"My thesis is not about lack of access, town planning or accessibility of services. It concerns itself with the possibilities beyond present, taken-for-granted ways of being in the world." In this article, Libby Ellis is interviewed about her thesis on people who are learning to build new futures and identities across the social barriers that separate people with disability from others. The experiences of three people and their families form the basis of Ellis' research. The article is illustrated with quotations by family members - these have been taken from her thesis.