deserves to be on TV . I ' m grateful for that , for me personally as an actress .
We know we should be doing more , but we ' re just not going to make that commitment . I think for me , I had two options : I could keep going or look at different avenues . At the time , I needed to pay for care and I needed to pay my bills . I started writing , broadcasting and disability awareness training . I used my various teaching hats and started to say yes to a lot of different projects to keep my motivation going . I love everything that I do . If I had stayed on , I ’ d probably be acting full-time . But we have to look at the realism of being a disabled actor - the extra costs and the rejections of being a disabled actress are hard . When you have a disability , the pot of opportunities is even smaller . And I was sick of even going to testing when they hadn ' t thought about access needs . I remember once I had to go audition for a commercial . They wanted wheelchair users , but they couldn ' t be bothered to find a wheelchairaccessible studio . All the actors who were in wheelchairs had to do their auditions in a café on the ground floor .
What inspired you to write your memoir ?
I always wanted to write a book about my life . There were a lot of things that have shaped me that I can ' t talk about . But the message in the book is just to believe in yourself , returning to that innate sense of self-love I talked about earlier . And even when things are difficult , no matter who you are , just remind yourself that you are the best thing since sliced bread . The book is available on Amazon .
What are your thoughts on inclusivity and the power of the media ?
Whenever I do a training session , I always say , “ Leave your ego at the door !” What I mean by that is just because you think that you ' re a good , compassionate individual does not mean that you aren ' t indoctrinated by the unconscious bias which is often perpetuated by the media . We ' re all guilty of having preconceived stereotypical notions of other people , but we all can unlearn and relearn . If someone like me or anyone challenges your use of language or your ideologies , don ' t let your ego get in the way of making the world a better place .
How do you feel about yourself now as an adult as compared to when you were a teenager ?
I think I definitely got that confidence back . I think that comes regardless of who you are when you get a little bit older . You don ' t care as much about what people think or what people say . I don ' t go out with makeup on all the time , and that ' s quite
liberating . One of my favorite things to do is taking myself out to a cafe or restaurant and simply sitting , people-watching on my own . It ' s funny , because most people are intimidated by going out on their own and onlookers either view this as I ' m incredibly cool or incredibly sad - either way I don ' t care because it ' s something that I enjoy .
But I am a human being and I still have my down days . I struggle with dating . I have a lot of traumas and I feel my lowest when it comes to the world of dating . That is something that I ' m working on with a therapist at the moment . This is something that I wrote about in the book too . Whenever I have these moments , I try to change my
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