IDPwD ambassadors elevate the voices of fellow Aussies

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The Achieve Australia team were thrilled to recently meet new International Day of People with Disability Day (IDPwD) ambassadors, Braeden Jones and mum Julie. The two had a stall at The Good Fair promoting their blog Have Wheelchair Will Travel. Braeden’s dad Mark and sister Amelia were also on the stand.

Braeden, who lives with Cerebral Palsy, is the first non-verbal person to act as a IDPwD ambassador. He and Julie are amongst 6 Australian ambassadors, Akii Ngo, Nathan Basha, Chloe Hayden, Uncle Wilfred Prince and Eliza Hull. You can meet some of them through the YouTube videos we have shared below.

When Braeden was a child, the Jones family won a trip to Disneyland and their journey with accessible travel began. Julie decided to create a blog to provide tips and inspiration for people with disability the world over to act on their dreams of travelling. She also created the magazine, Travel Without Limits. Read about Braeden and Julie’s favourite innovations that make travel easier for people with disability.

Braeden is now 34 and his sister Amelia, 19 and along with their parents have become experts in accessible travel.

Hear Braeden and Julie tell their story. The duo have influenced governments and companies to go that extra kilometre in making travel more accessible.

Hear author, actor and advocate Chloe Hayden talk about the strengths of being neurodivergent. Now 25, Chloe says her parents were told about the things she couldn’t do because she was autistic. She says she is doing amazing things because she is autistic.

Hear model and disability advocate Akii Ngo talk about the impact of being in an advertising campaign in a wheelchair had on other people with disability seeing themselves represented for the first time.

Hear Aboriginal disability advocate Uncle Wilfred Prince talk about resilience as a proud Kalkadoon man living with disability. He has represented Queensland 11 times in wheelchair sports, worked for the State Library of Queensland for 30 years and continues to be a disability advocate.

Hear musician, writer and mum of 2, Eliza Hull talks about being a wheelchair user and the barriers she faced wanting to become a parent and also a musician and how this motivated her to become a powerful voice for people with disability.

Hear motivational speaker Nathan Basha talk about what inspired him growing up, how companies can benefit from diverse workforces and employing people with disability and why being a IDPwD ambassador is important to him.

From everyone at Achieve Australia, have an awesome International Day of People with Disability.