A biography for Stella Younghasn’t been written yet.
“Apologies are great, but they don't really change anything. You know what does? Action.”
“The problem for many people with disabilities is not that we are not able to work a certain number of hours a week. It's that no-one will let us.”
“If everyone's looking at me, I might as well say something interesting.”
“For me, and for many other people with disabilities, our status as disabled people is one of which we are fiercely proud.”
“I do sometimes painful things to my body in an effort to conform to culturally imposed beauty ideals.”
“I have a condition called Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI), which has affected my growth and bone strength. In short, people with the kind of OI I have generally experience hundreds of fractures in their lifetime and use wheelchairs for mobility.”
“The killing of a disabled person is not 'compassionate'. It is not 'euthanasia'. It is murder.”
“The purpose of our justice system is to reflect the values of our society and to punish those who violate our standards.”
“People are uncomfortable about disability, and so interactions can become unintentionally uncomfortable.”
“I don't generally talk about medical terms when I discuss my position as a disabled person. I take a social rather than medical approach to disability, and so long Latin names for congenital conditions are not relevant.”
“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.”
“There are real-world, devastating consequences for disabled women marginalised by the kinds of attitudes that deny them full agency over what happens to their bodies.”
“Disability informs almost every part of my life. It's as important, if not more so, than my gender and sexuality. It's certainly a great deal more important to me than my religion or whether or not I caught a tram, ferry or bus to work.”
“In many ways, I'm incredibly lucky to have been born with my impairment and that it's visible. It means my path has been predictable.”
“Physical access is one of the very first issues disability rights activists of the 1960s and '70s fought for.”
“By far, the most disabling thing in my life is the physical environment. It dictates what I can and can't do every day.”
“From pink water bottles for breast cancer to dumping a bucket of ice water on your head for neuromuscular conditions, it seems we're bombarded by requests to be 'aware' of one thing or another.”
“I went to school, I got good marks, I had a very low key after-school job, and I spent a lot of time watching 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' and 'Dawson's Creek.'”
“I currently live independently without any funded support. I'm educated, and I'm employed. I enjoy paying my taxes and contributing to the economic life of Australia.”
“It is nothing short of baffling to me how a city like Melbourne, where I struggle to find accessible facilities on a very regular basis, could be considered the most livable city in the world. I suppose it all depends on what makes a city 'livable' for you.”