The Noise Of 1000 Voices

22 Dec 2010: We all hear about disabilities in medical terms as written by professionals, doctors or researchers, but we rarely get to hear about people's disabilities and personal journeys in their own words...

1000 Voices is part of a research and public awareness project that is being carried out by Griffith University, which is located in Queensland, Australia. The project is being led by Professor Lesley Chenoweth, along with a large team of people.

The goal of the 1000 Voices project, is to collaborate the personal stories of 1000 people from around the world who live with a disability or their family members, they will share the stories on a website for everyone to view. The stories are about their life, what they go through every day, their achievements, their hardships and it will all be in their own words.

What the 1000 Voices project managers are hoping to achieve by creating this website, is to open people's eyes and create more disability awareness. This project will also help to empower people who are living with a disability, in the way of expression. They are hoping that in the future, the website will be able to be accessed by policy makers and other people who work in the disability sector, and they will gain a greater understanding of what is best for people living with disabilities.

These stories will be told through many different ways. Some people are choosing to submit their story in written form, some are creating a video, some using pictures and others are creating artwork. 1000 Voices welcomes people to be as creative as possible. The project began in 2009 and is open until 2011, so there is still time to submit your story if you want to be a part of history and possibly help change the future for people living with a disability.

To take a look at the website to learn more, share your own story, or view some of the amazing stories that are already on the website, visit - http

Jeffrey Finlay, an Indigenous artist who was paralysed in a car accident - he paints with his mouth