“After months of appointments and ER visits, doctors told me I was ‘just anxious.’ I spent my final year of college nearly bedbound, fully walker-bound. All the activities I built my life around — marching band, the gym, work, parties — fell suddenly away. With that one question, she saved my life.”
‘Can you step into my office?’ Anticipating an assignment, my research advisor abruptly stated, ‘You know you’re disabled, right?’: Woman diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, POTS discovers identity after lifelong battle with chronic illness
Please Stop Sharing Disability Pity Posts On Social Media
“Disabled people are not cute little puppies or kittens. We are human beings who want to be respected.”
‘It felt like razor blades in my uterus. ‘I NEED pain medication!’ I thought I was going to throw up.’: Nonverbal woman with cerebral palsy shares journey with endometriosis
“‘This is not normal period pain.’ I stopped working, stopped going out, and stopped talking to anyone.”
‘He popped my hip out with a simple tap of his finger. I believed I’d always live in pain.’: Chronic illness warrior ‘thankful’ for journey
“The doctor came in. ‘How many broken bones do you think you have?’ Then he laughed and said, ‘You’re completely fine.’ I doubted my own body, thinking my pain was all in my head.”
‘Growing up, ‘blind’ was a dirty word. Once I accepted it, everything shifted. It turned from a dirty word into a powerful word.’: Blind man embraces label
“I was afraid of being ‘the blind person,’ of being different. I was afraid of being who I truly am.”
Boy Bullied For Cerebral Palsy Becomes Certified Personal Trainer With Mission To ‘Help Others Surpass Roadblocks’
“Every day I knew I was the ‘kid with the disability.’ I had to learn the hard way it takes one step at a time.”
‘She’ll never walk or talk. Her future is unknown.’: Mother details journey with daughter’s rare chromosomal disorders
“The thing I hate hearing the most is, ‘You just need to wait and see.’ She’s so rare the doctors don’t know the answers to our questions.”
‘You’re SO inspirational!’ This is NOT a compliment.’: Young woman with Acute Flaccid Myelitis says ‘my life isn’t less worthy’
“It may SEEM like a compliment, but it’s exactly the opposite.”
‘But you don’t LOOK disabled.’: Woman urges ‘disability is not a bad word’
“A patient fought through pain to avoid people looking at her for using the equipment she actually NEEDS.”
‘I could barely get the words out. ‘Mom, what does this mean?’ In one moment, my life changed.’: Woman births baby with Down syndrome
“As I came out of the fog, I started looking at my life through a different lens. Although my life might change, it might change for the better.”
