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About Take Charge of Change

Many children and young people with disability and their families tell us they feel unprepared when navigating school, disability, health, and community services.

Take Charge of Change is a free collection of practical, accessible resources to help children and young people with disability, parents and caregivers feel more confident during major life changes, like starting school or moving into employment.

The resources were co-designed with children and young people with disability, parents, and caregivers, and reflect lived experiences of autism, intellectual disability, physical disability, and psychosocial disability. The co-design process also included people from rural and regional areas, culturally diverse communities, and LGBTQIA+ communities.

A teacher at a curved desk showing a young child with curly red hair a picture book about a cat while also using assistive communication on a tablet. The teacher is a black woman with rosy cheeks and hair up in a bun. Further along the desk, another young child is reading a picture book about a cat. They have dark skin and short brown hair, and they are wearing wire rimmed glasses. Bits of stationary and worksheets are scattered about the desk.
Three vector images side by side. The first is of two young people using assistive communication on their mobile devices. The person on the left is holding up a tablet and has the infinity symbol on his jacket, the one on the right has a mobile phone and purple hair. Both are smiling. The second image is a young woman with brown skin and short brown curly hair. She is using a manual wheelchair and smiling as she looks at the tablet attached to the arm of the chair. She is wearing an orange jumper and blue boots. The third image is a father and young son, both with brown skin and afros, wearing salmon coloured shirts. They are reading a yellow book together and using sign language. The son is wearing a hearing aid.

Resources for parents of children with disability

These resources have been co-designed with parents of children with disability aged 0-12.

Vector image of a woman showing a young girl a purple tablet with coloured squares on the screen. The girl is tapping at the screen. Both have black hair and brown skin. The woman has her hair half up and is wearing a blue jumper. The young girl is wearing glasses and a purple jumper.

Resources for young people with disability​

These resources have been co-designed with young people with disability aged 13-25.

Vector image of a young man with short black hair and olive skin, wearing a black sweater, using a brain-computer interface to operate a screen attached to the side of his wheelchair.

Learn about how these resources were made

The Take Charge of Change resources have been co-designed with over 80 children and young people with disability, parents, and caregivers across 48 co-design sessions.

In our Wave One resource launch webinar, the project team and co-designers share:

  • how lived experience shaped these resources

  • what authentic co-design looked like across the project

  • how the tools support transitions like school, work, and community life

  • what’s planned next

Sharing the Story of Co-Design

Co-designers have shared insights from their lived experience and worked together to identify topics where information resources are needed, choose audiences and resource types, and give extensive feedback on multiple rounds of drafts.

This process has been captured in a series of five graphic recordings, illustrated by Kaygan Lane. Click below to explore the co-design journey: