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. – Stella Young
The purpose of our justice system is to reflect the values of our society and to punish those who violate our standards. – Stella Young
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 and careers. – Stella Young
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. – Stella Young
Too often, we fall into the trap of thinking ‘equal’ means ‘the same’ and that we achieve equality by treating everyone identically. – Stella Young
Yooralla, like most disability service organisations, is full of good people who are passionate about the rights of people with disabilities. – Stella Young
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 that, but the impact of disability is less. – Stella Young
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. – Stella Young
I do sometimes painful things to my body in an effort to conform to culturally imposed beauty ideals. – Stella Young
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. – Stella Young
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. – Stella Young
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.’ – Stella Young
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. – Stella Young
I do not identify as a person with a disability. I’m a disabled person. And I’ll be a monkey’s disabled uncle if I’m going to apologise for that. – Stella Young
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
I tend not to think about living to some grand old age. Then again, I don’t think about dying, either. – Stella Young
For me, and for many other people with disabilities, our status as disabled people is one of which we are fiercely proud. – Stella Young
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. – Stella Young
We are a society that treats people with disabilities with condescension and pity, not dignity and respect. – Stella Young
Apologies are great, but they don’t really change anything. You know what does? Action. – Stella Young
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. – Stella Young
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
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. – Stella Young
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?’ – Stella Young
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. – Stella Young
I, like many women, buy into patriarchal standards of beauty every day. I very rarely leave the house without make-up. I dye my hair. I wear clothes that I choose carefully for how they make me look to the outside world. – Stella Young
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. – Stella Young
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. – Stella Young
