“A lot of times, when you have a disability, one of the things you deal with is other people's projections of what your experience is and their fear about it, and not seeing the experience you're having. There's nothing horrifying about it to me. It is what I deal with. It is my reality and my life, but it's not horrible.” PeopleRealityDealsSeeingDiseaseHorribleDisabilityProjectionParkinsonParkinson's Author:Michael J. Fox
“I still get a lot of letters from kids and parents who face different challenges and disabilities. I share some of the lessons that I learned through sports and baseball, which makes me feel good. It's incredible to have an impact that way.” WayFeelsStillsDifferentKidsFacesSportsParentChallengesShareLessonsLettersBaseballImpactIncrediblesFeel GoodDisability Author:Jim Abbott
“Woman has so long been subject to the disabilities and restrictions with which her progress has been embarrassed that she has become enervated, her mind to some extent paralyzed; and like those still more degraded by personal bondage she hugs her chains.” MindLongHas BeensStillsProgressSubjectsChainsDisabilityHugEmbarrassedBondageRestrictionParalyzed Author:Lucretia Mott
“People won't have time for you if you are always angry or complaining.” PeopleIfsAngerAngryComplainingDisabilityPeople With DisabilitiesAbility To AdaptAlways ComplainingNo Complaining Author:Stephen Hawking
“Obviously, because of my disability, I need assistance. But I have always tried to overcome the limitations of my condition and lead as full a life as possible. I have traveled the world, from the Antarctic to zero gravity.” WorldNeedsConditionsOvercomingLimitationZeroDisabilityGravityTraveledAssistanceZero Gravity Author:Stephen Hawking
“The Southbank Centre Unlimited Festival was a distinct moment in time, an amazing counterpoint to the London 2012 Paralympics. There is no question that a major shift in perspective is taking place, that the world is waking up and greeting - as if for the first time - the extraordinary community of people with disability.” PeopleIfsWorldFirstsMomentsCommunityPerspectiveMajorsFirst TimeWake UpExtraordinaryLondonDisabilityWakingCentreUnlimitedFestivalsMoments In TimeGreetingsPeople With Disabilities Author:Charles Hazlewood
“It's hard enough to work and raise a family when your kids are all healthy and relatively normal, but when you add on some kind of disability or disease, it can just be such a burden.” KindHardEnoughKidsHealthyDiseaseNormalRaisesAddParentingBurdenParenthoodDisability Author:Patricia Heaton
“There is something extraordinary about people who have a disability to reach (into themselves) on a daily level that becomes supernatural.” PeopleLevelsExtraordinaryDisability Author:Kristoffer Polaha
“The Bush administration has been doing everything it can to hide the huge number of returning veterans who are severely wounded - 17,000 so far including roughly 20 percent with serious brain and head injuries. Even the estimate of $500 billion ignores the lifetime disability and healthcare costs that taxpayers will have to spend for years to come.” YearsHas BeensNumbersBrainSeriousHugeCostPercentLifetimeIncludingBillionsAdministrationInjuryDisabilityHealthcareWoundedVeteranTaxpayersHuge NumbersHead Injuries Author:Joseph Stiglitz
“I was hitchhiking to Washington to an anti-war demonstration in 1971, and I was in an accident, and that's how I became disabled; that's how I came into disability, in a sense.” WarAccidentsDisabilityAnti WarDemonstrationDisabledHitchhiking Author:Simi Linton
“I've gained first hand knowledge of the challenges faced by people with disabilities. It's made me understand that those of us who have full use of our physical faculties owe an enormous amount of respect and sensitivity to people who don't.” PeopleFirstsMadeUseHandsChallengesAmountEnormousFacultyDisabilitySensitivityPeople With Disabilities Author:William J. Clinton
“America's greatness depends on the ability of its citizens to make the most of their lives. Americans with disabilities are an enormous, often untapped reservoir of that potential.” AmericaAbilityGreatnessDependsCitizensEnormousDisabilityReservoirs Author:William J. Clinton
“It doesn't matter whether you're black or white, practice a different religion, come from a different culture, or have a disability. If you're different from most of the people you're surrounded by, some people might not be as tolerant as they should be.” PeopleIfsShouldDifferentMatterMightCultureBlackWhitePracticeDisabilityDifferent CulturesBlack Or WhiteDifferent Religions Author:Brooklyn Sudano
“And I found out about the wonderful world of sign language. I suddenly realized: If we as a society recognize Jewish culture, gay culture and Latino culture, we must recognize that this is a coherent culture, too. I think deafness is a disability for social constructionist reasons.” IfsThinkingWorldReasonCultureFoundLanguageSocialWonderfulGayDisabilityLatinoDeafnessSign LanguageWonderful WorldJewish CultureGay CultureLatino Culture Author:Andrew Solomon
“I see blindness more as an ability and sight more as a disability because there are some people with sight who tend to judge others by what they see on the outside but I don't see that. I don't see the skin color, the hair style or the clothing people wear; I only see that which is within a person.” PeoplePersonsAbilityStyleColorJudgingHairSkinsSightDisabilityClothingsBlindnessSkin Color Author:Patrick Henry Hughes
“Because my graduate academic training at law school was not one that included most of the intellectual traditions I find useful for understanding the conditions and problems that most concern me - anti-colonial theories, Foucault, critical disability studies, prison studies and the like are rarely seen in standard US Law School curricula, where students are still fighting on many campuses to get a single class on race or poverty offered - I developed most of my thinking about these topics through activist reading groups and collaborative writing projects with other activist scholars.” ThinkingWritingStillsProblemSchoolLawFightingReadingUnderstandingRaceClassPovertyStudyGroupsConditionsStudentsTheoryProjectsIntellectualTrainingStandardsConcernTraditionPrisonCriticalActivistDisabilityGraduatesAcademicScholarTopicsCampusLaw SchoolFighting On Author:Dean Spade
“I have had this desire my whole life to prove people wrong, to show them I could do things they didn't think I could do.” PeopleThinkingWholeShowsDesireProveWhole LifeDisability Author:David Paterson
“On December 17, 1984, I had surgery to remove two inches of my left lung due to pneumonia. After two hours of surgery the doctors told my mother I had AIDS.” TwoMotherLeftHoursDoctorsDuesAidsRemoveDisabilityInchesSurgeryLungsHivDecemberPneumonia Author:Ryan White
“I want to do theater and I am looking forward to doing more Television and Movies. I also want to direct some plays in theater workshops for people with disabilities.” PeopleWantPlayTelevisionDirectTheaterDisabilityLooking ForwardWorkshopsPeople With Disabilities Author:Chris Burke
“The only way to ensure that our promise to provide every opportunity for students with disabilities, and help them achieve their full potential, is to give our schools the dollars they need.” WayNeedsGivingHelpingSchoolOpportunityAchieveStudentsPromiseDollarsDisabilityFull Potential Author:Gordon Smith
“Many people with physical disabilities have romantic lives and good marriages to partners who see past their disabilities and recognize all of the things they can do.” PeoplePastCan DoPartnersDisabilityGood MarriageRomantic Life Author:Jeanne Phillips
“There are those who suffer and grow strong; there are those who suffer and grow weak. This mystery of pain is still for me the saddest of earth's disabilities.” StillsEarthPainSufferingStrongGrowsMysteryWeakTherapyInjuryDisabilitySaddest Author:Silas Weir Mitchell
“All abilities are paid for with disabilities. perfect health may entail the heavy toll of bovine stupidity. insight into one area involves blind spots in another.” MayDonePainVoiceAbilityPerfectHonestyAreasPaidBlindHeavyInsightStupiditySpotsLoudDisabilityCriedMathematicianGiftedPhysicistTollsBlind SpotsLoud VoicesBovine Author:William S. Burroughs
“My disability is that I cannot use my legs. My handicap is your negative perception of that disability, and thus of me.” UsePerceptionNegativeLegsDisabilityHandicaps Author:Rick Hansen
“There is a plan and a purpose, a value to every life, no matter what its location, age, gender or disability.” MatterAgePurposeValuesPlansNo Matter WhatGenderDisabilityLocation Author:Sharron Angle
“My disability exists not because I use a wheelchair, but because the broader environment isn't accessible.” UseEnvironmentDisabilityWheelchairs Author:Stella Young
“I just barely got through school. The problem was a learning disability, at a time when there was no where to get help.” HelpingProblemSchoolDisabilityDyslexicDyslexiaLearning Disability Author:Bruce Jenner
“A good government is one with a duty to help everyone, to maximise his or her potential: Indigenous people, people with disabilities, and our forgotten families.We will not leave anyone behind.” PeopleHelpingGovernmentBehindsDutyForgottenDisabilityIndigenousIndigenous PeoplePeople With Disabilities Author:Warren Mundine
“It was once said that the moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; and those who are in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy and the handicapped.” LifeChildrenSaidGovernmentAgeMoralShadowTestsTreatsSickDawnDisabilityTwilightEldersElderlyNeedyHandicapsHandicappedLight And ShadowSenior Citizen Author:Hubert H. Humphrey
“I guess through my learning disability, through dyslexia, I've always been a visual learner - I take in everything through my eyes.” EyeVisualsDisabilityLearnersDyslexiaThrough My EyesLearning Disability Author:Scoot McNairy
“I have suffered from bullying in many ways, from bullying in school due to my disability in reading, to digital abuse that I deal with on a daily basis. I'd like to tell the kids that are being bullied that no one should have to deal with the abuse, ever!” WayShouldKidsSchoolReadingDealsShould HaveAbuseBasesDuesDigitalBullyingDisabilityBulliedBeing Bullied Author:Bella Thorne
“Every public elementary school ought to welcome Good News Clubs. Parents appreciate them; children love them; and the First Amendment protects them. The First Amendment requires that similar groups be provided with equal treatment. Religious speech is not a disability. It is our preeminent freedom.” FirstsChildrenSchoolParentReligiousGroupsOughtProtectEqualSpeechNewsAppreciateClubsWelcomeTreatmentDisabilityAmendmentsGood NewsFirst AmendmentElementary SchoolChildren LoveEqual Treatment Author:Mathew Staver
“Last month, 80,000 Americans signed on to new jobs, but 85,000 Americas signed on for Social Security disability checks. Most of these people are not 'disabled' as that term is generally understood. Rather, it's the U.S. economy that's disabled, and thus Obama incentivizes dependency.” PeopleJobsLastsSocialTermEconomySecurityMonthsUnderstoodChecksDisabilitySocial SecurityDisabledDependencyNew Job Author:Mark Steyn
“Everyone, regardless of ability or disability, has strengths and weaknesses. Know what yours are. Build on your strengths and find a way around your weaknesses.” KnowsWayAbilityWeaknessDisabilityStrength And WeaknessHaving Strength Author:Brad Cohen
“It's interesting, once I have convinced people that, yes, I have a sister with a mental disability, the retard jokes really dry up, so I'm not sure how much retard humor is really going on out there, but I imagine there's a lot because it's a pretty safe group to make fun of. It's not like the Retards of America are gonna rise up and organize a protest. They're not gonna write letters. They only just recently got the Supreme Court to stop executing them.” PeopleWritingAmericaFunInterestingImagineGroupsSafeJokesLettersCourtConvincedSupremeNot SureDryProtestDisabilityOrganizeSupreme CourtRetardExecutingDry Up Author:Bonnie McFarlane
“I need somebody to Trump-xplain(ph) this, because I don`t understand it.I`ve heard people defend him about making fun of a disability, making fun of John McCain, making fun of women - a woman`s face.I just wanted to hear somebody defend this as well, because it just never ends. No one will ever stop defending the crass stuff he says.” PeopleNeedsWellsEndsWantedFacesFunStuffHeardTrumpDisabilityMccainCrass Author:Greg Gutfeld
“Someone who has a disability is not necessarily in distress. You may be embarrassing and inconveniencing someone by butting in and making assumptions.” MayAssumptionDisabilityDistressEmbarrassing Author:Mallory Ortberg
“I like people who lead unusual lives, and very often a person with a disability fits into that category.” PeoplePersonsFitCategoriesDisabilityUnusual Author:Arthur Bradford
“I've worked in several different places, most of my experience comes from spending eight summers at a camp for adults with a wide range of disabilities. For six years I spent every summer living in a small cabin with five men with Downes Syndrome. It was just me and these five guys, all in their forties and fifties. We had such a great time.” MenYearsDifferentGuyFiveSixSummerAdultsEightWideSpendingRangeFortyDisabilityCampsDifferent PlaceGreat TimesSyndromesCabins Author:Arthur Bradford
“I make films about people with disabilities as well and I think this question is more relevant in regards to these documentaries where the actual person appears on film. I know these people are proud of who they are and what they are doing with their lives.” PeopleThinkingKnowsWellsPersonsFilmProudRegardDisabilityRelevantDocumentariesPeople With Disabilities Author:Arthur Bradford
“There are disagreements over whether autism is something that should be always and all the time embraced and celebrated as just a different way to be human, or whether autism sometimes can be really so debilitating to individuals that you want to do something to change those disabilities in them.” WayWantShouldHumansDifferentSometimesIndividualDifferent WaysDisabilityAutismDisagreement Author:John Donvan
“When I grew up in Tanzania, I went to school with kids who were blind and deaf, and we were all in one class. There wasn't a different class or teacher for them, so they didn't learn anything. I'm hoping to organize a school to train teachers to help children with disabilities. It's my future goal. I want to move back to Tanzania and do that eventually.” WantChildrenDifferentHelpingKidsSchoolMovingGoalClassTeacherGrewGrew UpBlindTrainDisabilityOrganizeDeafMy FutureTanzaniaFuture Goals Author:Herieth Paul
“Homophobia's just one form of abjection, and wherever you have a marker of deviance - skin colour, gender, gender identity, disability - you get the same mechanisms of prejudice.” FormIdentitySkinsPrejudiceGenderColourJust OneDisabilityMechanismHomophobiaGender IdentityMarkersDevianceAbjection Author:Hal Duncan
“I wanted to write a book that imagined where advances in the study of genetics might lead us. Holman was the first character who came to me: I envisaged the misshapen offspring of beautiful, wealthy parents. Then I realised that he bore a striking resemblance to Toulouse-Lautrec. I developed that, made Holman an alcoholic who lives among hookers, an artist tortured by his disability.” WritingFirstsMadeBookCharacterMightWantedBeautifulArtistParentStudyWealthyDisabilityBoresAlcoholicsRealisedGeneticsOffspringResemblanceToulouse Author:Jonathan Trigell
“Khairani Barokka is a writer, spoken-word poet, visual artist and performer whose work has a strong vein of activism, particularly around disability, but also how this intersects with, for example, issues of gender - she's campaigned for reproductive rights in her native Indonesian, and is currently studying for a PhD in disability and visual cultures at Goldsmiths. She's written a feminist, environmentalist, anti-colonialist narrative poem, with tactile artwork and a Braille translation. How could I not publish that?” ArtistCultureStrongStudyIssuesRightsWrittenExamplePoetFeministGenderActivismNarrativeVisualsNativePerformersDisabilityVeinsPublishTranslationsArtworkEnvironmentalistSpoken WordVisual ArtPhdsTactileReproductive RightsVisual ArtistBraille Author:Deborah Smith
“Autism reaches out in many different directions. It can be associated with language delays. It can be associated with epilepsy. It can be associated with some degree of intellectual disability, but the two core features of autism, I see, is impairments and social cognition, understanding and in restricted interests and repetitive behaviors.” TwoDifferentLanguageSocialUnderstandingInterestDegreesBehaviorIntellectualCoreFeaturesDisabilityReach OutAutismDelayCognitionDifferent DirectionsRepetitiveEpilepsyIntellectual Disability Author:Gerald Fischbach
“When Donald Trump says a distinguished judge born in Indiana can't do his job because of his Mexican heritage, or he mocks a reporter with disabilities, or calls women pigs, it goes against everything we stand for.” JobsBornJudgingTrumpDisabilityHeritagePigsReportersMexicanDistinguishedIndiana Author:Hillary Clinton
“I want people to feel inspired to reach out and be inclusive and supportive of others in their community who might be facing any kind of challenge, whether it is a health issue or a disability.” PeopleWantFeelsKindMightCommunityChallengesIssuesInspiredDisabilityReach OutSupportiveHealth Issues Author:Avril Lavigne
“Senator [Sam] Brownback talked about those with disabilities that are destroyed in the womb because of a genetic test that is sometimes wrong. I would put forward that we all have disabilities.” SometimesTestsDestroyedDisabilitySenatorsWomb Author:Tom Coburn