#DisabilityBlog

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navigating the structural ableism is just so exhausting like.

what I really need is to rest for a couple weeks and get my ducks in order re: medical care and have people be a little understanding and extend just the barest amount of trust that I'm not a malingerer based on the fact that I work so, so hard when I'm in their presence—so why wouldn't I also be like that at home??

instead I am required to either show up sick to have "good attendance" (physically impossible for even my healthiest and hardest working coworkers srsly, half my coworkers got covid last month) or else call in and be subjected to threats of losing my livelihood, shaming, and being forced to use vacation time instead of unpaid leave to account for every precious hour I didn't spend being assigned menial tasks.

and if I don't show up, god forbid I stay at home and actually recover so I can go back to work sooner. no, I am required to go to the urgent care, pay an extra copay for specialty care, and fight through my medical trauma only to be told half the time that I'm not supposed to be there because they can't treat chronic conditions and I should go to my primary care instead. (wait 1 month for appointment. can't afford copay because I went to urgent care. tests come back negative and have to start over. my fault for not trying hard enough.)

nondiscrimination my dislocated ass

[localvoicesparkview]

Self Care; Staying Productive — Terminally Tough

Self Care; Staying Productive — Terminally Tough

Importance of taking care of yourself when living with a disability. 

When health conditions isolate you, it is important to keep yourself busy. I struggle with physically keeping busy due to my lack of mobility, so it is vital that I keep my brain as active as possible. One thing I have learnt is to keep working on yourself, as some people haven’t always been afflicted […]

via Self Care;…

[martynsibley]

Writing a manifesto is vital for your ability to change the world! . But it can be overwhelming. . I will walk you through getting clear on your cause, as well as communication and commitment, to go be the change you want to see in the world! . Why is a manifesto so important? - It gives you clarity in what you want to have an impact on, why you care, and how you’ll achieve it. - It allows you to share your vision with the world, and build a tribe of like-minded people to go on the journey together. . Join my VIP Academy today to be a part of the challenge! Challenge starts 1/20/2020! Link is in Bio . . . #xceptionaled #xed #slp #slpeeps #specialneeds #disability #martynsibley #disabilityawareness #disabilityhorizons #vipacademy #disabilitycommunity #disabilityblogger #disabilityblog #ceu #continuingeducation #newyearschallnge https://www.instagram.com/p/B7RjKNGpXp2/?igshid=1rhl9nn87qpzx

[trueassistech]

Good News for the disabled people.

[monstacompound-blog]

REAL MONSTA!!! #disability #disabilityawareness #disabilitylife #disabilityblog #love #wheelchairsports #wheelchairwod #disabled #disabledsports #disabilitylife #wheelchair #wheelchairmodel #motivationalspeaker #motivationalspeaking #motivated #motivational #veteranfitness #lafitness #lamedia #blackcoach #celebritytrainer #karate #adaptiveathlete #adaptivekarate #adaptiveselfdefense #adaptivefitness #adaptivesports #adversity #fitnessbody #bodyfitness https://www.instagram.com/p/B080-k3nDJi/?igshid=1t8z30omhdupr

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relatable disability/chronic illness moods as portrayed by murderbot:

you are always in one of two states: devastatingly efficient, or incapacitated.

you're just going around thinking you are acting like a normal human and then people randomly get very concerned and ask "are you okay???"

"this may cost me the use of my limbs" is a normal and acceptable calculation in the course of your daily activities

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*drinks water*

*drinks water*

`,:/

*drinks water*

*eats some salt*

*drinks water*

*eats a snack*

*drinks water*

*cleans glasses*

*drinks water*

*unclenches jaw*

*drinks water*

*lies down*

*drinks water*

... wait, is this a Real Headache™???

>:O

I used to get a lot of dehydration headaches so now when I get any other kind of headache I just sit here angrily sipping water and wondering why nothing is happening

[ourwitching]

Executive functioning is your ability to engage in goal-directed behavior: it includes self-control...

[localvoicesparkview]

Talking about my disability is a sensitive subject — BEYOND MY LIMITATIONS

Talking about my disability is a sensitive subject — BEYOND MY LIMITATIONS

Talking about disability! 

You would think that as a person who has spent eight months blogging about my disability that it’s a topic that comes naturally to me, something that I want to shout about from the mountain top, but to be completely transparent I don’t like talking about my disability. You may think that I am completely […]

via Talking about my disability is a sensitive subject —…

[thehomebasedpr0]

Running a Business from Home: 5 Tips for 2014 | Disability.Blog

She specializes on the topic of small business tips and resources. ChamberofCommerce.com helps small businesses grow their business on the web and facilitates connectivity between local businesses and more than 7,000 …

Running a Business from Home: 5 Tips for 2014 | Disability.Blog via Blogger http://ift.tt/1c37lRD

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i'm in love with scooters

today i went grocery shopping after work and used one of the motorized scooter carts for the first time.

i walked in, realized i was there for more than two items, and turned around to get a cart. Lo and behold, there were like ten scooter carts sitting there with no one using them.

i hesitated.

my hip joints nudged me and whispered, "yo, wanna see us race to find out which one can dislocate faster?"

i sat.

being a responsible driver, i read all the instructions before turning on the cart. and then, like an intellectual, nearly backed into a wall instead of going forward.

it really made me think about the accessibility of grocery stores. I.E., i had to stand up at one point to to reach a bag of chips. what if i didn't have any legs? no chips for the legless. (or, idk, you get really good at using those grabby claw things.)

at one point i was like, man, i wish these things went faster. i could walk much quicker than this. and i said to myself, would you rather be walking?

no.

would you be more likely to run over some toddler or innocent old person if it did go faster?

...yeah.

i reconciled myself to a steady 2 mph.

zooming around would probably drain the battery, anyway. i reflected on how much it might cost the store to charge and maintain these things. and then i realized i'd been in there twice as long as i would have stayed otherwise and had ice cream and milano cookies in my cart which i wouldn't have gotten if i was in pain. so that's probably a net profit

the logistics of using the self check out machine was different. i had to lean way forward over the controls to unload my groceries and then back up approximately fourteen inches to get my receipt.

an employee came over and helped me pack up the groceries which was good because they were a little hard to reach. there was one of those little check-signing surfaces at approximately my eye level that i had to awkwardly reach around. (i'm used to being short. i'm not used to being that short.)

i've been eying the scooter carts with longing every time i go into a store for...uh... years, at this point, but holding off because i "only" had ortho hypo, and i also have social anxiety which gives me imposter syndrome about just walking into a store on my own two feet. and i've heard too many horror stories of disabled people being mistreated because they didn't "look" disabled enough to be using such accomodations.

but I've been having pretty bad joint pain (i blame the wildfire smoke) and i figured if anyone gave me shit about it i could just be like "my hips dislocate when i walk :)))"

and you know what? nobody gave a shit! in fact, on my way through the parking lot, two separate people approached and politely asked if i needed help getting things into my car.

i'm glad i overcame the nervousness and did something kind for myself. and i think i needed reminding that most people are nice.

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also per my previous post, over the course of the last few days i have caught myself ignoring pain/symptoms (insidious internalized ableism, training myself out of it is a work in progress) and have of course responded to that by relating everything to my new special interest and current hyperfixation. this has progressed from

"oof, my organic components didn't like that"

to

"Jack, you lovable dork, you don't have any inorganic components. unless you're counting your glasses"

to

"stop treating yourself like a SecUnit"

and finally

"if you wouldn't do it to your beloved SecUnit don't do it to your squishy human or augmented human self"

growth. 🤌🫴

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i feel it my hips

i feel it my elbows

joint pain

(what tune are we singing this to?)

I feel it my fingers

I feel it my toes

joint pain

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I'm lying in bed with joint pain and fatigue and I need to make a decision to either go to work 2+ hours late or call in sick today.

My body is saying "I am not well."

My brain is saying "It's barely worse than usual, it's not contagious, I need the money, what will people think of me?"

Why is it so hard to listen to my own body? Why is pain so unbearably honest?

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I have a lot of chronic joint pains, due to Undiagnosed Bad Joints Syndrome. At the moment, gold and silver medals for the worst joint awards go to: hip (the baddest) and other hip (the wannabe).

Since a few weeks after starting T, my hips have gotten notably worse, with no other factor I could think of to explain it. I got worried. I spent the next several months continuing to be vaguely worried. Was it some sort of heretofore unknown side effect of testosterone injections? Would I have to go to the doctor about this and maybe get taken off HRT indefinitely? Could the UDBJS be catastrophically interacting with my hormones, causing all the connective tissue in my body to unravel like a cheap sweater?

Just as mysteriously, a couple weeks ago the pain in my hip joints started to ease up. (Partly because the weather warmed up and all my joints liked that.)

The other day I finally realized there's a much simpler explanation for why my hip joints were struggling. I was thinking, "man, I should start lifting weights! That would be a good way to exercise and keep up with the unreasonable speed at which the Niblet is growing."

And then it hit me. I've gained over 30 pounds since starting T. Ergo... my frickin legs are heavier.

🤦

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unfortunately no amount of scrolling is actually going to make it hurt less to get out of bed