Second book of Vision Australia’s ground-breaking Big Visions series brings the story of blind professional chef Craig Shanahan to life.
For Craig Shanahan there was only ever one career path in mind – that of a professional chef.
Now 31, Craig has spent the last 15 years working across Sydney’s hospitality scene, from earning his dues in the kitchen of some of the city’s most well-known restaurants and at one stage running his own café in western Sydney.
At age two, cancer caused Craig to lose his left eye. In his early 20s, another tumour damaged the optic nerve in his right eye, leaving Craig with just six percent of his remaining vision.
“Being a chef is what I’ve always been passionate about and it was my dream to become one as soon as I finished school,” Craig said.
“It was hard getting into the industry. People definitely thought I’d be unsafe or a risk in the kitchen. For me, there was a lot of educating and showing to others that I had my ways of doing things and that I was safe and capable of being in the kitchen,” he said.
Craig’s challenges in finding acceptance in his chosen field are the motivation behind lending his story to Cooking up a Storm.
“The book is a real privilege for me and it’s really special that my story might help motivate a young person to go after their dreams,” Craig said.
“Just because you might live with a disability doesn’t mean that you can’t find a way of doing what you want to in life. It’s important young people know that, but also everyone else in their life.”
While Craig has shown that living with blindness or low vision doesn’t have to be a barrier to career or personal success, that message is yet to resonate with wider society.
Vision Australia research shows that just 24% of people who are blind or have low vision are in full-time employment, with the attitudes of others shown to be a key barrier.
Vision Australia hopes Cooking up a Storm, the second of three books in the Big Visions series, can help challenge those perceptions and serve as inspiration for children and young people who are blind or have low vision and their families.
“We know children and young people who are blind or have low vision often find it difficult to envisage themselves in their dream career or how they can fully participate in wider society,” Vildana Praljak, Vision Australia Library manager, said.
“A big part of that is not having people with lived experience of blindness or low vision represented in the books they read or other media they consume. The other major factor is the perceptions wider society holds about the abilities of people who are blind or have low vision,” Vildana said.
“Craig’s story through Cooking up a Storm, and the rest of the Big Visions series, are a new way to tackle these issues. They put the stories of successful Australians who are blind or have low vision in front of the next generation of children and young people, but they’re also an important tool in the hands of parents, educators when it comes to conversations about disability and what people are capable of.”
Cooking up a Storm can be or found on the shelves at leading bookstores and retailers across Australia.
