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" I am repeatedly asked in interviews exactly 'what's wrong' with me, and I always give them the same answer; I don't identify the name of my condition in an interview unless it's relevant to the context of the story. "

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" I am not a snowflake. I am not a sweet, infantilising symbol of fragility and life. I am a strong, fierce, flawed adult woman. I plan to remain that way, in life and in death. "

Stella Young

Strong

Sweet

I Am

" For me, in some ways, my whole life is a bit performative and always has been - because I'm stared at and looked at everywhere I go. "

Stella Young

Always

Because

" I don't generally talk about medical terms when I discuss my position as a disabled person. I take a social rather than medical approach to disability, and so long Latin names for congenital conditions are not relevant. "

" Most disability charity hinges on that notion - that you need to send your money in quick before all these poor, pitiful people die. Peddling pity brings in the bucks, yo. "

" I have a condition called Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI), which has affected my growth and bone strength. In short, people with the kind of OI I have generally experience hundreds of fractures in their lifetime and use wheelchairs for mobility. "

" The thing about living with any disability is that you adapt; you do what works for you. "

" If everyone's looking at me, I might as well say something interesting. "

Stella Young

Everyone

Say

" I once choked on a chip at a friend's birthday when I was seven and had to be sent home, as I'd broken my collarbone coughing. "

" Self esteem and a healthy body image for people with disabilities are so often hard-fought. "

" Even those among us who are lucky enough to love our jobs would have to admit that at least part of the reason we work is to earn money. In between all this work, we like to eat out at restaurants, go on trips, buy nice things, not to mention pay rent and meet the cost of living. "

" I used to think of myself in terms of who I'd be if I didn't have this pesky old disability. "

" My mother loves to remind me that about the age of four, I made a somewhat formal announcement that I was going to be a plumber when I grew up. "

Stella Young

Mother

Plumber

" The sentiment of those suggesting the Olympics and Paralympics be combined is no doubt well intentioned. But it also echoes the myth that disabled people want to be other than what we are - that we'd like nothing more than to be 'allowed in' with the able-bodied competitors. "

" We are a society that treats people with disabilities with condescension and pity, not dignity and respect. "

" From my first days in Washington D.C., where I rolled a whole four downtown blocks without seeing a single shop, cafe, bar or restaurant I could not access, to the beautifully accessible buses in New York City, I was in heaven. "

" Death is not treatment, even if it's medically facilitated. "

" Paralympic sport and other disability sport can and should be celebrated in its own right. "

" We think we know what it's all about; we think that disability is a really simple thing, and we don't expect to see disabled people in our daily lives. "

" I really love filling out forms - quite fortuitous, really, given that as one of Australia's 4 million-ish disabled people, ticking boxes and recording my life for other people is what I've spent a fair chunk of my time doing. "

" People with disabilities are simply part of diverse communities in the U.S. "

" Too often, we fall into the trap of thinking 'equal' means 'the same' and that we achieve equality by treating everyone identically. "

" Let's not forget that the Paralympics, just like the Olympics, are built on a rich history. "

Stella Young

Rich

Just

" I do sometimes painful things to my body in an effort to conform to culturally imposed beauty ideals. "

" Personally, I like a generous side of wheelchair access with my cities. "

Stella Young

Generous

Side

" It's undeniable that what we are taught as a culture to believe about disability is at odds with traditional notions of masculinity. "

" I let go of the notion of wanting someone to ignore the way I look in order to find me attractive, because really, what kind of relationship would that be? One where someone's only attracted to you because they're ignoring a fundamental part of you? No thanks. "

Stella Young

Way

Look

" Yooralla, like most disability service organisations, is full of good people who are passionate about the rights of people with disabilities. "

" We often hear that people mean well: that so many just don't how to interact with people with disabilities. They're unsure of the 'right' reaction, so they default to condescension that makes them feel better in the face of their discomfort. "

" Yooralla is a people pleaser with a very powerful PR machine. "

" The killing of a disabled person is not 'compassionate'. It is not 'euthanasia'. It is murder. "