LIFE is harder than it should be for six-year-old Levi, who is autistic and non-verbal.
It’s the same for his mother, Annette King, who dedicates her life to ensuring her son’s is as easy as it can be.
Being a single mum of four makes things even harder.
“The main issue with being a single parent of a disabled child is that my son goes to a special school, which doesn’t provide before or after school care,” Ms King said.
“This means that if I want to get a job, it needs to be within the hours he is at school, which is nearly impossible as everyone wants you to be ‘flexible’, and I just can’t be.
“I also can’t be reliable because if he is having a meltdown or a bad day, I have to be there, drop everything, and pick him up from school.”
Ms King is not the only parent in Logan with this struggle.
According to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, around 6.6% of Logan residents – 23,000 people – need help in their day-to-day lives due to a disability.
For many of these people and their families, regular jobs pose challenges.
So, two years ago, Ms King turned to a flexible style of work that enables her to meet her son’s needs.
She signed up to food delivery company DoorDash, and now delivers food to her Browns Plains neighbourhood and its surrounds.
Now, Ms King “dashes” – the name for delviering through DoorDash – only part time.
She has the freedom to choose her hours and deliver as much or as little as she wants.
She can also stay close to home and Levi’s school.
This flexibility means she can juggle earning an income and her son’s intensive caring schedule, whether it’s taking him to hospital appointments or caring for him at home.
Late last year, the federal government introduced a bill to provide gig workers like Ms King with the same rights as traditional employees, such as banning unfair dismissals.
“DoorDash makes it easy for me to work when I can and stop when I need to,” Ms King said.
“It allows me the flexibility and reliability that I can’t bring to any other job currently.
“I get to choose my own hours and be my own boss.”
A standard day for Ms King starts with getting Levi ready for school.
Once he is picked up, she cleans the house, does the laundry and cleans the dishes, before getting in the car to start dashing.
“I will do DoorDash for a bit and be home by 2pm as the traffic gets bad around then, making it not worth working any later due to school zones.”
Because of Levi’s disability, the King family faces challenges others don’t.
Two of Ms King’s four children are now adults and have “flown the nest”.
“My daughter [lives] at her dad’s because my son is very sensitive and needs his own space,” she said.
“He sees his dad and sister weekly.
“He has and will have many challenges in life, but with the right support, it makes things easier.” Ms King said parents in similar situations should take advantage of any support available and “think outside the box”.
“There’s always more than one way to solve a problem; you just have to look from another angle.”
