I attended the I.Lead conference with my mum in Wellington. It meant a lot to me. If I could name a few things: It would be storytelling from our speakers. This taught me how much our experiences will strengthen us and others. Another thing would be creating our submissions, hoping the government would look into it and do something about it; Writing out our intentions and ideas on creating effective accessible strategic possibilities for ourselves and the next generation; To strive and grow as a youth member who has been a former member and a part of different youth groups, I believe disabled youth can participate in discussions about what is going on in their community and share their input; Showing compassion for the goals they want to achieve in the process of making profound changes for themselves and the government to realise that we do have the potential and power to create systems that are more accessible and effective for ourselves and the disability communities that we all represent as disabled youth. I’ve learnt that being there at the conference allowed every person who is born with a disability to step out of a discussion if it makes them feel uncomfortable. Another thing I’ve learnt is when we come up with ideas or do a submission ourselves, we often have to come up with a solution that benefits everyone who has an intellectual disability and physical disability. The youth groups I’ve been a part of and currently a part of have been ‘Te Mahau Advisory People with Disabilities General Member Ministry Of Education,’ ‘Manurewa Youth Council Former General Member,’ ‘Te Whatu Ora Consumer Council General Member,’ Vaka Tautua Boost Pasifika General Member,’ ‘I.Lead General Committee Member.’

In conclusion, we should be more recognizable by the government that assumes we are unable to make decisions and treats us horribly by cuts to our disability funding that allows our support carers to take care of us and support equipment, e.g technology gadgets, sensory toys etc. There should be a representative in parliament who is born with a disability and has lived experience, to share their core values and submissions that have been submitted by disabled youth. It should be noted that there is a strong foundation to show ableism that disabled youth are more likely to know what it is like to be born with a disability and lived experience.