• About
  • Books
  • Art
  • Hire Me
  • Become an Affiliate
  • NormalNess In The Media
  • Fine Print/Disclosure
Normal Ness

Author: Vanessa Smith

  • This is my life
  • ...
    • Work

My needs are not wrong, your service is wrong

Posted on May 15, 2025May 20, 2025by Vanessa Smith
Two white hands are undertaking spot cleaning in a very white kitchen.

I was doing some prep reading for an interview at my job this week (you can listen to it here or the version with transcript here) on foundational supports and it had me reflecting on my attempts (in 2024, in 2025, and the complaint and the response to the complaint) about trying to get some […]

Read More
2 Comments
  • Health
  • ...
    • This is my life

Advocacy – quick thank you email

Posted on May 6, 2025by Vanessa Smith

I’m planning to document and collate more of my advocacy on this site. Mostly so that others can use my words with a template to save them some energy (though my words are never perfect nor are they the only words you can use) and to remind myself on bad days (I’m having one right […]

Read More
2 Comments
  • Health
  • ...
    • This is my life

Advocacy has to include loss?

Posted on April 30, 2025April 30, 2025by Vanessa Smith

Recently I saw a post on social media saying your advocacy has to cost you something. Sleep, career opportunities, relationships… whatever it may be, they claimed that if your advocacy hasn’t cost you something, then it may be performative.   I have major issues with this thought process!   It assumes you can lose what […]

Read More
No comments yet
  • Health
  • ...
    • This is my life

The disability service isn’t for disabilities

Posted on April 24, 2025by Vanessa Smith

Yeah that sounds like a really shitty ridiculous headline, doesn’t it? I wrote about trying to get some disability services in early 2025 and how I’d lodged a complaint. Well, here’s the follow up to that. Maybe take some blood pressure medication before reading.   My complaint: To Whom It May Concern, I wish to […]

Read More
2 Comments
  • Health
  • ...
    • This is my life

2025 Disability Supports: an attempt at QLD state government supports

Posted on April 24, 2025April 24, 2025by Vanessa Smith

I shared what trying to get supports was like in 2024. Well, in early 2025 I had to try again. Something had changed and I needed a support. From my 2024 experience I had learned more about what state based services offered and felt more confident that I would be able to get the support […]

Read More
4 Comments
  • This is my life

Quiet advocacy is still advocacy

Posted on March 28, 2025May 9, 2025by Vanessa Smith

Too often I feel like disabled people are only taken seriously as advocates if they have the “big ticket” items on their advocacy resume. What does that mean? Big committees, in-person attendance at events, and anything else that aligns with corporate norms. (Side note the ever brilliant Charlie has a post that covers how some corporate […]

Read More
No comments yet
  • This is my life

My new drafty thing for authors

Posted on March 8, 2025by Vanessa Smith

For a few months now I’ve been mulling how to help authors with their drafts. I’ve had a lot of different ideas. Some I may be able to enact in the future with my own books.    In the end, I’ve come up with a fancy pants new service called “Oh Shit, My Draft!”.    […]

Read More
No comments yet
  • This is my life

Pay disabled people more because disability is expensive

Posted on February 20, 2025by Vanessa Smith
A photo of money in a glass cup with a small seedling growing from it.

Like most things relating to disability, research can be few and far between. If the government funded research on these topics, they might have to do something to support our human rights, which is expensive for them. Ableism also makes supporting disabled people quite unpopular, too.    March 2022 data suggests that people with a […]

Read More
1 Comment
  • This is my life

Unsupportive disability supports

Posted on February 2, 2025by Vanessa Smith

In 2024 I tried to get some state based (aka non NDIS) disability supports. It was a complete joke. Not only was there an extensive wait list but you also had to be rich enough to pay for them. Yes, it was subsidised, cheaper than “market rate”, but that is NOT financial accessibility given the […]

Read More
3 Comments
  • This is my life
  • ...
    • Writing

I’m planning to do the wrong thing

Posted on January 20, 2025January 20, 2025by Vanessa Smith

On threads the other day an author shared a really helpful series of posts about iterating as an author to move yourself forward in a creative and commercial way. I’m usually not a fan of generic advice, because, it’s generic, but this was thought out and clearly came from experience. It’s worth reading the posts […]

Read More
No comments yet

Posts navigation

Older posts
Newer posts

Meet NormalNess

NormalNess is where I share my life. And books I’ve written. I vlog sometimes. I also podcast occasionally. In the meantime, hang out with me and remember: We’re all normal to ourselves…

Search the blog:

Recent Posts

  • Why I won’t do media for chronic illness
  • Is there still an opportunity to do foundational supports well?
  • How many degrees does it take to overcome ableism?
  • Advocacy to Greens re RACGP
  • Asynchronous communication advocacy

Archives

Categories

Activello Theme by Colorlib Powered by WordPress