I originally wrote this piece about disclosing disability in the early days of my grappling with the loss of dance as a result of my disability. Since then, my baseline ability has fluctuated many times but even five years later, this piece still resonates strongly with the complex evaluation process necessary to safely disclose a disability, and the grief that comes when the onset of disability is later in life.
Tag: invisible illness
My Sometimes Invisible Disability
In addition to my disability being dynamic, it also straddles the divide between a visible and an invisible disability, to the point that I can hide it if I want to. But moving between visible and invisible means I also have to make a choice between scrutiny and erasure.
Video: 5 Things That Improved in Our Life After Our DID Diagnosis
We’ve been vocal about how grateful we are to be out as a DID system so it should come as no surprise that our life after our DID diagnosis was significantly improved.
Say Goodbye to the Version of Me You Knew: A Letter to Friends & Family of Chronically Ill People
For years I’ve heard stories from my chronically ill friends of loved ones who abandoned them or who refused to believe that their illness was real. So, I wanted to write a letter to the friends & family of chronically ill people.
10 Harmful Beliefs About Dissociative Identity Disorder
One of the reasons we wanted to start writing about Dissociative Identity Disorder after we received our diagnosis is the massive amount of misinformation out there. Having this diagnosis is highly stigmatized and many doctors and even mental health professionals still perpetuate these harmful beliefs about dissociative identity disorder.
A Guide to Social Etiquette When Interacting with My DID System
A frequent request we’ve encountered is to create a guide to interacting with DID systems. We’re offering a list of our own preferences around social interactions and a list of questions to help you get to know the specific preferences of the system(s) you know.
Video: Introducing Dissociative Identity Disorder on Youtube
If you’re looking for an intro to Dissociative Identity Disorder resource that’s in video format, we highly recommend watching this video we made!
Poetry & Trauma: It Is Hard to Write with a Broken Heart
This week my debut poetry book, “Pet: the Journey from Abuse to Recovery” comes out. The poetry sequence takes you through my experiences in an abusive relationship, my attempts to heal, my retrospective reflections on the relationship, and the larger-scale insights that came with long-term healing. To introduce it, I wanted to share with you this piece about what it took to write that book in the first place.
Celebrating Disability Pride Month
Disability is a framework that teaches you to prioritize the needs of your mind and body over the expectations of society. To celebrate disability pride month, check out these articles to dive deeper into the experience of disability and chronic illness.
How Mast Cell Activation Disorder Changed My Life
In 2018 I began showing a collection of symptoms that I couldn’t explain. With a combination of research and luck, I eventually found out that they were caused by Mast Cell Activation Disorder.