I would love to switch on my TV and see a disabled person talking about something they are genuinely interested in or acting out a part that doesn't just focus on their impairment.
I grew up with a special-needs brother, and the separation from other kids is so extreme. We've got to break down those barriers.
My best friend is disabled. There's nothing he hates more than being left out of the jokes, to be treated with kid gloves. That's the insult.
My disability exists not because I use a wheelchair, but because the broader environment isn't accessible.
People with disabilities can grow up thinking they have a weakness because they are told, You will never do this properly; you will never walk properly or talk properly.' That's all they hear. But you have to look past that.
Music made me feel like I was sexy. Music made me feel like I wasn't just a blind guy.
Britain's way of dealing with disability is just to try and pretend it's not happening. A swift sweep under the carpet.
[To his then-Press Secretary:] Give me some jokes for my statement on behalf of retarded children.
I think one in five Americans has a disability of some sort. That's 20% of the population, and yet we rarely ever see people with disabilities on-screen, and their stories and their resilience and their zest for life and their humor and their humanity.
Sometimes I wonder if I'm as famous for my wheelchair and disabilities as I am for my discoveries.
My mother is a fighter. After she battled polio and learned to walk again, the doctors told her she would be a cripple her entire life. Instead of accepting defeat, she refused this fate and went on to become the West African Women's Singles tennis champion in college.
Christians need to take the lead in educating people that children are gifts, as my autistic grandson most surely is. By going down the path we're currently on, we might one day get rid of genetic diseases, but only at the cost of our own humanity.
I was recently appointed by President Obama to the President's Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities. I am so excited that the President trusts me to advise him on things that are important to people with disabilities!
A lot of times, we look at people who have disabilities as, 'Oh, we can't invite these people here or there.' And I hate that, because it's inappropriate. It's so weird to me when people say they don't have friends who have disabilities.
I try to bring awareness, not just to CP but to all disabilities in the sense that it's knowledge. My disability gave me so much knowledge that I was able to take into 'Breaking Bad' and to grow and to learn.
I don't really have Down's syndrome; I just have a slight case of it.
Having adaptive events televised in the X Games is huge. There are people out there who might want to do this but don't think they can. They can see us out here tearing it up. That's going to help people realize that if you want something bad enough, you can get there.
I have immense respect for anyone with a physical deformity and the courage and confidence it takes just to go out in the world.
What the Bleep Do We Know was not written with a deaf person in mind, but when they met me, it clicked with them to have me in it. But that happens with a lot of actors in Hollywood, not just with me.
Let your deafness no longer be a secret - even in art.
Since losing my legs, I've found out that I am able to help other people by sharing how I've overcome my obstacles.
I won't talk about someone's mother. I won't talk about their girlfriend or their wife, but if you have a deformity, I would talk about that.
A lot of people don't want to hire disabled actors. They think you're going to take twice as long over a shot, or they don't want have to put up a ramp for disabled access. They think, 'Why would I do that when I can just hire an able-bodied actor to play the disabled character?'
I think sighted people let their eyes cheat them out of certain things. People who can see don't have a great sense of smell because they don't use it.
You know, some people think since I can't move I am a vegetable. Wrong. Just picture yourself as you are, just always sitting down and if you need something a hot babe takes care of you. I am exaggerating a little, but this is how I see it.
