Yes, it’s true. On Tuesday the 31st of January I’ll be speaking at the European Parliament with the other co-founders of Disabled Survivors Unite. I can’t quite believe this is happening, even though I’ve been sitting on the news for a month now. We are speaking on the panel “Domestic Violence Against People with Disabilities”…
Category: Disability and Identity
My identity as a disabled person is very important to me. It has undoubtedly shaped my life experiences, including how I interact with others and obtain an education.
It was other disabled people that taught me how to value my body, how to love myself and reject society’s perception of disability.
What it’s Like to Look Blind
“I don’t want to look blind,” they say. I hear it time and time again in discussions with other people, those who have recently lost their sight and also those who have been blind since birth. “I’ll use sighted guide, if I walk with someone nobody will know.” “I won’t use a cane. I can’t…
Finding a cure: Navigating societal prejudice and the importance of choice
Facebook, that place where many of us share too much, myself included. I’m browsing through my news feed, past memes and discussions of religion. It’s then I hear it. Gene therapy. These words are not new to me, I first heard about studies that aim to treat my specific form of blindness when I was…
Happy World Braille Day!
I started to learn braille when I was only a toddler. By the age of four and a half I entered school being able to read and write uncontracted braille. I then progressed onto grade 2 (contracted braille) and the maths and science codes. Braille was the foundation of my education. It enabled me to…
Being a blind student in 2016: A far cry from accessible
Being a student is many things. Being a blind student adds an extra layer onto all of them. For me, it has been laughter and friendship, discovering new places, selfie’s and food with great people. But it’s also been a pretty stressful experience, thanks to a lack of organisation on the part of my university….
When I Didn’t Have the Words
I only recently discovered the term ableism. Up until then I knew that being disabled changed the way people acted around me but I had no word to encompass what was happening. I struggled as a child to voice why I found the actions of other people so frustrating, why seemingly small things felt so…
My Disability is no cause for Inspiration
I’ve written about my identity as a blind person before, then as a teenager, and how I dislike the label of bravery being applied to me. All of that still stands, but today I was thinking about it a lot more. In truth, I’ve been thinking about it a great deal recently, as I notice…
How braille changed my life
It’s not really a secret that I love Braille. It’s got to the point that whenever I go out with some of my friends from goalball and I get asked if I want a Braille menu they go “oh no”, or if there isn’t one tease me about how frustrated I get. It’s totally true…
I am not brave
Recently people keep saying to me that I’m brave and as much as I appreciate the fact that they are trying to pay me a compliment it really isn’t true. I live a pretty normal life, I go to school and I play sports in my spare time and just do what most teenagers are…