Our 15 year old daughter, Sasha has been selected to represent Australia in an All Abilities dance team competing in the World Cheerleading and Dance Championships being held in April 2026 in Orlando, Florida, USA.

This is an opportunity of a lifetime for Sasha and something she has worked hard for with her dancing. It is an opportunity which has come about through the Madeline Stuart Dance Company. To get to this level, despite the many obstacles Sasha has had to face along the way due to her disabilities, is a massive achievement.

Sasha started having seizures the day after her 4th birthday and was diagnosed with Epilepsy. None of the medications were working to stop the seizures so after many tests it was ascertained that Sasha would be a candidate for Neurosurgery. At 5 years old Sasha underwent Neurosurgery to remove the part of her brain which had been identified as causing the seizures. The surgery was successful and Sasha as seizure free and no longer on any medications. However, due to the part of Sasha’s brain which was removed she now had a speech impairment, learning delays, ADHD, Autism, Sensory Processing Disorder and Executive Function Disorder.

We were just finding our feet with all of this and then Sasha’s seizures returned. She was put back on the medications however, at least this time it was only two medications rather than four at a time. The medications seemed to control the epileptic seizures however, Sasha was now also having non-epileptic seizures which the Drs advised were being caused by the trauma, stress and anxiety of the return of the epileptic seizures.

Sasha started dancing when she was 3.5 years old then swapped to rhythmic gymnastics after her neurosurgery. When her seizures returned, due to safety reasons, Sasha had to give up rhythmic gymnastics which she loved. She then moved back to dancing and found her love of being able to dance in different styles, rather than just ballet. Her favourite styles being Lyrical, Jazz, Broadway Jazz, Hip Hop and Tap. Sasha danced as part of a Performance Team and also Solos in competitions, qualifying for Nationals with her high scores.

No matter what obstacles Sasha’s disabilities have created, Sasha has managed to keep up with her dancing.