disability-can-be

[disability-can-be]

As a wheelchair user I'm trying to reframe my language for "being in the way."

"I'm in the way," "I can't fit," and "I can't go there," is becoming "there's not enough space," "the walkway is too narrow," and "that place isn't accessible."

It's a small change, but to me it feels as if I'm redirecting blame from myself to the people that made these places inaccessible in the first place. I don't want people to just think that they're helping me, I want them to think that they're making up for someone else's wrongdoing. I want them to remember every time I've needed help as something someone else caused.

[disability-can-be]

Just saw a wheelchair van with a sticker on it reading "Wheelchairs are expensive" and a Venmo code XD let's all do this

#mutual aid

[disability-can-be]

My face is having uncontrollable spasms. Great. It hurts really, really, really bad.

I think part of why I have trouble explaining pain to the doctor is when they ask about the pain scale I always think “Well, if someone threw me down a flight of stairs right now or punched me a few times, it would definitely hurt a lot more” so I end up saying a low number. I was reading an article that said that “10” is the most commonly reported number and that is baffling to me. When I woke up from surgery with an 8" incision in my body and I could hardly even speak, I was in the most horrific pain of my life but I said “6” because I thought “Well, if you hit me in the stomach, it would be worse.”

[disability-can-be]

I don't know who needs to hear this but your brain is lying to you and you don't need to wait until there's a round number on the clock to go the fuck to bed or start that project or eat a meal.

Get up and do it now.

[disability-can-be]

If u interact with my posts, just know I respond like this:

[disability-can-be]

I just gave my talk!!

It went well enough and there were like 30-40 people, which was not overwhelming. There were no questions for question time, but I've already had people thank me privately. I think I made a little bit of an impact!

First lecture in the baaaaag!!!!!

#disability #disability advocacy

[disability-can-be]

unfortunately i Do feel better when i clean my living space and eat enough fruits and veggies and go outside and generally remember i am a mammal :| real pity that knowing this does not make it easier to do those things

[disability-can-be]

Migraine With Aura

[disability-can-be]

Yesterday, I went to Baltimore with the intention of visiting a friend in hospice. Her health had taken a sharp nosedive over the weekend, and on Monday evening, the doctors said she maybe had a week left.

What actually happened was I went to Baltimore to help clean out her stuff, because she died at 8:44 on Tuesday morning and my plane didn't land until 8:50. So me and another friend helped another friend/her roommate (before hospice) find important documents, as well as save sentimental items for her actual loved ones because her family, well.

Her friends were her family. But because she died intestate, the people in her family of choice were entitled to nothing under the law. Instead of her beloved, disabled partner, her estranged family has legal rights to her savings bonds and the rest of her estate. (Sometimes common-law partners can inherit but they weren't together long enough to meet that criterion.)

I knew this was coming for a long time. You don't recover from the brain cancer she had. But it still really hurts. And knowing that people she hadn't spoken to in years are getting that money instead of the person she loved most... well, that hurts too.

Please, if you don't have one already, make a will. It's not hard. We don't like to think about it, because nobody likes thinking about post-death legal matters, but you need to make a will. If you're in the US, you can use websites like Free Will. You don't need an estate attorney or anything like that. In many states, a notarized letter is fine. I don't know enough about international estate law to say anything in that regard, but take half an hour to google estate laws in your jurisdiction and put together a will.

If something happened to you tomorrow, who do you want taking care of your pets? Do you have a collection of anything that you want looked after? Do you want your money to go to a person, a charity, or something else specific? If you don't have kids, everything reverts to a spouse. If you don't have a spouse, it goes to your parents. I know I don't want to burden my parents with figuring out what to do with my tegu, my skeletal collection, or my library. But if I died tomorrow, my will would take care of all of that. Thinking about mortality isn't fun, but dying intestate is worse. Make a will.

[disability-can-be]

Call for photos!

Hi dyspunks!

I am giving a talk this weekend about disability and ableism in the workplace. I would love to get some photos of disabled workers, especially with visible aids but all are welcome! If you have a story to tell, that works too! Please submit!

My lecture will be given to a group of professionals in the veterinary medicine industry. I am going to try to record it and have it available, probably posted here as well as behind a paywall for professional distribution. You and anyone else in the photo should be comfortable being seen and potentially identifiable in this way.

I will also post your pics here if desired, because that's what this blog is about: us doing our thing!

Thank you in advance! I love you!

#disability #disabled #mobility aid #disabled and working #eds #pots #cfs #cp #ableism #call for submissions

[disability-can-be]

*Sees someone on twitter arguing that DoorDash is necessary for the disabled because microwave food is too much to handle.*

...What. That seems absurdly specific.

There are a lot of reasons someone might not be able to microwave food. "I literally cannot get out of bed", "i need nutrients you can't just microwave", "my dumb brain has put up 18 billion barriers to try and stop me from eating and this is the loophole I have" "the microwave in this apartment is out of reach/not labeled properly/not ADA friendly in another way" "for x or y reason microwave food is a one way ticket to severe burns", etc. I found a lot of reasons someone might need DoorDash and I also found this cool article about food sharing in the disabled community and how the author had to rely on an abusive partner once because she was either in bed or barely able to crawl and they were among the few people bringing food.

Just saying, there's a reason disabled people have higher chances of food insecurity and there's a reason meal trains, meals on wheels, and other programs focus on bringing food to people in need and not just assuming "they have a microwave and money, why bother?". Sometimes you don't have a family or friends or mutual aid group to bring you meals when you can't even pop something in the microwave.

[disability-can-be]

madisondancelife:

My new FREE mini library includes videos on how to turn any standing dance routine into a seated one!

Enroll in my school on Teachable (free, natch) and get access to adaptation videos, plus all my drills, tutorials and combos from social media in the

"Extras" course.

If you decide you like my teaching and want more, over 200 of my weekly 45 min classes are posted in the full library, available for $15/mo.

Dance should be accessible, affordable and inclusive. Like singing, dance is in the human spirit and we all deserve to access it if we want to.

DM me if you want a link to my library, I also offer equity discounts for dancers on disability!

#instagram #adaptive dance #seated dance #wheelchair dance #inclusive dance #small business

[disability-can-be]

Shoutout to whoever it was who informed me a few weeks ago that some types of Zofran have stevia in them because I got to tell my doctor about it today, and he literally made this face behind his mask because he had no idea, and he is also stevia intolerant:

[disability-can-be]

I'm good in a crisis.

I'm not good in a crisis after a crisis after a crisis after a crisis after a crisis after a crisis after a crisis after a crisis after a crisis after a crisis after a crisis after a crisis after

#burnout

[disability-can-be]

I Have Found A Solution!

So, obviously classic wizard robes aren’t wheelchair friendly. (Alright, admittedly this isn’t common knowledge and also this definitely isn’t a problem for most but listen, this is a problem for me and I’m pleased to present a solution for it nonetheless.)

The issue is in the sleeves and the length of the robes. The traditional trumpet style allows them to get snagged, dirty, and caught in the wheels.

This is distinctly not an issue with other mobility aids such as canes and crutches, these wizards are fine to carry on with their trumpet sleeves simply rolled up if needed.

Now, one solution might simply to shorten the sleeves and hem to be out of the way, but that looks rather silly so I won’t do that. Instead I propose the more elegant design of a hanging sleeve to maintain that flowy magical feel while allowing for better range of motion.

Honestly I just love the look of hanging sleeves in general and think more people should appreciate them, wheelchair user or not.

In conclusion…

[disability-can-be]

if anybody needs to hear it:

[disability-can-be]

My dad: *uses step-by-step prompts to help me clear the table*

My mum: *talks to me*

I: *cover my eyes and freeze because I can’t multitask and it’s too much input at once*

My dad (to my mum): “Just look what you did, you’ve short-circuited her!”

🤦‍♀️😂😂😂😂😂

#raise your hand if you short circuit 🖐️