Chloe Tear

Chloe is an award-winning blogger who started while doing her GCSEs. She explains: What do you do when you look around and cannot seem to find someone who you can truly relate to? For myself, this was the initial driving force for starting a blog. It may sound simple, but I had the power to change how I felt about my disability and I still have the power to change how others view disability.

Ten years on: Chloe’s blog is read by over 800,000 people. She writes about her day-to-day life with adaptations to work around cerebral palsy, amplified musculoskeletal pain disorder and a newly diagnosed visual impairment. She is supportive, open and practical about living with a disability, showing young people and families that it’s OK to be themselves, and sharing tips along the way. Her matter-of-fact, humorous writing style engages a wide audience. Chloe challenges negative attitudes and stereotypes, speaking about cerebral palsy at numerous conferences, school events, interviews and online.

In 2017, Chloe was named on the Princess Diana Award Roll of Honour, and last year she won Scope’s Disability GameChanger Volunteer Award. Chloe has worked with the BBC, Cosmopolitan and Able magazine and developed a partnership with RNIB to bring these issues to a wider audience. Her partnership with the Times Higher Education magazine has included social media takeovers, articles, and being a panellist at their events.

Chloe was elected Disabilities Officer at her university, where she held awareness stands and improved access for disabled students. She graduated with a First-Class honours degree in Psychology & Child Development and has worked with her MP to get questions asked in parliament about disability hate crime. She was awarded a Prime Minister’s Points of Light Award for her work. She previously worked for Scope as a content designer where she writes information about benefits, social care and education that is easy to understand. This ensures disabled people get the support they need. She is now a senior content designer for DWP for the GOV.UK team.