2022 Ambassadors

Hi, I'm Ari. I am a disability activist
and advocate. I work primarily within
the accessibility and inclusion space. I
also model. I worked with um SG. They
did a campaign. It was just me front and
centre with my wheelchair in all of
these windows in in this mainstream
store. They weren't trying to hide my
chair. They weren't trying to hide any
aspect of me. People messaged me and
they said that was the first time they'd
ever seen anyone that looked like them
represented. I wanted to be the change
in the world that I didn't have growing
up. And I wanted to be the
representation that I never saw and I
never experienced. And I think being
able to put myself in a position to
create representation and provide hope
to the next generation is a really
important thing. as a disabled young
person from a refugee background who's
trans, non-binary, feminine presenting
and chronically ill. So, I have so many
different intersections and parts of my
identity that were just never
represented. It was important for me to
agree to be an ambassador because I felt
that it was a really great opportunity
to show the community and the world that
someone like me exists. So being able to
be that representation was an
opportunity that I couldn't decline. The
recognition and of looking beyond is is
highlighting that disability is unique.
Humans are unique and having a
disability is just one aspect of who we
are and we have so much that we can
offer and provide. And if we are
included in the conversation, if we are
included as a part of the workplace and
we're supported and valued in every
aspect of our community, then we can
contribute just as much as anyone else,
if not more.
What I want the community to know and
change is awareness, but also
open-mindedness and understanding that
disability is not one size fits all and
that people's experiences of disability
are different. Even the same disability
has different experiences. I would love
to have opportunities for disabled
people improve. I would love for our
experiences to matter and that people
recognize us and look beyond just our
disability and recognize that we just
like all of us deserve to live a
fulfilling happy life without
discrimination, without ableism and
feel supported, valued and live the life
that we all deserve to live however we
want to live it.
 

My name is Chloe Hayden. I'm 25 years

old and I'm an author, an actor, and a

disability advocate. I had teachers and

doctors and psychologists tell me and my

parents that I'm not able to achieve

things because I'm autistic. I'm doing

everything I'm doing because I'm

autistic. I'm able to have the life I do

and do the things I do because I'm a

neurody diverent human and my brain

works in ways that are wonderful and

creative and brilliantly weird. No

neurotypical could do what I do. and I

can't drive a car and I can't eat bread

food and I can't do basic math, but I

can also do things and have already

achieved things that people twice my age

would never be able to do. We don't have

to be afraid of the word disabled or,

you know, start calling it differently

aabled. I'm disabled and I'm okay with

being disabled. It's not a bad thing and

being disabled can be a beautiful,

wonderful, incredible thing. Just

because I'm autistic doesn't mean I like

trains.

That's a lie because I've always been

like I'm autistic and I don't like

trains so I'm not like the stereotype.

And then my special interest is the

Titanic. Like I'm obsessed with it. And

someone was like, "Babe, that's

literally a sea train." And I was like,

"Damn it." The power of social media has

been instrumental in changing both the

way that people view disabilities and

the way that disabled people are

actually able to have a voice. We've

been left out of traditional media for

our entire lives. Now, when the ball's

in our court and we're able to be the

ones that share our stories, it entirely

changes the way that the world views it,

reaching people that may otherwise have

never heard about certain disabilities

or had access to learning about certain

disabilities um and just had access to

unlearning and relearning what disabled

people are like and what our experiences

are. It's massive. Social media has a

massive impact on the way that we view

things. If I saw one person that was

like me in the media, um I wouldn't have

thought that I wasn't supposed to be

here. You know, I just needed one person

that I could look to and go, "Oh, okay.

I get it now." And a lot of disabled

people growing up didn't have that. So

to now have International Day of People

with disability and young people and

just humans in general to be able to see

representation of all aspects is so

important. And hopefully that does mean

that there is some, you know,

13-year-old girl out there who goes,

"Okay, well, if she's supposed to exist,

so am I.

My name is Eliza Hull and I'm a musician

and a writer and a disability advocate

and a mother of two. I have a

seven-year-old and a 2-year-old. When I

was 5 years old, I started falling over

at school and uh there were a lot of

hospital visits and a lot of people

talking about me and not to me. And I

had a lot of surgery operations and so

throughout school I was a wheelchair

user. It just so happened that when I

was five and developed my disability, I

also realized that I could sing. I used

to escape in the heat of summer and go

into the piano room and just play and

express myself. I guess it enabled me to

unpack all the things that I was

feeling. The biggest barriers that I've

faced is it actually is in the music

industry, but also when I was deciding

to become a parent. When I went to my

neurologist and said that I wanted to

start a family, I was really excited. I

remember that uh moment where he looked

at me and said that he didn't think that

I should become a parent was when I

really realized uh that it was time to

break down these assumptions about what

it means to be a disabled parent. I

remember when my daughter was I think

she was only about 2 years old and she

said to me, "Mom, why do you walk like a

penguin?" And we had a laugh. I think

for young children, what better time to

start by than having these conversations

about disability and also authentically

representing various families with

disability. I had the idea of come over

to my house and I went to my very good

friend Sally Ripen who's a great

children's author. I came to her with

the idea and wanted to represent various

families. So there are families that are

deaf, a family that has a mother that is

blind. Ultimately, it shows that these

families are incredible problem solvers,

great creative thinkers, and have a lot

of fun. I think people with disability

are still greatly underrepresented in

the media, in the music industry, in the

arts world. And for me, I feel like

International Day of People with

Disability is a way to amplify the

voices of people with disability, to

create more change, to disrupt

stereotypes about people with

disability, and ultimately to celebrate

our achievements.