's come with everything and how much love he's given our family. - I'm proud of him because of his ability to just keep going. Every day, he just jumps up and keeps going. When I'm down and out and wondering where to go to next, you know, he's always there saying, 'Love you, Dad. 'Keep going.' - I'm very excited to meet different people around about my disability and that, cos that means I can interact with them and... have fun and have chats and that. There's supposed to be a party at the end of the games, which will be good. (RELAXED MUSIC) Captions by Courtney Sole Edited by Sam Baker. Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2023