Stella Young, a comedian, journalist and disability advocate, died unexpectedly last month. In her honor, we’d like to share a blog post we wrote last summer on her powerful TED speech, in which she discussed a few of the backward misconceptions some have of people living with disabilities. Also be sure to watch her talk from TED located at the bottom of this post. Is surviving a life-altering injury inspirational? Or is it simply survival? When a person overcomes a difficult situation, the results may seem amazing to others. When people with a spinal cord injury encounter someone who says, “What you’re doing every hour of every day – living in a wheelchair and making it through – is inspiring to me,” what they often hear is surprise and pity. After all, how can all the everyday things people do be inspiring just because they’re being done while in a wheelchair? If more proof is needed that the people with disabilities should be viewed the same way as everybody else, Australian comedian Stella Young, lays it all on the table. During a recent TED Talk, Young explained how she was given a community achievement award in her small town as a teen – just for living there. It was then that she began to think about how different she really must seem to others. “It speaks to this kind of assumption that people with disabilities are brave because our lives are horrible,” Young says in a separate interview. “And that’s not true at all.” Her straightforward explanation sends home the message that as a society it’s not healthy, or realistic, to label all people with disabilities as inspirational. You can see her informative, and refreshingly funny TED talk here.
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