Seven years ago, Angela was leading a ‘pretty ordinary’ life — married with two beautiful children, and a well-mapped out career path.

At the age of 30, Angela was diagnosed with Neutral Lipid Storage Disease with Myopathy. “I’d acquired skills on how to navigate through ordinary challenges. This meant I had to see myself as a completely different person with different skills and different challenges.”

She adds, “I understood that life has not ended, it has been re-pathed and I need to adjust and accommodate for my differently-abled body.”

Finding herself again

Angela pursued meditation, and engaged professional medical help and support to start her journey towards finding herself again and getting mentally, physically and emotionally stronger.

On this journey, she decided to share her story through an animation film, and to learn the skill of animation, she booked an independent support worker on Mable. Damian, who had professional experience in producing animation shows, supported Angela to design and produce her film, and advocate for the disability community through her experiences.

Over time, Angela has built a great team of support workers on Mable, who support her with everything from meal preparation, laundry and linen changing, cleaning and gardening, but also assist her to pursue her passions, such as travelling.

Read the full version of Angela’s story, recently published on North Shore Mums. In it, she talks about navigating the world of parenting and dating as a single mum. You can read the article on this page.

Also read

Read some of our other incredible stories for IDPwD 2022:
1. Penny: IDPwD 2022: “Yes, I’m a person with disability. Yes, I hike”
2. Caitlin: IDPwD 2022: “I think I’m as smart and talented as anyone else”
3. Tim: IDPwD 2022: Tim Ragg on how sports rescued him
4. Kathy: IDPwD 2022: “Autistic adults are everywhere, they are creative, have relationships, and run businesses“

Check out our Facebook and Instagram pages to see how Mable is celebrating the International Day of People with Disability.