Caregiving
I Needed My Caregiver to Keep Me Alive. She Exploited That Power.
Content note: this post discusses the concept of caregiver abuse. I have a fear of becoming a statistic. I made it through four years of college without being 1 in 3 disabled women sexually assaulted on college campuses, a number…
We Cannot Ignore the Connection Between Disability and Intimate Partner Abuse
This blog post is part of a series in partnership with the Disability Visibility Project® to bring attention to the omission of disability from larger conversations taking place within the #MeToo Movement. Trigger warning: this post discusses abuse, violence, and…
How My Cancer Diagnosis Has Led Me to Redefine Disability
After decades of looking at Multiple Sclerosis as a disability rather than a disease, my experiences are forcing me to reexamine my perspective on illness and to redefine disability. I, like many people with disabilities of my generation, rejected the…
VIDEO: The Threatened Legacy of Independent Living with Alex Ghenis
At Berkeley, there is a fight to save the Disabled Students Residence Program (DSRP) that was founded by Ed Roberts. Berkeley is viewed as the home of the modern Independent Living movement, but students are protesting to retain the programs…
Dear United, What If David Dao Had Been Disabled?
Dear United, Earlier this month, David Dao was dragged off a flight from Chicago to Louisville. He suffered a concussion, a broken nose, sinus damage, and several lost teeth. While I’m empathetic toward Dao and his family, this is not …
Disability Day of Mourning: We Are Not Burdens
Trigger warning: this post discusses violence against and murder of disabled people. His name was Marcus Fiesel. He was a smiling three-year-old boy who loved bubbles, flowers, and Bob the Builder. Like all children, he deserved to be protected from…