Zoe Harrison
People are not their condition, and it’s up to us to challenge society’s discomfort with the disabled body image
Zoe Harrison is a 27-year-old Information Officer at Muscular Dystrophy UK, and a muscular dystrophy advocate. She is an author, mental health professional, and founder of the podcast ‘Dystrophy Diaries’, which raises awareness of accessibility and inclusion whilst sharing an honest, educational perspective on navigating life with a disability at a young age.
Zoe is passionate about challenging society’s narrow perceptions of the disabled body. She emphasises that her identity is not her disability; she is a wife, author, friend, and daughter, and so much more. Her mission is to show that despite life’s hurdles, disabled individuals are not defined by their disabled bodies. Through her work across multiple platforms, Zoe highlights the inequitable challenges people with a physical disability encounter, and she challenges the discomfort that society has with the disabled body image.
About the talk
Zoe’s talk will challenge perceptions of the disabled body and urge audiences to replace pity and awkwardness with visibility, acceptance, and genuine inclusion. Through personal experiences, she will reveal the extent of society’s discomfort with disabled bodies and the impact this has on disabled individuals. Zoe will demonstrate that disability is a natural part of human diversity, not a tragedy. She will invite audiences to reconsider their assumptions and biases, encouraging them to move away from tokenistic inclusion towards true accessibility. Attendees will leave with a deeper appreciation of the body image challenges facing those with a disability.
Interesting Facts
Interesting thing about you that people won’t know
I wrote a book during lockdown based on my life and my experiences.
What achievement makes you most proud?
I am most proud of my career, most recently starting my job at Muscular Dystrophy UK.
What do you get up to in your spare time?
I love food, whether that be cooking or eating it! I love cooking, baking and going out to new restaurants with my husband.
If you weren’t doing what you’re doing now, what would you be doing instead?
I’ve always loved fashion and did textiles in high school, maybe I would have followed this passion more.