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" I currently live independently without any funded support. I'm educated, and I'm employed. I enjoy paying my taxes and contributing to the economic life of Australia. "

Related Quotes:

" In Australia, a deaf person attending an interview must take their own interpreter at their own expense, or ask the employer to provide one. Believe me, nothing says 'I'm the best person for this job' quite like asking an employer to pay to interview you. "

Stella Young

Believe

You

" People get all up in arms when I describe myself as a crip because what they hear is the word 'cripple,' and they hear a word you're not allowed to say anymore. "

" I grew up in a very small country town in Victoria. I had a very normal, low-key kind of upbringing. I went to school, I hung out with my friends, I fought with my younger sisters. It was all very normal. "

" 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

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

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

" There are real-world, devastating consequences for disabled women marginalised by the kinds of attitudes that deny them full agency over what happens to their bodies. "

" Disability doesn't make you exceptional, but questioning what you think you know about it does. "

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

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

" For me, and for many other people with disabilities, our status as disabled people is one of which we are fiercely proud. "

Stella Young

Disabilities

Proud

" 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. "

" The purpose of our justice system is to reflect the values of our society and to punish those who violate our standards. "

" As disabled people, we are taught from a young age that those who are attracted to us are to be regarded with suspicion. "

Stella Young

People

Who

" I went to school, I got good marks, I had a very low key after-school job, and I spent a lot of time watching 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' and 'Dawson's Creek.' "

" For me, disability is a physical experience, but it's also a cultural experience and a social experience, and for me, the word 'crip' is the one that best encapsulated all of that. "

Stella Young

Best

Disability

" The mere suggestion that not speaking for a day can give you an appreciation of the social isolation that comes with the experience of disability, particularly those whose impairments prohibit them from communicating verbally, is insensitive at best. "

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

" The magnitude of discrimination and stigma faced by people with disability in Australia cannot be underestimated. People do not understand disability, and people fear what they don't understand. "

" 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

" 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

" We fill our lives with all sorts of things that make it easier for us to get along in the world: wheelchairs, crutches, grabber sticks, hearing aids, canes, guide dogs, modified vehicles, ramps, as well as other kinds of services and supports. Disability does not necessarily mean dependence on other people. "

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

Stella Young

Everyone

Say

" When I was seven and watched an episode of 'Beyond 2000' that featured a floating armchair, I thought we'd definitely have one of those by 15, at the latest. "

" The Paralympics have for too long been considered the poor cousin of the Olympics. It's always run after the main games and rarely gets anything like the media coverage. "

" As a wheelchair user, I am utterly obsessed with toilets, and all my friends know it. A simple invitation to the pub is consistently followed by, 'Do you know if they have an accessible toilet?' "

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

" The problem for many people with disabilities is not that we are not able to work a certain number of hours a week. It's that no-one will let us. "

Stella Young

Week

Problem

" 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. "

" I've got the best job in the world; I love it. I get to meet so many interesting people, and I get to make sure that other people with disabilities can tell their own stories as well. "