Blaze the Trail: creating a better future for people with disabilities

Last month, a group of young people with cerebral palsy came together to launch the CPActive ‘Blaze the Trail’ campaign. Here, disability advocate Merusha Pride shares her perspective on the day – and where to next for this exciting project.

Wednesday 23^rd November was the launch of CPActive’s Blaze the Trail. A world’s first campaign that was design by an incredible group of young people to build better pathways from school to work. Fourteen CPActive champions, Sophie Geeves, Eric Barrett, Nicholas Lapsley, Eirean Wood, Meret Hassanen, Declan Lee, who, unfortunately, could not be there in person, Jack Calderan, Jack McCutcheon, Nicole Kozeji, Aaryan Shah, Tahlia Blanshard, Joseph Issa, Sasha Dansereau, and me, Marusha Pride, launched this campaign at Barangaroo. We were joined by the shadow minister for disability, Kate Washington.

Our presentation covered three main areas:

• Provisions for exams at school and University
• Pathways for teachers with disabilities to enter the teaching workforce, and;
• A statewide initiative to help develop professional pathway for students with disability.

Our presenters shared their experiences in each of these areas. Tahlia kicked off the launch with an introduction and her experiences with provision in university. We had Nicole and Sophie speak about exam provisions in both school and university.

Next up, Aaryan and Eirean talked about having more teachers with disabilities in the teaching field.

Then Jack C and Meret shared their experiences with pathways into larger workplaces and businesses. We were honoured to receive positive feedback from the shadow minister.

We had the opportunity to chat with our guests and make connections while the interviews with the remaining champions were being conducted. Then we went to the pub to celebrate our launch with [CPA staff member] Teigan Butchers. All in all, it was a great day!

Head here to get involved in the campaign and sign the petition!