Outdoors, day. A red and white bus in motion in traffic. The buildings and other vehicles around it are a blur.

Going Our Own Way: Public Transit Accessibility for Neurodivergent People

One day, while I was crossing the road, a driver blocked the crosswalk with his car. He laughed at me and mocked my body movements as I was forced into traffic. He was breaking state law on camera, but I…
Close up of a clear, plastic pill organizer with pills of various colors inside.

Chronically Ignored: How Western Medical Practices Harm Chronically Ill People

At 7:47 pm, I had so many wires attached to me.   Though I craved my typical end of the day shower, I had to find another way to self-soothe. I did some yoga, avoiding the Superman and cobra poses; they
A comfortable-looking black office chair pulled up to a white desk with a black phone, black desktop keyboard, and a pair of glasses on it. A note attached to the chair has black text on white background that reads "out of office."

Navigating The Workforce as a Chronically Ill Person

CONTENT NOTE: brief mention of medicalized diet culture, brief mention of menstruation, ableist workplace discrimination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   I was diagnosed with hypertensive heart disease the year
Close up of a ripe, juicy mango that is peeled and sliced to the seed but still attached.

Slippery Mango, Tart Tangerine: Compassion for Gastrointestinal Disabilities

CONTENT NOTE: brief mention of unintentional weight loss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   You are at a holiday party and the crowd is tossing back eggnog…
An assortment of medical instruments and personal effects, including pill bottles, needles, and socks, surround an empty white stool on a white background.

What’s In A Pair of Socks?

CONTENT NOTE: blood work, medical trauma, emetophobia, medical ableism   I sat on the hard metal gurney, watching my legs shake underneath the torn forest green scrubs. I tried to count my breaths, my ears throbbing from the cacophony of emergency
Hudson in front of a stuffed eagle and other science equipment

Tortoises Say, “Fun for All!”

Hudson introduces his friend Rivera the Tortoise, and talks about his day at the Zoomazium on Sensory Friendly Friday at Woodland Park Zoo, where people of all abilities and disabilities can have fun.
Black and white photo of skeleton sitting in a hospital-style wheelchair in front of stairs.

Disability Isn’t a Halloween Costume

Last year, a friend who hadn’t seen me in a few years asked whether my bright, sparkly purple cane was part of my sense of style. I dress whimsically in colorful outfits with a lot of patterns and he’d never
A trolley with people on it in rolling through a march.

Picture This: a Disability Community That’s Truly Inclusive of All

Close your eyes and picture a disabled person. At work, one of my jobs is finding images to pair with our weekly newsletter articles. Since we are a non-profit that advocates for people with disabilities, I often find myself combing…
A dark navy blue watercolor painting of a person lying on the floor in the fetal position. Small yellow dots surround the person, giving the picture a space-like quality.

We Need to Break Through the Silence on Abuses of Institutionalized Children

Content note: this post discusses psychiatric hospitalization and sexual abuse. When I was thirteen years old, I was sexually abused by a staff member in a psychiatric hospital. The first time she abused me, she took me into the examination…