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“And that quote, “The only disability in life is a bad attitude,” the reason that that’s bullshit is because it’s just not true.” - Stella Young

[IDs: Screenshots from the late, great, Stella Young’s TED Talk: I’m Not Your Inspiration, Thank You Very Much. Stella is a wheelchair-user sitting up on the stage in front of a massive crowd. In these screenshots, she’s saying, “No amount of smiling at a flight of stairs has ever made it turn into a ramp. Never. (Laughter. Applause.) Smiling at a television screen isn’t going to make closed captions appear for people. No amount of standing in the middle of a bookshop and radiating a positive attitude is going to turn all those books into braille.]

I use this speech and the underlying theories a lot in my PhD, but Stella Young honestly had one of those voices that needs to be heard by everyone, so I figured I’d post my favorite part of the speech here. If anyone remembers that time I threw myself onto the floor For The Vine, you’ll know that I also hate the quote: “The only disability in life is a bad attitude”. Stella just conveyed the message with less pain.

Me: