Author: s.e. smith
Get Your Flu Shot. You Could Save the Life of a Disabled Person.
“Oh, I never get the flu shot. It makes me sick,” a woman tells me at a dinner party, with the sort of shattering confidence that only ignorance can provide. I am, for a moment, taken aback — and living…
Here’s How You Can Show Solidarity to Disabled Classmates
Back-to-school season can be a stressful time for members of the disability community, especially those who are entering new schools and new phases of their educations. Inaccessibility is a constant problem on campuses, and that doesn’t just include physical access…
Empower Your Students Through Disability-Conscious Teaching
Historically, disabled people have been subjected to isolated, segregated education. And there’s still a notion that a disabled person in the classroom is a shocking and novel thing, and disabled people don’t belong in school. In a classroom space where…
Navigating the Twists and Turns of Healthcare as a Trans Disabled Person
Statistics on the transgender community are hard to come by — we can’t even agree on how many people in the United States are trans. We do know, however, that trans people experience significant health care disparities, particularly in…
Shock Therapy is Still Legal. It’s Time to #StopTheShock.
The Judge Rotenberg Center, an educational and residential facility in Canton, Massachusetts, says it has a “near zero rejection policy,” accepting autistic people and those with developmental disabilities and mental health conditions whose families say they have nowhere…
Electronic Visit Verification: a Threat to Independence for Disabled People
Dennis Borel of the Texas Coalition of People with Disabilities sums up Electronic Visit Verification (EVV) in one crisp comment: “What am I, a felon? Put an ankle bracelet on me.” If you’re not familiar with EVV, it involves the…
Before You Offer Unsolicited Mental Health Advice on Social Media, Read This.
If you have a mental illness and you talk about it on the internet, someone is bound to respond almost immediately with unsolicited advice. Have you tried medication? Have you tried not taking medication? Meditation? Crystals? Yoga? A fad diet?…
It’s Time for LGBQTIA+ Communities to Celebrate Disabled People
LGBQTIA+ spaces are supposed to be environments where we can be our true, authentic selves without stress. Where we can revel in being surrounded by our people, feeling safe and at home; places of queer joy, shared rage and frustration,…