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.
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.
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.
I don't see myself as disabled. There's nothing I can't do that able-bodied athletes can do.
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.
You can really do amazing things in a wheelchair. It's very dangerous if you don't know what you're doing, but you can even go up and down stairs in a wheelchair.
I still find it strange, I suppose, when I say to someone, 'Can you just pass me my leg?' But I don't ever think about my disability.
I used to think of myself in terms of who I'd be if I didn't have this pesky old disability.
I don't think of myself as being disabled, or able-bodied.
Disability is a matter of perception. If you can do just one thing well, you're needed by someone.