Body Babble

Dear every body, At the end of last year, I received a lovely message on LinkedIn from a Deaf writer in the U.S, who introduced herself as Carolyn Girard. She told me she’d recently discovered Body Babble and would be keen to write an essay about her experience at Gallaudet University, the world’s only Deaf university. Immediately I was intrigued. I’d been aware of Gallaudet for a number of years;...

Hello, and welcome to Body Babble ! You can help me keep publishing independent essays and reporting on disability, access and queerness by: * subscribing * sharing this post with someone who might like it * considering a monthly paid subscription In any case, thank you so much for reading! Celestine x Dear every body, today we’re talking about people with non-visible disabilities’ experiences wea...

Dear every body, today we’re talking about Beyond the Visual , the UK’s first major blind-led sculpture exhibition, which is running until 19th April 2026 at the Henry Moore Institute in Leeds. I visited the exhibition on their press day in November and though my visit was only brief, it shifted how I think about art and the senses. Like most sighted people, the visual is my “dominant” sense. It’s...

Dear every body, Ten years ago, my own experience of chronic illness inspired me to make ill, actually , a short documentary film about young disabled people and online identity. Since then, I’ve somehow made my career in disability media in the UK. I’m a writer and filmmaker, and I work with clients as a copywriter, editor, speaker and trainer. My films have been programmed on the BBC, and my wri...

Dear every body, Did you know that the UK government used to lease disabled people a tiny blue three-wheeler? And that by the mid-1970s, these cars were driven by 25,000 people ? It’s UK Disability History Month (20 November- 20 December), and today we’re talking about the invalid carriage , also known as the Invacar. If you’re from a similar generation to me (b. 1995), you might not be familiar w...

Dear every body, Welcome to the third edition of Body Babble ! I hope you’re all well. A few updates before we begin… * Priti Salian from the excellent Reframing Disability (also on Substack) published a lovely interview with me about my work. I’ve been a fan of Priti’s newsletter for several years so it felt very exciting to be featured. Have a read! * You may or may not have noticed that I’ve be...

This essay was originally published in Disability Debrief under the title “Going off-script”, and edited by Peter Torres Fremlin. Dear every body, Welcome back! Thank you so much for reading my first essay, “When you stammer with someone” , over the last two weeks. I’m amazed that lots of you have already subscribed, and the article even got shout-outs in several newsletters I’ve been a long-time...

Dear every body, Welcome to the first edition of Body Babble ! Today we’re talking about stammering. Stammering, or stuttering, as it’s known more commonly in the U.S, is a speech “disorder” which creates a difference in the way people speak. According to STAMMA , the UK’s largest stammer charity, people who stammer repeat sounds or words (“My name is J-J-J-John”), stretch or prolong sounds (“Can...