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" It became very clear to me that Yooralla was not as interested in media coverage that explored issues faced by people with disability as it was in giving a pat on the back to journalists who maintained the status quo by giving readers the warm and fuzzies over their morning paper. "

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" Disability informs almost every part of my life. It's as important, if not more so, than my gender and sexuality. It's certainly a great deal more important to me than my religion or whether or not I caught a tram, ferry or bus to work. "

Stella Young

My Life

Life

Great

" 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

" 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. "

" 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. "

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

" I have a condition that is included among the 200 or so classified as Dwarfism. "

" 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?' "

" 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. "

" 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

" By far, the most disabling thing in my life is the physical environment. It dictates what I can and can't do every day. "

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

Stella Young

Generous

Side

" 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

" For lots of us, disabled people are not our teachers or our doctors or our manicurists. We're not real people. We are there to inspire. "

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

Stella Young

Rich

Just

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

" 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. "

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

" When patronised, I'm unfortunately more flight than fight. Perhaps it's because I actually feel quite wounded. "

Stella Young

Because

Than

" Believe me, people with disabilities are just as concerned about benefit fraud as anyone else. Money spent on those who are not in need is money that isn't being spent on vital services to support us in the community. "

Stella Young

Money

People

" Physical access is one of the very first issues disability rights activists of the 1960s and '70s fought for. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

" On the whole, my life is and has been wonderful. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

" I quickly learned that asking if an interview space was wheelchair accessible was a bad idea; it gave a potential employer an immediate bad impression. It was either a black mark against my name, or a straight up discussion of why I wouldn't be able to work there because they had no wheelchair access. "

" 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. "

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

" 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. "

" We all learn how to use the bodies we're born with, or learn to use them in an adjusted state, whether those bodies are considered disabled or not. "