Hayden, who lives with fragile X syndrome, has since ticked off 36 bureaus, more than half of the ABC’s 56 locations around Australia.<\/p>\n
When he and his family set off from their New South Wales home, the goal was to visit as many ABC studios as they could to honour Hayden’s lifelong passion for the public broadcaster.<\/p>\n
![\"a](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1b538ede50e45706bd6f6f06b8719e21.jpeg\")
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Hayden has met presenters from across Australia while travelling with his family, a journey that has taken just under two years. (Supplied: Phil Eastbury)<\/p>\n
“Travelling around Australia, a lot of people can find a bit of a theme, you know, visit national parks, or see the ‘big things’. But our theme has been finding purpose for Hayden through the ABC,” dad Phil Eastbury told the ABC.<\/p>\n
“We also kind of felt as a family a bit ‘therapy-ed’ out, if I’m honest, so we thought what better way to seek new opportunities, and develop a lot of what we learnt through therapy, we can take it out on the road and apply that out in the community.”<\/p>\n
![\"a](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/23ff93a5e69f7f05bab042622d9b13d0.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
The Eastbury family say they are determined to reach every ABC bureau in Australia, regardless of how remote the location is. (Supplied: Phil Eastbury)<\/p>\n
Phil said the visits have helped Hayden, who one day hopes to work for the public broadcaster, develop his confidence in asking and answering questions.<\/p>\n
“He has learnt how to hold the microphone, how to ask probing questions; it has really helped to develop his inquisitive nature,” he said.![\"Hayden](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/e1af30d25afd5b4878ed0eaccb1baa32.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Hayden met Leigh Sales, who presents shows such as Australian Story and The Assembly, where she mentors autistic journalism students. (Supplied: Phil Eastbury)<\/p>\n
A birthday present from the ABC<\/p>\n
This week marks another special milestone for Hayden: his 18th birthday.<\/p>\n
To celebrate, his favourite presenters from across the country, many of whom he watches every day, have wished him happy birthday.<\/p>\n
Loading…<\/p>\n
When asked what bureau was his favourite, Hayden said there was a clear winner.<\/p>\n
“My favourite bureau I’ve loved, I think, is Perth because it’s a good one,” Hayden said.<\/p>\n
“I loved Pamela [Medlen] and using her desk, and Tabarak Al Jrood’s weather wall.”<\/p>\n
Hayden shows how everyone is unique<\/p>\n
Fragile X is a mutation of the X chromosome that can lead to a wide range of physical, intellectual and behavioural symptoms, according to the Fragile X Association of Australia.<\/p>\n
Executive director Wendy Bruce said Hayden’s story had resonated with so many as an example of how families with children with disabilities can find original ways to fulfil their children’s passion.<\/p>\n
“I think it has helped to deepen people’s understanding that everyone with a disability is unique; they all have different strengths, abilities, challenges, and that leads to needing different support needs,” Ms Bruce said.<\/p>\n
![\"Hayden](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/97e8c521c0ff9df9914c7ae1eedfa304.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
The Kalgoorlie ABC team in Western Australia gave Hayden the chance to be their radio presenter. (Supplied: Phil Eastbury)<\/p>\n
“Their interactions with so many people around the country have really painted a broader picture of living with fragile X syndrome and disability, but [also] the possibilities of being so engaged in the community.”<\/p>\n
Ms Bruce said it had inspired other families to take “the road less travelled”.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/555a19ffa6fe72ad034f4a96d99aa592.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Hayden was able to meet up with ABC News presenter Joe O’Brien while in Sydney. (Supplied: Phil Eastbury)<\/p>\n
“There is so much positivity in our own fragile X community from this, everyone is following Hayden’s journey, bureau by bureau,” she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For Newcastle local Hayden Eastbury, the ABC is not just something he tunes into each morning, noon, and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":873279,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[2655,64,63,7110,107182,441817,36344,97384,621,10668,44,389343,441818,441816,245,3792],"class_list":["post-873278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-abc","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-disability","tag-fragile-x-syndrome","tag-hayden-eastbury","tag-lisa-millar","tag-nate-byrne","tag-national","tag-newcastle","tag-news","tag-newsrooms","tag-pamela-medlan","tag-superfan","tag-tour","tag-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/873278","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=873278"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/873278\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/873279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=873278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=873278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=873278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}