Max Spooner: ‘A disability can actually drive you to focus on what you can do, not what you can’t.’ Photograph: www.roalddahl.com Frances Ryan in the 1990s: ‘You have more potential than you can dream of.’ Photograph: Courtesy of Frances Ryan You don’t need to avoid a doctor’s office for a decade but you don’t have to be tethered to one either. Enjoy the freedom of good periods of health and use the NHS as your helper when the bad ones come. The bad ones inevitably come, and when they do you will find yourself lifted by the type of strength that cannot be reduced by muscle weakness. Don’t be afraid to question medical professionals, or challenge them for more. You are your greatest advocate, best cheerleader and the most qualified expert on your body. Do not get the pink wheelchair. You won’t be able to afford a new one until you’re 17 and no one wants to go to sixth form looking like Barbie on acid.

Lightweight Folding Pink Wheelchair | Wheelchairs | Fenetic

It’s me, the older and (questionably) wiser version of you. You’ll never guess what … they have found a cure for cerebral palsy. You’re able-bodied! Stretch. Move, even when it doesn’t feel necessary. There will come a day when your body needs more help and you will be grateful you gave it a head start.

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You will fight fiercely to keep your independence, but perhaps you can ask for help occasionally – it isn’t a sign of weakness. Some people actually like helping you and get a sense of fulfilment from it, especially your family; be kind to them, as they only want to support you. What makes this collection so special is that all these people know what they are talking about. In those darkest moments, I was surrounded by well-meaning able-bodied adults telling me that everything would change once I was older, and I used to look at them and think: what the hell do you know? Don’t let anyone restrict you, doubt or patronise you. Low expectations are not a natural side-effect of disability. You have more potential than you can dream of. Cerrie Burnell: ‘Your determination will be your greatest asset. It will get you in and out of trouble.’ Photograph: www.roalddahl.com And in case a disabled teenager is reading this, let me add my voice to the chorus: just hold out, better days are nearly here.

Invacare Action 3 Junior children wheelchair - Invacare UK Invacare Action 3 Junior children wheelchair - Invacare UK

There will be bumps along the way, at least one particularly big one. But don’t worry. Health is not linear, it ebbs and wanes and you will ride every wave. It is OK to cry. You will laugh too. Lots. You will drink wine in gardens with friends you love. You will speak in front of vast crowds and beam over the radio. You will tour cities with bright lights and see art, plays, and music. There is nothing I can tell you about how – or who – to be because you never listen to anyone. Not really.These are not new things – you’re already aware of them – but sometimes you hide them because of what other people might think. Stop it. Those are the qualities that make you you. Be proud of them, because they make you stand out from the crowd. If you’re feeling low or sad, talk to someone. It’s so important that you share your feelings with someone you trust; you never know, they may be able to give you advice that will make life feel a little better. Music has also long been calling your name – you’ll find a drum set in one of the practice rooms to help channel your angst. Over the coming years, songs will fall from the sky and into your lap from time to time. Their arrival will bring you great comfort, as it will to many others.

Wheelchair Joystick Knob - Etsy UK Wheelchair Joystick Knob - Etsy UK

While all this is going on, the state-funded support networks you are used to fall away, as the arbitrary leap from children’s to adults’ services is rigidly enforced. Which is where Roald Dahl’s Marvellous Children’s Charity comes in, providing specialist nurses in hospitals, who can help navigate this complicated transition. There are now 82 of these nurses, and the organisation is launching an appeal to fund more; the appeal includes an ebook with the potential to do so much good. It brings together letters from adults with disabilities or lifelong health conditions to their younger selves, each telling a different story resonating with the same powerful message: it won’t always be like this. It will be OK. If I could give you one teeny piece of advice, though, I’d say, never apologise. Naturally, you will do things that you should say sorry for, but I mean the bigger stuff: never apologise for being you. You’re loud, you’re annoying, you’re goofy, you’re disabled and (spoiler alert) you’re gay.

Lightweight folding Pink Wheelchair

Talking of which, don’t stop going to the dentist. Yes, clinics aren’t made for wheelchairs but you deserve access to all healthcare like anyone else. That goes for cervical smears too. Steel Transport Wheelchair features an extremely compact and lightweight steel frame and is ideal for the occasional or first time user who wants a strong, reliable and easy to use wheelchair. Things will be calmer, but not yet. There are so many adventures you need to go on first. Your determination will be your greatest asset. It will get you in and out of trouble. It will get you to exactly where you need to be. One day you will step through a door and discover you have been fighting the wrong fight. All of the years you spent refusing to be defined by your disability were only because you had been told that being disabled wasn’t beautiful or alluring, or desirable. You will learn this is a lie and that being part of the disabled community is the most wonderful, glorious thing ever. Getting the world to understand this is the real fight. You have much work to do.

Steel Compact Transport Pink Wheelchair | Millbrook Healthcare Steel Compact Transport Pink Wheelchair | Millbrook Healthcare

You’re expecting me to tell you something deep and profound but, honestly, just keep on doing you. Most importantly, keep on telling jokes because one day you will make a living from them.You will thrive at university. It will be a little scary to be the first generation in your family to study for a degree, and you will often be the only disabled person in the room. But that’s OK. Now that you’ve started secondary school, I know your feelings of being “different” are stronger than ever. You think you’re “the weird one” and are starting to feel a sense of acceptance that this is just the way things are. You are not in competition with your non-disabled peers, nor a hypothetical healthy version of yourself. There is no timeline. It is not a race. The destination changes and is none the worse for it. This is not always an easy way to be, but you are not drawn to easy pleasures. And yet you find joy in humble, bright things. Sunshine. The sound of the gulls. The moon at midnight. Don’t lose these things, even if no one else appreciates them – keep saving them up in your heart because one day you will weave them into stories. The most radiant and rebellious thing you can do is to fall in love with your body. And you will. You will appreciate all of your femininity, physical strength and unexpected grace. But it will take work. Society’s view of disabled people will slowly change between your time and mine, and in due course, the wider public will begin to realise what we’ve known all along: it is the world surrounding us that is disabling, not the other way around.