Meet our new Spoony Ambassador: Chanelle Morris

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Spoony is thrilled to welcome public speaker and proud disabled woman, Chanelle Morris, as our next brand ambassador.

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Chanelle is Vision Impaired with 30% vision and is legally Blind in her right eye. Growing up, she faced a lot of challenges at school that made her feel that she needed to hide her disability. The stress and hypervigilance around her disability led to negative self-beliefs and internalised ableism.

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In recent years, Chanelle has transformed her mindset and embraced her disability. She shares her experiences of being a young disabled woman and the barriers that she faces on her social media accounts.

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Video Transcript

Chanelle: I'm Chanelle, and I'm here to talk about my lived experience of disability.

Text on screen: Meet Chanelle. Our new Spoony Ambassador! How do you explain your disability to people?

Chanelle: So I'm Vision Impaired. I let people know that I have about 30% vision total, and I'm legally Blind in my right eye. I tell people to picture a watercolour painting, for example; it's blurred, details are missing, and everything seems a little hazy. To me, that's just the best way that I can convey what I see, and I feel like it gets people to paint a picture in their head, almost.

Text on screen: What are your values?

Chanelle: My values are empowerment and authenticity.

Text on screen: What's a quote you love?

Chanelle: "I may lack eyesight, but I do not lack vision." It is all I stand for.

Text on screen: Why is advocacy so important to you?

Chanelle: I just want to be that person, that I never had, for other people. I want to be the advocate, the voice that I never had growing up. I never spoke about my condition. I was embarrassed. I was so suffocated. I lived this whole double life, basically, where no one knew, and I never want anyone else to go through that and feel that way. And I just want to be that voice and that person spreading this awareness that I never had.

Text on screen: Why are safe online spaces so important for the disability community?

Chanelle: To have a safe space where you can be authentically you and just feel safe in a way that you can be vulnerable and use your voice is so important. So when I come across an online community that is a safe space, I think that this is so important because it lets people become themselves and feel like they belong. So when I came across Spoony, I honestly, this is the safe space that I've been looking for. It's what I wish I had when I was younger, but never did. People can come together and not feel alone and talk to other people, and it's just a beautiful community.

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