There are people I would like to work with. It's a bit harder, because I live out in the sticks anyway, and plus being in a wheelchair means that I can't really circulate. So I tend to stick to my own thing.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
I'm a full-time wheelchair user. And yet, given the right circumstances, I am able to work.
My disability exists not because I use a wheelchair, but because the broader environment isn't accessible.
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.
Personally, I like a generous side of wheelchair access with my cities.
I used to think of myself in terms of who I'd be if I didn't have this pesky old disability.
I'm married to my job. I'm obsessed with my work, and I run myself into the ground every single day. Unfortunately, a lot of other pursuits have to take a back seat.
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.
I don't know what it's like to be an arm amputee, or have even one flesh-and-bone leg, or to have cerebral palsy. I don't speak for such huge and diverse groups. What I've tried to do, what I've been fortunate to do, is to live my live and create my life as I've wanted to create it.
I have done all the work myself, not assistants. That's why I'm in a wheelchair: I've been doing it physically - it's hard labour - throughout my life.
I've got the best job in the world; I love it. I get to meet so many interesting people, and I get to make sure that other people with disabilities can tell their own stories as well.