Once my friend Henry was accused of wearing wireless headphones by a substitute so she said for him to hand them over so he took them off and handed them to her. Then later on she asked him a question and he didn’t respond so she said it louder and he still didn’t respond. She asked why he was not responding and he said “I can’t understand you ma'am, you took my hearing aids.”

HOLY SHIT

one time we had a sub that was handing back papers and called my name. I asked if someone could grab it for me and she started mocking me for not even standing up. taunting me asking why I was not walking up to the front to get the paper myself.

my classmates went dead silent and after the sub’s laughter ended someone informed her that the wheelchair parked nearby belonged to me

My sister once had her insulin pump ripped off of her because her exam proctor (a sub) thought it was some cheating device. He soon figured out that it was, in fact, not, when the port on her side (the place the needle goes in) started bleeding through her shirt. Her pump started beeping frantically, because that’s what it does, and it was general chaos until my sister ripped what’s basically her pancreas out of his hands, told her friend “Let the next proctor know I’ll need extra time,” and walked out of the room towards the nurse.

Literally schools are shit with disabilities. In elementary school I was having a high blood sugar reaction(cold sweats to rapid passing in and out of consciousness, vomiting and finally leading to a massive seizure before you die) and I KNEW I had to go to the nurse cuz I was getting worse. Kept telling my teach I needed to go and he kept saying no till finally I felt myself about to throw up and I’m screaming LET ME GO (i was a little kid to me i couldnt do anything in an institution without an adults say so or id basically go to hell) and the bitch said SHUT YOUR DAMN MOUTH AND PAY ATTENTION TO THE LESSON where I proceeded to projectile vomit all over my desk and he jut kept going on with the lesson. Finally I just booked it out of the room but I was too far gone to even REMEMBER where the nurses office was let alone where the hell I was that my class literally just left and helped me to the nurses office. I immediately went to the hospital and officially died for 5 minutes before I was revived. I could have stayed dead all because some fuck twad thought his lesson was more important than a students life

After Columbine, a local school installed metal detectors and made everyone walk through them and put their bags on a table for a teacher to search. 

A few days into the school year, a teacher ripped a boy’s insulin pump off him because she thought it was a weapon, despite he and his sister insisting it was an insulin pump and he needed it to live. 

I don’t know how many of you are still in school but I have some valuable knowledge that might actually help with this problem! In the United States there’s this thing called a 504 Plan that you can get which basically gives you legal protection from disability/chronic illness discrimination in public schools. 

Students can qualify for 504 plans if they have physical or mental impairments that affect or limit any of their abilities to: walk, breathe, eat, or sleep; communicate, see, hear, or speak; read, concentrate, think, or learn; stand, bend, lift, or work

 Examples of accommodations in 504 plans include: preferential seating, extended time on tests and assignments, reduced homework or classwork, verbal, visual, or technology aids, modified textbooks or audio-video materials, behavior management support, adjusted class schedules or grading, verbal testing, excused lateness, absence, or missed classwork

 I’m a type one diabetic and my school nurse would do stuff like keep all my meds in a locked cabinet, not let me take my insulin or test my blood sugar unless she was watching me, and lie to my mother about me inducing low blood sugars in order to get out of class. She wouldn’t even let me keep glucagon (emergency sugar injection) on my person in case I passed out from low blood sugar. 

 So one day I casually mentioned all this to my endocrinologist and she was really mad. She was really angry at the school nurse for mistreating me like that and informed me of this thing called a 504 plan. A 504 plan protects students with disabilities and chronic illnesses from discrimination by outlining exactly what a student needs to meet their special needs. For me, this meant I had to be able to keep ahold of my own meds in case of emergency and keep track of my own glucose levels, that I would never be marked late for a class if I was busy treating a low, and I could pause the clock on a standardized test to check my blood sugar and treat it. If you have a disability and you’re still attending public school, PLEASE read up on 504 plans because they saved me so much grief when I was still in school. It might help you too. Here’s some more information about 504 plans:

https://www.understood.org/en/school-learning/special-services/504-plan/understanding-504-plans

http://m.kidshealth.org/en/parents/504-plans.html?WT.ac=

Passing this along. I would not have made it this far without my disability documentation in school.

Guys. A student with a disability DOES NOT automatically mean you are a Special Education student. 504′s cover a WIDE range of disabilities. YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO DEMAND A MEETING TO DETERMINE IF YOU SHOULD BE CONSIDERED A 504 STUDENT.

Whether a SPED or 504 student, you should know what your IEP (SPED) or 504 paperwork says. You need to be aware of your accommodations and modifications.  Your teachers should have a folder of 504 and IEP papers for the subs. As a SPED teacher, I made sure my subs knew who had what for their IEPs.

healing takes time and it’s okay

Laziness: I’d rather sit here than pick up those clothes

Executive Dysfunction: I need to pick up those clothes I need to pick up those clothes why am I still watching this thing on Netflix while sitting down c’mon stand up I need to pick up those clothes I need to pick up those clothes I need to-

Holy shit you nailed it

Calming masterpost:

crisis/urgent support lines and sites

relaxation/anxiety relief

the quiet place project

music and sounds

comfort food

advice and tips

videos and movies

distractions etc

extras

Calming songs, playlists and instrumentals:

Calming/distracting Websites

Crafts and activities, easy and fun DYI projects

What to do when:

Meditation and breathing

Simple things

Make Something!

Other Nice Things

Calming/Relaxing Music:

When you finally find the energy to do stuff

Reblog and the universe will grant you the spoons you need to do that thing you’ve been meaning to do

sometimes self care is saying “this is stupid” and closing the tab

“Go to bed, you’ll feel better tomorrow” is the human version of “Did you try turning it off and back on again?”

*falls behind in life* haha the lag

Use the Chair!

Wheelchairs do not make you lazy. They do not make life “too easy”

Abled people have this notion in their heads that we have to struggle. That our lives should be difficult because that’s what it means to be disabled. But, mobility should not be a struggle. Is walking a challenge for abled people? Do they have to constantly think about every step they take? No, because walking is natural to them. And sometimes, wheelchairs are natural for us.

It doesn’t mean you are lazy, or “taking the easy way out.” Use your wheelchair because you need it and it helps you move with ease. Use your wheelchair because it’s the same as an abled person using their legs.

Your life shouldn’t have to be a constant challenge just because you’re disabled. Sometimes it’s ok to take the easy road. So,if you want to, use the chair!

T H I S. 💙

#me

Never trust a doctor who tries to take away your mobility aid, despite those not even being in their area of expertise and you having said it helps.

Something I wasn’t able to really articulate until recently, but has helped me understand why I’m so angry about people suggesting dietry cures for disabilities or chronic illnesses is because it puts the blame at my feet.

When you say “have you tried yoga?” as though it will stop my chronic pain, or “you know you can actually supplement x medication with y and z pills and you’ll feel much better!” or suggest some other diet or exercise fad that is going to work miracles and cure the uncurable in me, you suggest that, quite simply, I haven’t done enough.

I have tried everything. I have seen the Doctor(s) multiple times, I have poured innumerable hours into researching my condition(s) and expended exhaustable amounts of energy coming together with other people who share my struggles to try and figure out what will work best for managing my symptoms.

But my condition is incurable. And it’s not my fault. I didn’t cause my condition by eating badly, or by not exercising enough, and it won’t be fixed by eating better or exercising more.

And the implication of suggesting simple fixes like diet and exercise is that it’s my simple lack of those things which has made me sick. If I’d only eaten more kale, or if I’d done more yoga, or if I’d just gone gluten free vegan, or if I’d done this or that… well, then I wouldn’t be sick.

But that’s not how this works. Autoimmune disorders aren’t caused by bad diets, chronic pain isn’t caused by not doing enough or the right kind of exercise, and disabilities aren’t caused by laziness or not putting enough effort into finding a cure. It’s not our fault.

Stop telling us that it is.

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

“You walk at home? Do you even need your wheelchair?”

Yes, because walking in my own house is different than walking class to class at school. I don’t carry a heavy backpack at home. I’m not on a tight schedule at home. I can sit on the ground at home. I can ask my parents or siblings to help me at home. I can crawl on my hands and knees at home. I can lie in the middle of the hallway at home. I can sit on counters and tables at home. I can bear a lot of pain at home. I can show that pain at home. I can collapse in the middle of crawling up the staircase at home.

Don’t tell me or anyone else where or when they need to use their mobility device

Reblog to educate an ableist. 👍

There’s this myth amongst healthy people that being chronically ill exists in a vacuum. That yes, you lose your health, but everything else in life stays the same. And that’s just not even close to the truth. Being sick affects everything. Not a single aspect of life is left unchanged. 

Chronic illness changes everything- the friends you have, the food you eat, the movies you can watch, the hobbies you do, your job, your education, your family, your relationships, etc, etc, etc. 

There is no such thing as “just health,” or “just physical ability.”  Chronic illness is a malignancy, and it slithers its way into each and every aspect of a person’s life.

Spoonie Problems #59

Feeling guilty for feeling especially sick at “inconvenient times ”