Tom Gleisner and wife Mary Muirhead on the growth of their Learning for Life centre in Kew
WHEN TV personality Tom Gleisner and his wife Mary Muirhead started working with families with autistic children 14 years ago, they couldn’t have envisaged the difference their charity would make.
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SEEING first-hand the difference early intervention can make to an autistic child started Mary Muirhead and her TV presenter husband Tom Gleisner on a more than a decade-long pursuit of helping others.
The Hawthorn couple have devoted 14 years to giving autistic children a chance to fulfil their potential.
As co-founder and director of Learning For Life, a Kew-based centre providing early intervention to autistic children as young as 18 months, Mary has been the driving force behind the not-for-profit organisation giving families and children a chance to live as normal lives as possible.
“It was about 14 years ago and Tom and I knew a family who had a child who was going through one of these Early Intensive Behavioural Intervention programs,” Mary said.
“I was at the stage where I’d stopped my previous work as a vet and was at home with the family and wanted to do something to help.
“As a couple we got to thinking of ways we could help families who couldn’t afford these programs.
“Would we sponsor a family? Would we try and help out some way? But we got to talking to people involved and we realised what we needed to do was help to raise some money.
“How would we cope if we had a child with autism? And then, on top of that, how would we cope with a child with autism and we didn’t have the financial capabilities to afford one of these programs? It became clear what we needed to do.
“It started very small, but we organised a ball, then a trivia night and it just grew from there.”
With Tom’s media career as host of television shows such as The Panel, as a judge on Thank God You’re Here and his work with Working Dog, the production company behind films such as The Castle and The Dish, the couple was able to get plenty of people on board to help out in their efforts.
Tom says the Hawthorn community was one of the main reasons the organisation flourished.
“We are definitely in the cafe scene around Glenferrie Rd and we could name at least a dozen businesses we frequent because of all the support they have given us over the years,” Tom said.
“It is a lovely village feel and, just as an example, there is a lovely gelati shop in Glenferrie Rd called Cones which supported our very first function when there was only six of us and they’ve been there ever since.
“We’ve got the annual trivia night coming up and Cones are going to supply all the dessert and serve up the ice-cream on the night. That’s just one example of how Hawthorn as a community gets behind what we do.”
Since opening its doors with five therapists in 2004, Learning For Life’s fundraising arm has raised more than $1.55 million and delivered 36,000 hours of early intervention therapy to children whose families would not have been able to afford it.
The charity now has 36 therapists, and has branched out by developing a school behavioural support program now run in 19 Melbourne schools and being rolled out to regional schools.
Despite his ongoing production commitments, Tom keeps a hands-on role as a board member and patron.
“I’m happy and honoured to take on the public duties when called for, whether it’s hosting the ball or trivia nights or running 10km for Run Melbourne,” he said.
He said his other role at Working Dog was constantly evolving.
“Have You Been Paying Attention? keeps us pretty busy for much of the week at the moment,” he said.
“Our latest series of Utopia is halfway through screening and we’re shooting a new series of All Aussie Adventures with Russell Coight. I’m just back from Alice Springs with Glenn (Robbins) a few weeks ago, so that’s keeping us busy.
When asked if there was another potential The Castle or The Dish in the team, he said anything was possible.
“We don’t have anything in pre-production at the moment but we’ve always got a whiteboard full of ideas. Often the way we work is we think of an idea, then think of its best home,” he said.
“Sometimes it’s television, sometimes not, but it’s all about the medium that would best suit us. TV seems to be our preferred position at the moment.”
He said viewing patterns had changed in television over the past decade.
“Where it used to be seen as the poor cousin of film, now the most interesting writing and performances are on TV,” he said.
“Film has sadly become, and a lot of this is a gross generalisation I understand, but a lot of it is comic books, superheroes and franchises, where the genuinely original and daring stuff now is on TV.
“People are now talking to me about series that not only have I never seen, I haven’t even heard of them, and that doesn’t mean they’re not good, but it’s just such a vast landscape.
“The TV networks are following the Netflix model. For example, the ABC will now often release an entire season on iView upfront — the younger generation don’t want to have to wait until Thursday night to watch their favourite show, they want it now.
“It’s exciting, you need to embrace these changes and see them for their opportunity. There’s no point being a sad old fart in the corner lamenting the good old days, when there’s no such thing as the good old days, it’s just days.”
Despite their hectic schedules the couple, who have two grown-up children, still find time for each other, even taking up golf.
“I started having lessons and I’ve booked Tom his first golf lesson,” Mary said.
“We are definitely both beginners but we do love the idea of being able to spend that time together.
“Even if it is arguing over keeping your head down or not,” Tom joked.
“We’ve carved out a little time in the week for ourselves,” Mary said.
“On Tuesday afternoon we are going to have nine holes of golf and right now we’re doing a tour of the clubs of Boroondara as we speak.
“We’re dipping our toes into it and that gives us a lot of time to chat.”
For more information about Learning For Life, or to get involved in fundraising activities, call 9836 5516 or go to learningforlife.com.au.
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