Stories, essays, opinions, analyses and more from across the different disability communities and from their friends, families, and allies.
Disability and the Invasion of the Ukraine
In the desperate circumstances that Ukranians find themselves in, disabled people are hiding in their bathtubs because they cannot get to the shelters. Institutions of disabled people are being bombed and families are struggling to survive and unable to leave. In the words of one leader in the Ukrainian disability movement, we’re “easier to kill”….
Ending the Evusheld “Hunger Games”
Secretary Beccara – As 1 of the 7 million immunocompromised people living in the U.S., I am appalled at the hoops I am having to jump through to try to get my Evusheld injections. Having been in my home now for almost 2 years, without going to the grocery store, seeing my friends in person,…
On Life With Chronic Illness, Long Covid and Disabilities
So you have a new chronic illness, Long Covid, or disability and now your world has changed. I’m so sorry you’re facing this situation. You’ve probably not had time to adjust yet and you had no way of knowing that you’d be going through this. Contributed by Asher Wolf, originally published as Beyond The Bullshit…
Divergence – Neurodiversity and Pathology and Acceptance and Cure
The Neurodiversity Movement is growing as advocates push for acceptance instead of a cure for numerous neurodivergences including, but not limited to, Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). As a person with ASD and Other Specified ADHD, I too am pushing for a world of acceptance instead of a cure. Because if…
Practical Pain – How should you talk to your Doctor about Pain?
You’d think that, considering their job, doctors and healthcare workers would be willing to treat someone in pain. It feels like common sense that if you’re experiencing pain, new or ongoing, you go to a doctor, and they help. Unfortunately, this is often not the case. More than 20% of Americans have chronic pain In…
Beyond the Vaccine – protecting our immunnocompromised from Covid with Evusheld
What would you do if the Covid vaccine didn’t work for you? There are between 7 and 9 million Americans with weakened immune systems, in some cases, the vaccine literally doesn’t work. Enter Evusheld which provides up to 6 months of protection… if only you can find it. Twenty years of living with Multiple Sclerosis…
I donated a kidney… and you can too
I was sitting on the bed in our master bedroom reading the Kansas City Jewish Chronicle in December 2017, when I read about a woman in Ft. Lauderdale, FL who needed a kidney. I instantly thought: “I wonder if that could be me.” Fifteen years earlier my cousin Ann received a kidney from her best…
Start Behind, Get Behinder
Disabled students in segregated education settings get 23 percent fewer minutes of instruction per day… and it adds up My son is autistic. Shortly after his diagnosis by our insurer, we started the Special Education process. We didn’t know anything. Though we were given “Procedural Safeguards”, we had no clue and we trusted the school…
Captioning Superbowl Ads – Progress, not Perfection
For the first time in a few years, I watched the entire SuperBowl. It wasn’t because I was rooting for a team (my team hasn’t been in the game since the 1990s) or that I’m from Texas where we all supposedly love football. No. I watched it for two things: How many ads had captions…
Ending the Home Care Crisis
My name is Kendra Scalia and I’m a Hudson Valley Leader with the NY Caring Majority, and a disabled woman using Consumer-Directed Personal Assistance (CDPA) home care services. Last year at this time I submitted testimony to this Legislature regarding the home care crisis our state continues to ignore. I told you about my experience…