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  • screenshot of the White House's Spanish-language URL, which is now a 404 message. The background is black, with the number "404" featured prominantly. drectly below that is a drawing of the White House, and underneath it are the words "page not found" below that is a clickable button that reads "go back to home page"
    Overcoming Obstacles | Uncategorized

    Things are neither normal, nor OK – Coping with the new president

    ByAlison Hayes January 27, 2025January 27, 2025

    It’s been a week since our new president has been sworn in. And just as many of us(including me) have feared, things are decidedly NOT “business as usual”. There are always is a certain amount of hand-wringing and anxiety around a change in presidency, especially when it also is associated with a change in party….

    Read More Things are neither normal, nor OK – Coping with the new presidentContinue

  • a woman in turquoise scrubs holds a stethescope bent to form the shape of a heart in front of her.
    Dealing with Doctors | Functional Neurological Disorder(FND) | Overcoming Obstacles

    Finding the right doctors after being diagnosed with Functional Neurological Disorder

    ByAlison Hayes April 4, 2022September 29, 2022

    Functional Neurological Disorder is a common but poorly understood condition. Being diagnosed with Functional Neurological Disorder isn’t just overwhelming for you as the patient, but it also can be a challenge for your doctor as well. The symptoms look like neurological symptoms(each FNDer may have a different symptom set), but don’t have the usual causes…

    Read More Finding the right doctors after being diagnosed with Functional Neurological DisorderContinue

  • Eggs in an egg carton. All are white except for a single black egg in the center. All eggs have faces drawn on them - with the black egg looking frightened, and the surrounding white eggs looking varying degrees of angry or disapproving and appearing focused on the black egg
    Overcoming Obstacles | Taking care of yourself

    Minority Stress and Chronic Illness

    ByAlison Hayes March 21, 2022April 15, 2022

    When writing my post about stress-related medical conditions, I went down an intellectual rabbit hole that I wanted to highlight: the stresses involved in being a minority of any kind. People tend to immediately categorize all they engage with as either “like” or “other”. They connect with those who are like them, and view the…

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  • A black female doctor talks to her white female patient
    Dealing with Doctors | Overcoming Obstacles

    Systemic racism and ableism in healthcare

    ByAlison Hayes November 19, 2021November 19, 2021

    Let’s start with the terms themselves. Systemic racism is a deep-rooted issue in the US, and one that many conservatives don’t want to admit even exists. When it comes to our broken healthcare system, racism is one of many ‘isms’ buried within it. Ableism is also a systemic issue, and one that is deeply entrenched…

    Read More Systemic racism and ableism in healthcareContinue

  • Black woman with short, natural hair reads over a document at her desk.
    Overcoming Obstacles | Taking care of yourself

    Health Insurance Plans and the disabled community

    ByAlison Hayes October 29, 2021November 16, 2022

    October through December is Open Enrollment season for the US Health Insurance system. This is the time when people can choose, change, or adjust their healthcare plan. With about 55% of the population covered through private employers, this is when employees have the right to examine their options and select the offered plan that best…

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  • turquoise background, with white text: "I did it my way: Guiding your own medical wellness journey: off label LDN for fibromyalgia). The right side of is a picture of a bottle of prescription medication
    Dealing with Doctors | Overcoming Obstacles

    I Did It My Way! Directing Your Wellness Journey

    ByKatie Clark August 6, 2021August 6, 2021

    I met Katie a year or two ago. As she and I discussed our health experiences, I found myself especially fascinated with how she discovered LDN and how helpful she’d found it. As she shared her experience of negotiating her treatment with her doctor, I thought it would be a great piece of experience to…

    Read More I Did It My Way! Directing Your Wellness JourneyContinue

  • Black and white photo cropped close to focus on the smiling face of Sarah Malm. She has shoulder-length light colored hair, is white, and is wearing plastic-framed glasses.
    Overcoming Obstacles | Taking care of yourself

    Grieving While Chronically Ill and “Childless Not By Choice”

    BySarah Malm July 30, 2021July 30, 2021

    I’ve gotten to know Sarah Malm over the past year or so. She and I are running a Spoonie Coworking Space. She’s a fellow spoonie and an artist who creates lovely greeting cards. We were discussing our experiences of being Childless Not By Choice and I suggested she write this post for me. When it…

    Read More Grieving While Chronically Ill and “Childless Not By Choice”Continue

  • anime style image of an androgenous person with short, light purple hair, wearing pink devil's horns and a white collared shirt with a pink tie. They are waving a bi flag(pink, purple and blue stripes) on a rainbow background
    Dealing with Doctors | Overcoming Obstacles

    Medical Gaslighting

    ByRA Stone July 9, 2021February 7, 2022

     I have known RA Stone for a few years now, and when she offered to write a guest post for me, I jumped at the opportunity. She shares her experiences with medical gaslighting, a cause of medical trauma, in the post below. When I was eight years old, I had one of about a dozen…

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  • woman looks up through a car window as rain falls down. She has a thoughtful expression on her face
    Getting Government assistance | Overcoming Obstacles

    Should I apply for disability?

    ByAlison Hayes May 14, 2021September 9, 2022

    It can be a hard decision to make. There are actually two different programs that are often referred to as disability, and while you don’t need to choose which to apply for (they share the same application and are both run by the Social Security Administration), it is important to understand what they are and…

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  • Tatiana(white woman with honey-brown hair) smiling while holding her rose breasted cockatoo. The picture is cropped at chest-height.
    Getting Government assistance

    How-tos and Questions About Filing for Disability

    ByTatiana Froes March 19, 2021March 19, 2021

    I am honored that Alison invited me to write a post about filing for disability from an attorney’s perspective. I hope to answer some of the most common questions claimants ask in regards to filing for disability. But first, let me introduce myself. My name is Tatiana Froes. I am a disability attorney practicing disability…

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Meet The Author

Picture of Alison Hayes

Alison Hayes

As a person with a sometimes-invisible illness that straddles neurology and psychiatry (Functional Neurological Disorder), I've dealt with a lot of the stigma surrounding physical and mental illnesses and both visible and invisible illnesses. I want to help other people with disabilities to regain perspective and control over their lives through manageable steps and make their lives better, one step at a time.

Photography courtesy of Terry Manning(terrymakes.com)

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Disclaimer

I am not a doctor, lawyer, or therapist.  I am a person with a disability who has learned a lot about many aspects of living life with a disabling condition.  My posts are intended as jumping off points connected to the best knowledge I could find.  I cannot be held responsible for the decisions you make or the actions you take.  

For your reading pleasure

  • Functional Neurological Disorder(FND) (13)
  • Overcoming Obstacles (83)
    • Dealing with Doctors (31)
    • Getting Government assistance (36)
  • Strategizing for success (137)
    • Fabulous food (4)
    • Increasing your independence (13)
    • Social connections (33)
    • Taking care of yourself (76)
  • Uncategorized (3)

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