This article on The Conversation mentions disability, but only insofar as it’s a protected status; it’s technically illegal to discriminate against us. I say technically because we all know how common it is to be on the receiving end of discrimination in the workplace. A common refrain will be that you should work for […]
This is my life
Advocacy: foundational support via Emerge
In late 2024 a few organisations were doing surveys regarding the creation of foundational supports. As someone who needs supports but presently gets no supports, I filled in as many as I could. I found my words in one particular report (this one). When I first read the report, I got really excited because […]
Authors, Be Kinder
I’ve been seeing a lot of gatekeeping how authors show up (and how they consider others) and I think I need to write about it. I’m seeing a lot of shitty, dehumanising takes. Not caring about content warnings, telling people they can’t ever post anything “negative” ever, not to talk about media (eg other […]
I’m not here for the comfort of ableds
(Side note: some people don’t like ableds being used in this slightly slur way. That’s ok, they don’t have to like it. I use it this way when I’m cranky because I’m fucking sick of being expected to be a meek better person just because of disability.) On one of my trips home from […]
The future of my fiction
Over the past five or so years a pattern has emerged with how I want to work on my fiction. For now the specific will stay with me, because it took a long time to realise and it’s too raw to me to share. Raw isn’t’ inherently bad, FYI. It’s just raw. The […]
MECFS, work, and death
These are some thoughts I shared elsewhere online after seeing a post about how people with severe ME die when they become homeless. A lot of the time MECFS groups will tell you to quit your job. I get where they’re coming from but it’s not an accurate representation of reality. I can’t get […]
Work can be just work
People are very all or nothing about work and I am just… not that way inclined. Colleagues have to be friends! Nope. Colleagues are colleagues. There’s nothing wrong with being a colleague. I have a great deal of respect for many people I’ve worked with and for some, I’d drop everything (disability permitting) to […]
Needing supports vs receiving supports
A while ago I responded to this Substack post. Particularly, this part: “It means learning to use supports (whether that’s a mobility aid, a meal delivery service, or a friend helping you with errands) before you absolutely need them.” My repsonse: I fully agree with this. The challenge is when you need […]
“It’s easier to call…”
It’s time, my fellow humans. It’s time to acknowledge that easier just means more convenient for you. The prevalence of synchronous communication is becoming an issue for me. People need to stop treating asynchronous conversation needs as second class citizens. This is most obvious in a customer service context, where asynchronous needs are met […]
Chasms
I feel these chasms often and don’t feel like they are talked about much. The chasm of disability vs chronic illness. The chasm of always having had support vs never having had support. The chasm of a condition that can be supported vs one that can’t. The chasm of a researched condition vs an […]