Stella Young
Stella Young
Stella Jane Youngwas an Australian comedian, journalist and disability rights activist...
NationalityAustralian
ProfessionComedian
Date of Birth24 February 1982
CountryAustralia
accessible against asking bad discussion either employer gave immediate interview learned mark potential quickly straight wheelchair work
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.
create disabled environment hardly home obviously works
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.
parents pretended quite worked
My parents didn't know what to do with me, so they just pretended I was normal, and that worked out quite well for me.
given work
I'm a full-time wheelchair user. And yet, given the right circumstances, I am able to work.
certainly 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 can't get myself to work.
admit among buy cost earn eat jobs love lucky meet mention money nice pay reason rent work
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.
almost bus caught certainly deal disability gender great informs life religion whether work
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.
esteem image people
Self esteem and a healthy body image for people with disabilities are so often hard-fought.
currently economic life paying taxes
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.
included
I have a condition that is included among the 200 or so classified as Dwarfism.
celebrated sports
Paralympic sport and other disability sport can and should be celebrated in its own right.
accessible bar blocks buses days downtown four seeing single washington york
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.
incredibly means
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.
beauty conform imposed painful
I do sometimes painful things to my body in an effort to conform to culturally imposed beauty ideals.