Kalparrin

Supporting families with children of additional needs in Western Australia.

Super Power Kids ProjectThe Dream Team

The Dream Team

"It has been the most humbling and powerful experience to interview and photograph these families, all of them rich with unique cultures, backgrounds, perspectives and life circumstances."

A Unique Collaboration

Super Power Kids is a unique collaboration between Kalparrin, a West Australian, not- for-profit organisation supporting families raising children with disability and additional needs and award-winning photographers, Rachel Callander and Nathan Maddigan.  The book was inspired by the thousands of families that Kalparrin supports and whose journeys we have the privilege of sharing, and by Rachel’s late daughter, Evie, who was born with a rare chromosomal condition and passed away after two and a half years of joyfully changing the lives of her parents and all those around her.

Buy the Super Power Kids Book

Buy the book

Rachel Callander

Rachel is a TEDx presenter, speaker, trainer, author and award winning artist. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from the Dunedin School of Art in New Zealand, and is an international award winning photographer, and a Master Photographer within the New Zealand Institute of Professional Photography (NZIPP).

Her first book, Super Power Baby Project, won the International Independent Publisher (IPPY) 2015 Outstanding Book of the Year — Independent Spirit Award, and celebrates the lives and abilities of children with chromosomal or genetic conditions. It was inspired by Rachel’s late daughter Evie, who was born with a very rare condition herself. In the two and a half years of Evie’s life, Rachel learnt a lot about the use of language in the health system, and has spent the subsequent years continuing to explore the impact and implications of how it is used by health professionals — to positive and negative effect.

She is now a sought-after speaker at conferences globally, with audiences made up of health professionals, parents, teachers and business leaders. Both books — Super Power Baby Project and Super Power Kids — are Evie’s legacy, as is Rachel herself. Originally from New Zealand, Rachel now resides in Perth, Western Australia, with her partner Nathan.

rachelcallander.co

Nathan Maddigan

Nathan is an international award winning photographer, author, designer and trainer.  He is a Master Photographer, and past State President of the Australian Institute of Professional Photography.

Nathan was awarded the Western Australian AIPP Wedding Photographer of the Year in 2015, 2017 and 2018, and has been a finalist Australia-wide in 2016, 2017 and 2018. He is regularly invited to judge national photography awards in Australia and New Zealand, and is also the founder of the award-winning magazine design business Self Titled Studios.

Nathan is passionate about storytelling, and the underlying structure of story that governs many of our everyday decisions. He now works closely with his partner Rachel, building resources and running workshops that apply the age-old principles of story to present-day challenges in business, relationships, and communication.

Nathan has three boys, Sebastian, Jeremy and Shasta. They keep him grounded, joyful, present, and thankful.

nathanmaddigan.com

This project is an NDIS Information, Linkages and Capacity Building (ILC) initiative.