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Luisa L'Audace – That's how she rolls

04.11.2020

Every person is precious. This is what Luisa L'Audace would like to give to young people with disabilities in particular and thus encourage them. Who has influenced her own life with only one single performance, what her high expectations are currently still preventing her from doing and how she otherwise rolls, she tells us on REHACARE.com.
Photo: Portrait of a young woman with red hair and tattooed arms in a wheelchair - Luisa L'Audace; Copyright: privat

Name: Luisa L'Audace
Age: 24
City: Lower Saxony, Germany
Occupation: Trainee (speech therapy)
Impairment: a very rare neuromuscular disease

What makes you laugh?

Luisa L'Audace: Loriot movies, well done memes, our dogs and my husband when he wants to cheer me up.

What have you always been wanting to do and why have you never done this so far?

Luisa L'Audace: To write a book. I've had the dream of writing my own book for a long time, but I have so many ideas and stories to tell that I don't yet know exactly how to combine them. I'm also afraid that I'm not good enough to find a suitable publisher. And then there is of course my high expectation of myself, which will certainly not make it easy for me.

Which person has influenced you most? And why?

Luisa L'Audace: I would do wrong to many people in my environment if I had to limit this to one person. But when I look back on the last few years, one prominent person – through a single appearance – has changed a lot in my life. Last year, my neuromuscular disease made me walk worse and worse and I was afraid to use an auxiliary mean. Instead, I always clung to my husband on the road, hoping not to fall down and most importantly not to be identified as disabled. But then the actress Selma Blair walked down the red carpet (editor's note: at the 2019 Oscars) – with a walking stick! I felt this appearance as a sign to finally come to terms with my disability. You could say I was shaken up. The very same day I ordered my first walking stick and every time I don't feel good with it, I think of this TV show and feel empowered.

You have the chance to become the Commissioner for the Disabled. What would you do first?

Luisa L'Audace: Accessibility should become a duty. And by that I don't just mean accessibility for the agile active wheelchair user, but also for people in bulky electric wheelchairs or people with visual impairments etc.

Gif animation: REHACARE 2025 from 17 to 20 September 2025 in Düsseldorf/Germany, linked to "More information about the Trade Fair"
Photo: Woman with red hair, sunglasses and walking stick - Luisa L'Audace - standing in nature; Copyright: privat

Since the appearance of Selma Blair on the red carpet, Luisa L'Audace is no longer afraid to use assistive devices in public.

What is especially near and dear to you?

Luisa L'Audace: Empowerment for young people with disabilities. We must be seen and heard.

I would like to be ...

Luisa L'Audace: ... free from worries.

Which question would you like to be answered the most?

Luisa L'Audace: Why are people so afraid of the word disability? And where are all the people with disabilities in their daily lives? Does nobody notice that there are far too few in percentage terms and that there is obviously a lack of inclusion/participation at all corners?

What I still wanted to say...

Luisa L'Audace: There is so much to say. I want everyone with a disability to know that they are as valuable a member of our society as any other person. I want no one to put aside their needs because of their disability and instead, always try to stand up for their rights. To be disabled should not fill anyone with shame anymore. Disability should no longer be a taboo subject.

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