May 14, 2018 | Uncategorized |
Today is the beginning of Mental Health Awareness Week, and I guess the purpose of events like this is not to “celebrate” mental illness as such, but rather, as the name implies, to simply raise awareness about the subject. I first received the diagnosis of my mental...May 4, 2018 | Uncategorized |
It gets in my way sometimes, the fact that I am a perfectionist. And I don’t say that lightly like it is an icebreaker to tell strangers at parties. I have been known to fold a piece of paper repeatedly so I could get the crease right. When I take my service dog for a...Apr 26, 2018 | communicating respect, Disabilitiy, disability etiquette, disability humor, Disabled Sports, empowering language, how to help, inclusion |
As most people know, I was born with cerebral palsy, which means that I have never known any different than living my life accompanied by disability. There were many surgeries when I was young. I was in plaster body casts for months at a time. Not fun during...Apr 16, 2018 | caregivers, communication, Disabilitiy, Dogs, service dogs |
I first heard of the concept from my mom, who was raised in Ireland as a young girl. She told me that when people there were hiring a new housekeeper to clean their home, one of the things they would do was put a broom in the doorway. It was kind of a test. If a...Mar 14, 2018 | Ableism, cerebral palsy, Christopher Reeve, communication, Disabilitiy, disability etiquette, empowering language |
I first heard about person first language when I was in graduate school. The concept was familiar to me long before that. The idea that it was much more respectful to refer to “the woman who was blind” rather than “the blind woman” just...