WE ROAR Magazine issue 04 - Magazine - Page 47
You are very active in the disability space
and in working with the government to
create change. What projects or activities
are you working on now?
I battled extreme internalised ableism
growing up as I didn9t have a Disabled
support network around me, but as soon as
I found my community my attitude to who I
was shifted dramatically. That would be
my advice to any Disabled person
struggling with how they feel about
themselves or how we are portrayed.
Follow the right people on social media,
listen to the right podcasts, build
friendships, find groups and 8find your
people9.
Lot9s of top secret projects that I wish I
could shout from the hills about! But also
working on some fantastic projects working
to entrench The United Nations Convention
on The Rights of Disabled Persons into
legislation both here and abroad.
In our chat, you mentioned to me how
disabled people being showcased as
"superhuman" really made you feel "not
superhuman" as a teen. How did you
overcome this (or not), and how did it affect
you? Do you have any advice for someone
else who feels this way right now?
I would recommend the following absolute
powerhouses to follow if you are looking to
find more positive Disabled voices to add
to your every day: Amy Francis-Smith,
Jamie Shields, David Shiels, Shani Dhanda,
Mark Esho, Brooke Millhouse, Millie
Flemmington-Clare and Chamiah Dewey.
I preface by saying that a Disabled person
may choose to describe themselves in
whichever way they feel comfortable and
relate to most. But as a society we have to
be very careful about the language we are
using to describe Disabled people, as it can
be incredibly damaging. I remember when
the
language
8Superhuman9
was
everywhere during the 2012 Paralympics,
on one hand although empowering, I
personally felt like a failure. I wasn9t an
athlete at the top of my game, I was at
home, sick. The media took the language
and made Disabled people feel like if they
weren9t athletes then they weren9t
8superhuman9 - we were somehow the
failed 8Disabled9 people.
You mentioned recently in a LI post that
you don't see much representation in
media for people who use feeding tubes.
Why do you feel this is, and what can we
do about it?
Quite simply, feeding tubes are not a 8sexy9
topic. To talk about feeding tubes, we have
to talk about bowels, tummies, poo, food,
bathroom habits and more, and people
don't want to see it or talk about it. I had
one marketing team tell me 8that it was just
too far right now for people9. What can we
do about this? Well I9ll keep shouting it
from the rooftops, until people listen, learn
and acknowledge us. I don't want us to be
hidden away, disgusted or laughed at. We
need to
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