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

I’ve lost count of the number of times that I’ve been approached by strangers wanting to tell me that they think I’m brave or inspirational, and this was long before my work had any kind...

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...

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

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....

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

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.

Apologies are great, but they don’t really change anything. You know what does? Action.

In my own home, where I’ve been able to create an environment that works for me, I’m hardly disabled at all. I still have an impairment, and there are obviously some very restrictive things about...

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.

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.

I’m a full-time wheelchair user. And yet, given the right circumstances, I am able to work.

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...

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

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

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

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...

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...

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

Many of us, particularly those of us with disabilities who have faced persistent discrimination throughout our lives, not least when trying to find employment in the first place, take enormous pride in our hard-fought jobs...

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...

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

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.

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.

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...

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

People are uncomfortable about disability, and so interactions can become unintentionally uncomfortable.

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 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.

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

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

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.

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...

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...

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.

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

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...

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.

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...

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?’

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...

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...

Doctors are not fortune tellers, and neither am I. Having lived with disability since birth does not afford me immunity from illness.