People used to stare at me when I was growing up because I was in a wheelchair, and I hated it. Now they're staring at me because they know me. How amazing is that? It's 'Oh, that's Dylan!' Not, 'Oh, there's a guy in a wheelchair.'Collection: Amazing
You know what, there are multiple streams of diversity: LGBTQI, gender equality, your race. All these streams of diversity had prejudices in the past, but a lot of them are getting a lot better. But the one you never hear about is disability.Collection: Equality
When I first played tennis... I was 11 or 12... and the craziest bit about that tennis tournament is that I had never seen someone in a wheelchair drive a car. They were all driving.Collection: Car
I used to doubt my ability and what I was capable of, and then I changed my mindset. It made me a better person, a better advocate, and opened doors for me to help instigate real change.Collection: Change
I've got, legit, three to four hundred pairs of shoes. And I don't walk, which is funny.Collection: Funny
More people need to be proud of their disability instead of shying away from it, because as soon as I became proud of it, I started dating, I started playing sport, everything happened.Collection: Dating
Some people want a job, for sure, but do you know what else some people want? They want a career. They want a leadership position.Collection: Leadership
I sat at home for two years of my life eating junk food, playing video games, embarrassed to go to school or leave the house because I wasn't proud of the person that I was.Collection: Food
I think you can do anything in this life whether you're in a wheelchair or not. I go to festivals, nightclubs, I travel the world, I'm loving my work on Triple J.Collection: Travel
I love the Australian Open, but the mecca of tennis is Wimbledon. The Royals are there, everyone's in white. It's just so cool, you can smell the roses when you're on the court.Collection: Cool
There are people out there with disabilities doing amazing things but unfortunately they don't get the chance to show off - they don't get out of the house and get amongst the general public, and when they do, often the public doesn't know how to handle it.Collection: Amazing
As a kid with disability, if you told me anybody in a wheelchair, let alone myself, would be Australian of the Year later, I would tell you to get stuffed.Collection: Alone
I can't tell you how much I struggled after the golden slam. I had actual depression. I hadn't seen my family - it was the biggest moment of my life, and I'm in a hotel.Collection: Family
I'm officially a retired, washed-up proper loser, and I love that.
I questioned whether anyone would love me because I'm in a wheelchair.
I love my disability. It is the best thing that ever happened to me.
I was lucky enough to win a gold medal when I was 17 years old.
If you said to me, 'Let's walk to the shop,' you'd realise what you'd said and feel bad. But it's just language. I say I'm going for a run, or for a walk to the shops, or that I'm going to jump upstairs.
People with disability have always been viewed as second-class citizens compared to non-disabled people. It's just an unconscious bias that people have.
I think standing ovations are one of the most ironic things in the world, by the way. But I'll take them, without a doubt.
There are so many things we can do to make sure they get those opportunities. People with disability are ready to go - it's you non-disabled people who need to start changing your unconscious biases.
My purpose is changing perceptions so people with disability, people like me can get out there and live the lives that they deserve to live.
We all need to say 'disabled' - because guess what? There's absolutely nothing wrong with having a disability. It makes you different. And there's nothing wrong with being different.
People think my life is really hard, but I love my life as it is.
I could win 20 Grand Slams and I'd be happy, but I'd regret not doing what I love the most, which is changing perceptions of disability, which broadcasting helps.
If I could take a magic pill that would mean I'm not in a wheelchair anymore, you couldn't pay me enough to take it - the Dylan in the wheelchair is the same as the Dylan without.
I got bullied because of my disability, I used to get called a cripple or a spastic everywhere I went.
I hated myself growing up.
For people like me with a disability, the unconscious bias is a lack of expectation of what you can do, negative perception, and negative stigmas around having a disability that you are broken, less capable, un-dateable, and most importantly unemployable, and that you can't do it as well as an able-bodied person.
I was born with my disability and my early teenage years I actually hated having a disability. It was really tough for me.
When I was a kid and I was getting bullied at school and I was really upset, I'd say, 'I don't know anyone like me, I don't see anyone like me on the TV or on the radio or the newspaper, and that sucks! That's not fair.'
I was in Thailand with my first girlfriend, Chelsea, and this guy was hitting on her, and he tried to kiss her. And he was like, 'oh, I thought that was just your sister or your carer.' Like, how could a guy in a wheelchair have a good-looking, able-bodied girlfriend?
I was really embarrassed about the fact that I had a disability. It was rough and tough like leather.
Playing tennis and wheelchair basketball has opened a lot of doors for me.
The social aspect of sport, meeting people like me, changed my life.
Well, I call the Olympic Games the crappy warm ups for the Paralympic Games, right? Once every four years people with disability are the stars.
I want to do all kinds of stuff and it's hard to do it all at once.
Luckily I just know how to string two words together.
As soon as you are comfortable with who you are, you start performing better, your life gets better, your relationships get better - opportunities start coming. It just so happens I became a role model.
We have the best Paralympic sport in the world because of the integration with the able-bodied tour.
Oh, I love the word 'disabled.'
When I turned on the TV or the radio, and flicked to the newspaper, I never saw anyone like me. That's what I struggled with the most. I loved Pat Rafter. I couldn't be Pat Rafter. I watched Rove McManus and I couldn't be Rove either.
I get sent a lot of stuff about stem cell research but I've never bothered with it because I'm happy with how I am.
That's why I love the Paralympics. For two weeks, it's the big show.
There are so many great Paralympians who came before me, who didn't get the recognition they deserve, if I'm honest.
It's been the most important thing to me, is to be a good person first, tennis comes second.
In terms of Paralympians there's not many more awesome than Kurt Fearnley.
Women can have such a great impact in business - especially women with a disability.
It took me 28 years to fully feel worthy with my disability.
People are always stopping me and asking for photos.