World · East Asia & Pacific · 3 hrs ago
Nas Campanella says children should be encouraged to ask about disability
Nas Campanella is the ABC’s national disability affairs reporter and a blind newsreader who works in the studio during live broadcasts.
She says her reporting role came about after the Disability Royal Commission, which she wanted to cover.
Campanella says children at her son’s daycare have approached her to talk, and she sees this as a sign that parents are teaching them how to interact with disabled people.
She encourages children to ask respectful questions rather than being told to look away or stay silent.
She says people can ask what language someone prefers, and she describes herself as blind.
Campanella also co-wrote a children’s book with a blind main character, because she did not see people like herself in books as a child.
The story shows a blind person enjoying the beach in a different way, and Campanella says disabled people take part in everyday life like anyone else.
Nas Campanella says adults should not tell children to avoid asking about disability.
The ABC disability affairs reporter says children can ask people with disabilities questions if they are comfortable answering.
Campanella says parents are increasingly having thoughtful conversations with children about disability.
She says she tells people she is blind and sees with her hands instead of her eyes.
Campanella co-wrote the children’s book All the Ways I See, which features a central character who is blind.
- Who
- Nas Campanella, the ABC’s national disability affairs reporter.
- What
- She says children should be encouraged to ask about disability rather than told to look away.
- When
- The interview was published on October 16, 2026.
- Where
- Not stated.
- Why
- She says children should not be made to feel naughty for noticing that someone is different.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
This story does not have a timeline yet.
- Interview date
- October 16, 2026
- Reporter
- Nas Campanella
- Employer
- ABC
- Children’s book
- All the Ways I See
- Co-author
- Eliza Hull
1 source
What people are saying
I love it when children ask questions.
The dangerous thing is to say to your children, “Don’t ask” or “Look away.
Don’t tell them they’re being naughty by noticing that someone’s different.
I just tell people that I’m blind: I can’t see. I see with my hands instead of my eyes.