Embrace Your Own Identity

My name is Danielle, I’m a daughter, a sister, a cousin, a niece, a work colleague, a friend, a blogger, a vlogger, a blogger and an advocate. I am also ‘the girl with the pink hair’. These are just some of the labels I go by….

I am also disabled.

Introducing yourself better was a group exercise I participated in as part of completing a leadership course, Partners In Policymaking back in 2018.The purpose of this particular exercise was to encourage participants (a mix of self-advocates who had disabilities and parents of disabled children under the age of 18) to introduce themselves and their loved ones better, in such a way that focused on strengths and individuals as opposed to the labels often forced upon us by disability, diagnosis and the perceptions of society. Quite quickly I realised I was one of the more fortunate one’s in the room, at least in the sense that I had quite a positive experience that in my educational journey even in the early 90s, my parents always encouraged me to have a voice and advised me how to use it effectively and to never be afraid to be me, whatever that looked like for me.

Parallel to this I also realised that others are not so fortunate, through no fault of their own. It’s all too easy for disabled people, children and adults, as well as families of disabled people to become consumed the by labels and diagnosis put upon them by the system and as a result, they do things that are thought to be easier or quicker by those that support them and or those around them. This could include opting for a dry haircut as opposed to a haircut that involves dying their hair or choosing to wear elasticated trousers as opposed to trendy jeans. There is of course the option to wear clothes specifically designed for disabled people. I am not saying that the design of these clothes doesn’t assist in making life easier for disabled people.

However, what I am saying is that with these specifically designed clothes disabled people are presented with either being dressed like an infant or elderly person, just because it’s more practical. There’s nothing in-between or trendier to choose from. Before they know it they have unintentionally made choices that are expected to them due to the label they have been given and as a result lost their own identity somewhere along the way. (That’s if they even had their own identity to begin with)

Putting this further into perspective, would I be the same person if I could walk or if I didn’t require assistance with daily living? I’d like to think I would be, but with my disability, it’s brought its fair share of struggles as well as strengths and I have little quirks as a result of it. I’m proud of those quirks and you should be proud of yours. Without my disability, I wouldn’t have those qualities that make up my identity.

There are certainly challenges involved with having a disability, but there are so many amazing things that it has brought into my life too. Having to wait for someone to do everything for me has given me the patience of a saint. Trust me! That old saying “if you want something done right, do it yourself” is something I will never say because 9 times out of 10 I will need help with it anyway.

It has allowed me to meet some amazing people that have become both colleagues and friends, it has allowed me to become a confident public speaker and advocate and it has opened up various opportunities for me to work alongside a range of organising which I wouldn’t have the opportunity to work with if I didn’t have a disability.

For as long as I can remember I have consciously not allowed my Cerebral Palsy to define me and as I’ve worked to develop Y.O.U as a business through lockdown, embracing your own identity it’s something that is key in what mission and values. I aim for Y.O.U to support other disabled people in exploring their own identity and embracing it whether that’s through their hairstyle, dress sense, taste in music or films, their home décor or anything else. I have produced a couple of vlogs specifically around the importance of embracing your own identity. These vlogs are entitled ‘Dare to Be Different’ and ‘Stress Doesn’t Go With My Outfit and can be found on Y.O.Us website at www.youroptionsunderst@wixsite.com/y-o-u

However, Y.O.U and I want to take the importance of embracing your own identity a step further. We want to offer wheelchair users a colourful and trendier alternative to the uncomfortable black seating that is often the norm. Through lockdown I have identified a breathable bamboo-based fabric that can be made available in a selection of bright colours to produce a cushion and headrest cover personal to every individual wheelchair user. This coupled with a gel honeycomb cushion allows for added comfort. All of this combined will assist disabled people in embracing their own identity with confidences as we come out of the pandemic.

But the personalisation element to these cushion and headrest cover doesn’t stop there…

These sets will also include an individual’s avatar which will represent their appearance such as eye and hair colour as well as other aspects such as glasses and body piercings. An individual’s avatar can also be designed to reflect aspects of their personality and disability that they choose, making them unique to other personalised items available on the market and allowing wheelchair users to reflect their own identity in their wheelchairs, an aid they have to use as part of their daily living.

Y.O.Us market research has shown that whilst wheelchair users would be keen to purchase one of these personalised cushion and headrest cover sets, they don’t have the disposable income to buy one. Therefore Y.O.U has set up an ‘embrace your own identity’ fundraiser to raise £1000 which will allow Y.O.U to produce 10 cushion and headrest cover sets…

To Donate click here Embrace your own identity fundraiser | Y.O.U. (wixsite.com)