Beyond the Chair

“I would love people to go into schools and put kids in a chair, and let them see just what it's like from our point of view, because they see it as either something “different”, or “you’re sick” because you’re in a wheelchair, and they don’t know how to talk to you because you’re in a wheelchair.”
Tracey Jackson
Retired Australian Para-shooting Team member and MDQ community member

Beyond the Chair is our foundational program.

This immersion program invites participants to see ‘beyond the chair’.

Working with people from various disability groups, this immersion helps participants come to know the people whose whole lives have been framed by living ‘trapped’ in a wheelchair. But these people are far from trapped. Through great courage, determination and self-discipline they are achieving extraordinary things. They are representing their country at sport, engaging in fulfilling careers and enjoying lives that are a mixture of the good and the bad that we all share.

    This program is developed around a structured curriculum which sees:
  • members of disability communities go into schools/organisations and share their story and insights
  • participants given the opportunity to get into a chair and participate in wheelchair sessions (eg: basketball, powerchair football, music or art) with members of the community
  • conceptual framework and reflection to connect the key concepts and drive attitudinal change and provide meaning and purpose to the experience.

It’s through this participation that we see  mindsets change:
There is no us & them, the barrier of “difference” is broken down on the playing field.
We are all “the same” The idea of inclusiveness is lived, learned and experienced not just read about in a text.