Loopy Case Review and Chronic Christmas Giveaway #3
I love my Loopy Case. It has solves a many of the problems I have in using smart phones, problems related to my rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and disability. Because of lifelong RA, I can’t hold a smart phone — it’s just too wide for my grip. Not to mention that I don’t actually have much…
Chronic Christmas Advent Giveaway #2: Integrale Adaptive Cutlery
Does your disability or chronic illness make it difficult for you to use using regular cutlery when you eat? Then do I ever have a great giveaway for you! Isabel Heubl created Integrale because adaptive cutlery “wasn’t only ugly, but didn’t fulfil all the functional aspects needed either.” She worked with a large group of…
Being an entrepreneur with a disability: Benefits and Barriers
I started my own business because I couldn’t find a job anywhere else. I write and publish books and work as a freelance writer, specializing in health, disability and advocacy topics. I did this mostly because it’s my dream job. But I got here because no one would hire me. This despite being a pretty…
Living in Place: Fighting to Increase Accessible Housing
We have an accessible housing crisis. This will get worse as the population ages — not in some far-off future, but rather immediately so when the silver tsunami hits in a few years. Despite this, developers exclude accessibility in their design, continuing to build barriers to people with disabilities. This exclusion is in violation of…
The Master of My Fate: Invictus Games Wheelchair Rugby
It matters not how strait the gate,How charged with punishments the scroll,I am the master of my fate,I am the captain of my soul. – From Invictus by William Ernest Henley There is something uniquely moving about watching your country play for gold in a sports event. I was privileged to do so a couple…
Access/No Access: Ramps or Steps… Or Both?
This is the first in my new series of posts taking a look at bad solutions for accessibility, and hopefully the odd good one, as well. There are a couple of places in my extended neighbourhood that have created access using both a ramp and steps. One is at a local grocery store The other…
A Different Way to Look at a Wheelchair
“You sound really chipper,” The Boy said. “It’s been a while since I’ve heard you like this.” He was right. I hadn’t felt that good about life and myself for a long time. And all it took was a long walk. Well, to be fair it was a bit more complicated than that. A brief…
Facebook Live: The ADA and Applying for Disability
Did you miss it? In last week’s Facebook Live for RAHealthCentral, I talked about how the ADA can help you work longer when you have a chronic illness, and how to apply for disability. I had a bad cold. Meaning I am woman, hear me squeak!
Homeless Judgement
“Do you have any change for the homeless?” He asked this over and over again, of almost everyone who passed. To a person, they kept walking, only a few acknowledging him, saying sorry, they didn’t have any change. So did I. And we were all lying. Sure, most of us pay for purchases, even small…
Thoughts from a Bonnie Raitt Concert
Bonnie Raitt and I were in the same room on Friday. Along with 3000 other people, but I wasn’t paying much attention to them. As she was singing, a variety of thoughts occurred to me. When live music is actually live I’m a sucker for singer-songwriters. People who have something to say and know music…
Body Image and Chronic Illness: How to Be Bodacious
Chronic illness can seriously mess with your body image, leaving you feeling disconnected and far from attractive. In my new post for Mango Health I look at ways to get back to feeling bodacious: “Where did the vibrant old you go? The person who felt at home in her own skin, who laughed and danced…
6 Tips on How to Have a Chronic Illness on Social Media
Are you on social media? Of course you’re on social media; everyone is these days. But if you have a chronic illness, be careful not to post photos of you spending time with people you like, or even smiling. If you do, it could get your disability claim rejected. Kayla Barry knows this firsthand. A…