Programmes, campaigns and activations — documented.

Challenge

Learners across the intermediate and senior phases had little structured exposure to disability, leaving misconceptions unchallenged and peers with disabilities socially isolated.

Solution

YDTO delivered an age-banded programme that met each grade group where they were — story-based learning for younger learners, and expo-style inclusive technology showcases and open dialogue for senior learners.

Activities

• Clara the Cow and Ollie the Octopus story sessions for the intermediate phase
• Learner-led performances and creative group work
• Inclusive technology showcase at the science expo
• Teamwork and interactive empathy activities
• Open question-and-answer dialogue with senior learners

Outcomes

• Grades 4–12 engaged in a single coordinated programme day
• Learners publicly presented their own inclusion messages
• Follow-up interest from educators for recurring sessions

Challenge

Disability inclusion is often treated as a local compliance issue rather than a shared, global responsibility that learners can act on.

Solution

The core YDTO curriculum was adapted for an international audience, focusing on accessibility, diversity and equality as universal principles learners can apply in their own schools and future careers.

Activities

• Interactive workshop on accessibility and equality
• Facilitated discussion on advocacy in schools and workplaces
• Learner commitments to inclusion actions

Outcomes

• First cross-border programme delivery completed
• Framework validated outside the South African context
• Foundation laid for the future global chapter network

Challenge

Awareness work that stops at the school gate misses the informal spaces where young people actually form attitudes about difference.

Solution

YDTO adapted its three-phase model — story-based learning, reflection, and interactive demonstration — for camp and facility settings, where activity-led learning works best.

Activities

• South African Sign Language (SASL) introductions
• Blindfold obstacle courses and mobility demonstrations
• Sensory and communication challenge stations
• Small-group reflection and discussion

Outcomes

• Programme model proven outside formal school timetables
• Volunteers trained as facilitators through live delivery
• Repeatable format for camps and youth facilities

Challenge

Disability stories rarely reach mainstream media, and when they do surface online it is often as a punchline — leaving lived experience invisible and role models absent.

Solution

YDTO built its own media presence, responding publicly to harmful narratives while placing young disabled voices on regional and national radio and television.

Activities

• Public response campaigns on disability mockery online
• Radio and television interviews and features
• Attendance at the Inclusive Futures: Reimagining Business and Disability symposium
• Youth-led storytelling published through @ydto.movement

Outcomes

• 10+ media features across radio, television and online press
• Coverage spanning community radio to national broadcast
• A growing library of youth-authored disability content

Challenge

Families living with cerebral palsy often carry the load privately, with little public recognition or community support structure around them.

Solution

A public walk built as a community moment — accessible by design, media-facing, and organised so that families are participants rather than subjects.

Activities

• Community walk with accessible route planning
• Family and caregiver participation
• Media presence and public awareness messaging
• Volunteer mobilisation across the Pretoria network

Outcomes

• Annual flagship moment established on the YDTO calendar
• Central mobilisation point for volunteers and partners