This immersion program invites students to see ‘beyond the chair’. Working with people from various disability groups, this immersion will help 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, great determination and great self-discipline they are achieving extraordinary things. They are representing their country at sport, are engaging in fulfilling careers and are 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 and share their story and insights,
• students given the opportunity to get into a chair and participate in wheelchair sessions (eg: basketball, power chair football, music or art) with members of the community,
• and a conceptual framework and reflection of the learnings from the experience and how it may inform future views and behaviours. 

It’s through this participation that we see the student’s mindset 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