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'Enabled Not Disabled'

Assembly with Key Speaker

'At Senior House assembly, we welcomed Ryan Raghoo, an international wheelchair athlete and founder of the charity 'Enabled Not Disabled'. Ryan was born with cerebral palsy which, as is well known, is a neurological disorder which affects movement. People with this disability have to have extensive physiotherapy even to gain partial mobility and the toll on their mental health is invariably considerable. Notwithstanding this condition, Ryan set his heart on becoming an international long jumper. Working with a coach at Brunel University who had not previously coached disabled athletes, Ryan more than succeeded, becoming World Champion in 2018. This goal accomplished, he immediately went back to training full-time, determined to become Paralympic Champion. In retrospect, he said, he should have savoured the moment much more. His long jumping career was then cut short by injury. Accordingly, as well as founding his charity, which aims to achieve greater equality for people with disabilities, he moved into wheelchair rugby, representing Great Britain. The pupils were keenly interested in what Ryan had to say. Pupils in Years 5-8 then had the opportunity to participate in workshops where they were able to explore issues surrounding sport and disability more extensively. The valuable work carried out by Ryan and others has undoubtedly changed the way that society perceives people with disabilities: where previously they were marginalised members of the community on account of what were perceived to be devastating afflictions, now they are seen more as examples of resilience and triumph over adversity with a special contribution to make.