Dealing with stereotypes is undoubtedly something everyone who uses a wheelchair has encountered at one point. Courtney, a paraplegic in her early 20s, shares her experience and her subsequent reflection on a stereotype she’s experienced. https://youtu.be/hmslfV6WQrA When Courtney was in her…
Harriet has been a caregiver to her husband for more than 18 years, and she knows how demanding the role of caregiver can be. Here are reasons she finds caregiving so stressful. Caregiving is often lonely and overwhelming. Caregiving is usually a…
“Nothing in my accomplished life prepared me for the morning of May 27, 1999 when I walked into an Intensive Care Unit to find my 20-year-old son alive only because of life support machines of every type.” Laquita Conway's…
George was 17 years old when he was paralyzed from the chest down in a motor vehicle accident. Now, five years later, George has decided it’s time to ‘get back out there,’ so to speak. Entering the dating world George…
When Carrie-Ann and Darren got engaged, Carrie-Ann was eager to begin the wedding preparations. But she knew, as a wheelchair user, she would have to plan things carefully and diligently research options that would work best for her. 5…
Dance and disability are integral to my identity. A shift in roles and identity My parents grew up in communist China in the 1960s and were the first in their families to leave the country and raise children in America.…
Providing care for a family member is a difficult job. Most caregivers find themselves thrown into the role unexpectedly, and adjusting can be very stressful. Family caregivers include children caring for aging parents, spouses caring for one another post…
At 27 months old I was given a sibling. My brother, Glen. New Zealand – 1984. These are my personal experiences and views on having a sibling with a disability. I’m sharing this to encourage awareness. I aim to avoid motivational quotes and…
When a patient with a disability or chronic impairment embarks on a hospital stay, the role of a family caregiver becomes a crucial one. “The reality of hospital care today is that nurses, doctors and therapists perform assessments and…
“In the spinal cord, there’s two areas that control sexual function,” explains Diane Rowles, a nurse practitioner at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. Knowing where these two areas are and what type of erections they produce helps people get a better understanding…