“I’ve never let my disabilities define my abilities”

“The most interesting people you’ll find are ones that don’t fit into your average cardboard box. They’ll make what they need, they’ll make their own boxes.”

– Dr. Temple Grandin, academic and animal behaviourist 

James Marks has been a volunteer firefighter with the Waikuku Beach Volunteer Fire Brigade for 9 years. This current fire season he’s attended vegetation fires in Loburn and Kirwee. He’s on his way to completing his Rural Crew Leader qualifications. And James is neurodiverse. 

You may have read about James previously. His journey was captured in Ignite in November 2022 when he’d been appointed to our Kia Toipoto Advisory Group and was helping to create a Diversity and Inclusion work group in Canterbury.   

Ignite article: I've never let me disabilities define my abilities(external link)

A year on from this article, James is pleased with the progress being made by Fire and Emergency with regards to neurodiversity and inclusion. He says he’s excited to see where the next steps will lead and is eager to see more neurodiverse people joining the organisation in all capacities.  

James is an important part of our Neurodiversity network | Kanorau Ā-roro committee, holding the Events Coordinator role. He will help raise the profile of the network and support Fire and Emergency’s presence at events that are relevant to the network.   

If you’d like to find out more about the network, check out our Portal page.