As a disabled person I have to think and plan far more than anyone else. If I want to catch a bus I have to consider whether the ramp works, whether there will be someone in the one space who doesn't want to move. It can be a constant worry.
Interpretation
Navigating daily life as a disabled person requires careful planning and consideration of accessibility.
Tanni Grey-Thompson's quote encapsulates the extra mental effort and anxiety that disabled individuals often face when engaging with public spaces and services. Unlike those without disabilities, they must constantly evaluate the availability and functionality of accommodations, which can lead to a significant burden in their daily lives.
In practice
During a speech on inclusivity, I might mention this quote to showcase the unique challenges faced by disabled individuals.
Perhaps we need to redefine our idea of role models; they're not always elite athletes whose success might seem too distant or unachievable. Sometimes it's our friend who just smashed her first 10k, or our Zumba teacher who is enthusiastic, encouraging and real.
I wouldn't have had a sporting career if it hadn't been for the volunteers who agreed to coach me, as a teenager, growing up in south Wales, at a time when others were telling me that wheelchair racing wasn't really athletics.
Disability sport came about largely because of exclusion, because mainstream sport didn't want disabled people to be part of it.
There are always a lot of people so afraid of rocking the boat that they stop rowing. We can never get ahead that way.
The bathroom door swings open. Emma sees the blood painting my skin and the red rivers carved on my body. Emma sees the wet knife, silver and bone. The screams of my little sister shatter mirrors.
When a man attempts to deal with me by force, I answer him, by force.
what you hear in my voice is fury, not suffering. Anger, not moral authority
if they put an iron circle around your neck I will bite it away
No heart is so hard as the timid heart.
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