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" It is nothing short of baffling to me how a city like Melbourne, where I struggle to find accessible facilities on a very regular basis, could be considered the most livable city in the world. I suppose it all depends on what makes a city 'livable' for you. "

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" Let me make this clear: my impairment is such that without a wheelchair, I can't do very much for myself. I can't get out of bed. I can't get myself to the toilet. I certainly can't get myself to work. "

Stella Young

Toilet

Bed

Myself

" Disability is often framed, in medical terms, as the ultimate disaster and certainly as a deficit. "

" From time to time, people pat me on the head. It happens on public transport, in the supermarket, in bars. It's a common enough occurrence that it very rarely takes me completely by surprise. "

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

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

" It is a truth universally acknowledged that from puberty onwards, the female body is disgusting and unruly and must be tamed, trimmed and tinted to within an inch of its life before it can be allowed to roam freely in the public eye. "

" 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

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

" 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

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

" I use the term 'disabled people' quite deliberately, because I subscribe to what's called the social model of disability, which tells us that we are more disabled by the society that we live in than by our bodies and our diagnoses. "

Stella Young

Live

People

" 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. "

" 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. "

" 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

" My everyday life in which I do exactly the same things as everyone else should not inspire people, and yet I am constantly congratulated by strangers for simply existing. "

" 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. "

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

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

Stella Young

Everyone

Say

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

Stella Young

Generous

Side

" From pink water bottles for breast cancer to dumping a bucket of ice water on your head for neuromuscular conditions, it seems we're bombarded by requests to be 'aware' of one thing or another. "

" In many ways, I'm incredibly lucky to have been born with my impairment and that it's visible. It means my path has been predictable. "

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

Stella Young

Rich

Just

" I identify very proudly as a disabled woman. I identify with the crip community. I didn't invent the word 'crip'. It's a political ideology I came to in my late teens and early 20s. "

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

" 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. "

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

" The battle to find a workplace that's wheelchair accessible is a feat in itself, let alone an employer who's going to be cool about employing someone with a disability in a job you actually want to do. "