Hi, I'm Anja Christoffersen and I'm an
ambassador for International Day of
People with Disability.
I'm a disability advocate, a social
entrepreneur, a model, a speaker and
author and I wear many, many hats. I was
born with a condition called VACTERL association, which is a rare and complex
disability that affects one in 10,000 to
one in 40,000 births.
Disability isn't a dirty word. I think
if I'd actually understood that I had a
disability a lot younger, I would have
accepted a lot more support and a lot
more accommodations. When I'm constantly
looked at as someone that doesn't have a
disability, it is really, really
difficult to walk that fine line of
someone that can be viewed as a model or
a businesswoman. On top of all of that,
I still see about 10 specialist teams at
my hospital. I really have to explain to
people that I'm not well. I might look
fine, but I'm not. I still have days
where I cannot get out of bed. I still
have days where I have to actually drop
everything and not do anything more.
When I was born having such a rare and
complex condition, my parents constantly
wondered what my life would be like
growing up. And honestly, they had no
idea whether or not I would survive. For
me, it was really important that there
was someone like me that parents of the
young babies that are born could look up
to. Disability can be such an incredible
strength. I would never for a second
wish my disability away because it has
given me so much purpose. I just
encourage younger people to always see
your disability as a strength and never
as a weakness. So often the people that
aren't affected by the decision are the
ones that are leading the solutions. But
I think it's time really for us to
actually take our power back to be given
the resources that we need and to design
the solutions ourselves.