Don't Give her a Social Disability 

Jess Irwin was born in 1987 and after a traumatic birth which resulted in a high level of cerebral palsy, she was sent home with her parents, Tony and Robyn. 

Jess says that the best advice her parents received from one of her therapists was " Your daughter has a physical disability. Don't give her a social one".

From then on her parents continued to treat her just like everyone else. Today she is excelling as a talented photographer, website and graphic designer and making music with the assistance of the products of tech start up Psykinetic. 

It started with a world of Photography

In 2003 at the young age of 16 Jessica took the first tentative step into photography and design that opened an electrifying world of discovery. In 2007 Jessica met renowned photographic artist Ken Duncan and worked with him for many years along with others like Leo Meir, David Oliver, Peter Eastway and Glenn Mckimmin, who are still very supportive today.

Jessica continued to build up her skills in photography, website and graphic design and after completing her HSC among her fellow able-bodied peers, she studied Desktop Publishing and received her diploma in Website Development at TAFE in 2012.

Jessica is an enthusiastic ambassador for the Blair's Wish Foundation, regularly sharing her skills and experiences with parents of young children that have just been diagnosed with cerebral palsy, hoping to offer an optimistic view of what a good life with cerebral palsy can look like.  

Jessica has established her own business, which she aptly named DARE2BU which specialises in providing landscape photography, portraiture, prepress design, website design and development to the wider community.

Everyone has an unique skill set

One of Jessica's strong beliefs is the ability to learn from everyone you meet. Everyone has an unique skill set. She encourages us to sit down, watch and listen and take away something that you might not have gained if you had never met.

Having tested the waters of music band photography and she was extremely lucky to be taken under the wing of Australia's own raw music talent Steve Balbi (Noiseworks, Rose Tattoo, and Black Rainbow) and Jimmy Cupples (The Voice and Searching For The Sun). Her talent has been recognised by being invited to photograph on the red carpet for the ARIA Music Awards!  Jessica is hoping to build her career as a photographer and work with local bands offering them live music band photo shoots and artistic promotional shots.

Dare to be You book

In 2014 Jess is published a book titled 'Dare to be You' with Marlena Katene  who is a music journalist, business owner & world 1st base jumper and also has severe cerebral palsy. The book showcases Jessica's landscape photography from all over Austraila coupled with a quotes from Marlena's amazing career in journalism. 

Working with Psykinetic

After working with a tech start up, Psykinetic, Jessica has been able to perform live music! 

Having launched their range of eye control software, one of their products, Psykinetic Atmosphere, has allowed Jess to play classical music with the Australia Piano Quartet at the Sydney Opera House and rock music with Steve Balbi (Noiseworks) by using just her eyes to make music/key selections.  

Another of their products, Psykinetic Frontier, is described as the world’s fastest communication software that enables individuals with verbal impairments to type and communicate with an on-screen keyboard.

Jess says " I went from typing 8 words per min on my iPad to 20 words per min using Frontier and eye-control… and my typing speed is still improving daily..."

For anyone who would like to try the Psykinetic software packages you can download a free trial at Psykinetic. Contact support@psykinetic.com if you need any help!

Check out this video of Jess at the launch of Psykinetic:

See more videos of Jess's achievements.

All we can say at MyCareSpace is 'wow!'.