Disability Equality Quotes

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.

Britain's way of dealing with disability is just to try and pretend it's not happening. A swift sweep under the carpet.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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?'

Disability is as visual as race. If a wheelchair user can't play Beyonce, then Beyonce can't play a wheelchair user.

We're building on an international network with many others for the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. There are so many things we can do to carry forward policies.

I'm a huge advocate for individuals with disabilities.

I think it's phenomenal and expected that Paralympians will take on able bodied people more and more. In dressage, it happens all the time. But there are very few adaptions, and they are never allowed to give you an advantage.

Just because we are in wheelchairs doesn't mean we can't play a fast-paced, full-contact sport.

People like Ellie Simmonds, David Weir, and Hannah Cockroft have become superstars alongside the likes of Mo Farah and Jessica Ennis. I think it has changed attitudes to disability.

I am so proud of being a Paralympian because I think the Games are a very good platform for disabled persons to perform themselves. Within the Paralympics movement, it's not just talk about excellence; it's not just talk about the competition. It's also talk about the equality and how your world accepts those disabled people.

If we do the work that we can do in this country, the work that we will do when John Kerry is President, people like Christopher Reeve will get up out of that wheelchair and walk again.

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.

I work with amazing organisations: I work with I'm A Performer With Disability, and I work with a clinic which tries to get opportunities for people with disabilities to work in the film and TV industry, and we're making strides, and they're making strides.

Disability doesn't make you exceptional, but questioning what you think you know about it does.

It's really important to remember that disability is diversity, and that disabled actors and disabilities are something that is hugely under-represented in film.

There's a wide variety of diversity, with people that have disabilities from R.J. Mitte in 'Breaking Bad' to Danny Woodburn being a little man.

The ADA prohibits discrimination and guarantees that people with disabilities receive the same opportunities as everyone else to participate in the mainstreams of American life, which includes participating in government programs and services.

I want to make sure that people know that I can only be myself - I can't be a spokesperson for people with disabilities, because everybody has a completely different experience. I'm glad that I'm able to inspire parents to see one way to deal with it, but at the same time, I tell a lot of dirty jokes.

The availability of roles for deaf actors has always been very limited. After 'Switched at Birth' began including deaf actors, a ripple effect has definitely been created in the industry. 'Switched at Birth' has made an impact for the better.

I'd hope that when Channel 4 started, 'The Last Leg' was the kind of show it wanted to be putting out. I think they're really proud of it.