While I’ve talked about how the diagnosis process is one of guessing and checking, I want to emphasize that in most cases, it’s essential to have a doctor be involved in the process. We, as laypeople, don’t have access to all the information or tools needed to be in any way sure that our interpretation…
Functional Neurological Disorder (FND) is a relatively common (though rarely properly diagnosed) condition. I was diagnosed in 2003 when it was still being called Conversion Disorder (and labeled as a mental illness rather than a neurological condition). I want to be really clear about this: the condition you have (your diagnosis) is less impactful on…
While I’ve talked about this a bit previously, I want to dig a bit more into the idea of getting or staying married while on disability coverage. The first and most basic thing that I want to emphasize is that this is a choice and that there’s no automatically right or wrong answer. What there…
You and your doctor(s) can co-create a quality treatment plan. This includes not only the medical treatments, but also lifestyle changes.
I thought it might be helpful to take a few steps back and dig into how doctors are trained to think about and look at patients, and how they are trained to make diagnoses. This is really important because it helps us understand where missteps and mistakes are more likely to happen and to have…
As I’ve mentioned on previous posts, you can work while on SSI or SSDI. There are programs, like Ticket to Work and Vocational Rehab programs that can help with the process. However, the reality is that while they can give you information about working, they often are only prepared to help you with calculations related…
People with disabilities are often marginalized by society – and there are a variety of reasons for it. The social model of disability focuses on how instead of viewing our symptoms as failures on our part, it’s time to start looking at what assumptions society has made that make participating in the greater community more…
I shed many tears to unpack these memories of my wounds that are clearly still open just to write this blog. The subject of ableism is relevant to all aspects of life yet there is very little discussion. The subject is basically unchallenged by society. While many people are recognizing and studying racism, much less…
As of July 27, 2020, I am elated to announce that I am no longer in debt to my local hospitals. I’m also very angry that it’s taken as long as it has. To give you some background: I have Functional Neurological Disorder(FND), which is a relatively common (but rarely properly diagnosed) neurological condition that…
I’ve written about why shame is often attached to utilizing social welfare programs. This post digs more deeply into truths we can recognize and mindsets we can embrace to help protect ourselves from that shame while we use these programs designed to help us. We all use Social welfare programs It’s interesting that we often…