As you know, I have thoughts and feelings on codesign. But I came across this research by DANA and thought I’d share the points that felt most important. Important to me basically means the points that I’ve seen disability organisations fail continually to do, or do well. Most of my feelings are organistion -> individual […]
Author: Vanessa Smith
Assing Upmtions
Assumptions, that’s what this headline is saying. I just really wanted to focus on the ASS bit because this is all about a divide which I think is bullshit. The divide between “disabled” and “disabling health condition” has been growing and I feel like it’s about to escalate wildly. There are so many […]
The problem I have with self advocacy
Being forced to advocate for yourself is a form of outsourcing. And it’s unpaid, exhausting, and often emotional exertion. Systemic issues could be fixed by those in power, but it’s quicker & easier to say we just didn’t try hard enough to advocate for ourselves. Demanding that we self advocate also means the […]
The periphery of being a writer is more profitable than being a writer
There you go, I said it. Gasp. The periphery of being a writer is more profitable than being a writer. The thing that annoyed me the most about this was some social media advertisement for a SPECIALIST writers notebook for $60 or something (naturally, discounted from $90). I don’t even know what […]
Who gets to talk about energy?
I’m beginning to really dislike it when famous or rich people talk about saving energy, because when those of us who are genuinely limited in energy talk about it, we don’t receive the praise the famous and rich receive. When I talk about things like needing a trip out of the house to go […]
NDIS support needs assessment process feedback survey
I’m planning to document and collate more of my advocacy on this site. Mostly so that others can use my words as a template to save them energy (though my words are never perfect nor are they the only words you can use). I’ll collect the links on one page eventually but for now they’ll […]
The media only shares best case ME/CFS stories
In April 2025 a story about ME/CFS was in the mainstream media. You can read it here. It was a good, relatable story. One quote that stuck with me was “a graceless manager who refused her request to work some days from home because it would be ‘unfair’ to her team”. Because OOOOOF […]
Storm season disability issues
My local council, who think they’re totes mah goats the best on disability because we have two wheelchair beach mats, has a habit of abandoning disabled people in storm season. When it’s time to go get sandbags for storms or cyclones, there’s no assistance. There’s no help if you’re unable to drive, use a […]
The palatability problem
The charity model of disability relies heavily on the palatability of those in the front and centre. (A lot of disability organisations and disability focused products and services also focus on palatability.) This marginalises those who can’t perform things such as: wellness gratefulness prettiness skinniness whiteness The effect of marginalising people who fall […]
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Don’t shit on influencers
If you’re shitting on influencers who are losing work over social media bans / platform changes and want them to “get a real job”, then I expect you to detail what you are personally dong to make “real jobs” accessible and flexible. Oh, you’re doing nothing and just want to shit on a thing […]