“We fill our lives with all sorts of things that make it easier for us ...” — Stella Young Quote

We fill our lives with all sorts of things that make it easier for us to get along in the world: wheelchairs, crutches, grabber sticks, hearing aids, canes, guide dogs, modified vehicles, ramps, as well as other kinds of services and supports. Disability does not necessarily mean dependence on other people.

Physical access is one of the very first issues disability rights activists of the 1960s and '70s fought for.

We often hear that people mean well: that so many just don't how to interact with people with disabilities. They're unsure of the 'right' reaction, so they default to condescension that makes them feel better in the face of their discomfort.

In my own home, where I've been able to create an environment that works for me, I'm hardly disabled at all. I still have an impairment, and there are obviously some very restrictive things about that, but the impact of disability is less.

We have common enemies today. It's called childhood poverty. It's called cancer. It's called AIDS. It's called Parkinson's. It's called Muscular Dystrophy.

I don't think you should be ashamed of anybody that you know that has AIDS. You should stand as close to them as you can and help them out as much as you can. I'm a strong believer in that and that's why I try to do that for everyone I know that has the virus.

If you had told me in 1984 when we graduated and people were dying of AIDS that 30 years later I'd be legally married and we would have two children via surrogacy, I wouldn't have believed you.

I was destined to work with dying patients. I had no choice when I encountered my first AIDS patient. I felt called to travel some 250,000 miles each year to hold workshops that helped people cope with the most painful aspects of life, death and the transition between the two.