“My message is that it’s a beautiful word. We are absolutely gorgeous human beings and society would be lacking if it wasn’t for the mixture and the uniqueness”"

“To have that self-love and know that who they are, and how we are all are, as women and men, adults and children, with our impairments – that we are exactly who we are meant to me.”

“I see disability as being part of my identity, I see it in a positive way, because it informed me and shaped the kind of person that I am.”

“The same glass ceiling issues are there for disabled women just as they are for all women in society, so I identify with women in general, in terms of you know, discrimination, exclusion and all that and I think it is even a double jeopardy, as we often call it, for disabled women.”

“Many disabilities are invisible, and for those of us with invisible disabilities who are also sex workers, our lives, and the challenges we face, are doubly invisible. Disabled sex workers exist, and our challenges intersect.”

“Not only do disabled people have sex, but some of us also sell sexual services because traditional employment is often inaccessible to us. Many of our conditions include physical and mental health disabilities, and illnesses that cause flare ups and relapses, which make accessing employment difficult.”

“Over the last number of months, we have heard nothing but euphemisms for disability. Our needs are somehow "additional", "special" or "abnormal" - and all of our conditions are pre-existing. The way we are talked about is so very different to the way we talk about ourselves.”

Let’s talk about this!

"We must lead by example and show the entire world that we have worth, we have value and we can contribute. Words are meaningless, and action is everything. Someday disability will no longer be a dirty word."

“I would like to report that in progressive Western democracies disability was an un-interesting fact about a person. Not something that determined their worth or their place in society, but rather something that informed their life experience and as such made their perspective valuable to nondisabled people.”

This photo essay highlights the realities of psychiatric inpatient ‘care’ in Ireland from admission to discharge.

I invite you to view the experience of psychiatric inpatient care from my eyes and witness with me how it removes me from society, removes me of my belongings and identity, and forces me into a person of shame ‘for my own safety’, in an environment devoid of nurturance.

“Confronting your ‘isms’ — racism, sexism, ableism — starts with watching what you say and do. Use ‘disabled’. It’s not a dirty word. It’s an accurate descriptor. So, use it.”

“I have always felt that without positive discourse, without a sharing of ideas, experiences and feelings, a society can never improve. When people in the disabled community share these experiences, it can help to open a dialog so improvements can be made.”

"Your teenage years are about discovering who you are, and I had to figure out how my disability would fit into that. I decided my disability was a part of me"

“It took me years to understand that disability is not a dirty world. Not knowing any disabled people whilst I was growing up, my entire perception of disability relied on how it was portrayed in the media and pop culture.”