'My walking stick doesn't define me'

A young student who uses a walking stick is calling on people to evaluate how they interact with disabled people.

Ellen Blunsdon, who is 20, says it is ridiculous the things that strangers sometimes say to her on the street.

Ellen uses a stick, having being diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, a connective tissue disorder.

She has been told things like "you're too pretty to be disabled, you're too young to be disabled, you're too smart to be disabled".

Ellen feels that attitudes towards her changed once she started “presenting as disabled”, with reactions ranging from condescending to on-street abuse.