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Disability and Emergency Preparedness
Presentation and slides from my invited talk at the University of North Texas School of Public Health on April 6, 2024 for National Public Health Week
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The CDC HICPAC Committee Tried to Reduce Infection Prevention and Control Measures in Healthcare Under the Radar. My Response:
I join other scientific experts, as well as experiential experts in the disabled community, in demanding transparency from the CDC and urging the CDC’s HICPAC members to reconsider their drafted guidance and update it to reflect the science on prevention of aerosolized transmission of disease.
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Mask Week of Action 2023
Masks belong in healthcare because Covid is not over, Covid is airborne, and patients deserve to be safe. Last week we called on medical professionals to remember why they joined the profession in the first place, the oath they took to “Do No Harm”, and that they CAN choose to be kind and protect their…
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Household Chores with Ehlers-Danlos and MCAS Means Getting Creative
The one downside is the spray bottle that comes with the Force of Nature machine–it absolutely soaks paper-based packaging, so…most packaging. I decided to buy a misting bottle* to see if it would help with the soaking. The original spray bottle is also tough on my finger joints so I would get about three sprays…
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Different Aids for Different Days: What I mean when I say I “walk and roll”
These are the mobility aids I have acquired over the years. I give this info because they have served me well, not because they are the best product for every person, best products, least expensive products, etc. They are simply the products I have found work for me and were available at the time I…
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Two Approaches to COVID Safety, Depicted Two Ways
This scenario was a response to several encounters on Twitter involving women who were extremely well regarded in their respective [credentialed] expert fields. It began as a digital pencil sketch. I recently had another of these encounters, and exhausted/angry/frustrated I returned to my sketch, adding digital oil paint overlay. One scene, two ways, more than…
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The Breaking Period: Follow-Up
Just over a week ago, I wrote about the uniquely horrified and yet unsurprised understanding held by disabled people who predicted this watching the pandemic “breaking point” (aka breaking period). Early this week, I got news that the breaking period had graced our close friend group—and it was anything but graceful. The breaking period crashed…
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The Breaking Period: View from My Wheelchair
To everyone who has ever had to say “no, I really can’t use the stairs.” I don’t know what our path forward is, but I am secure knowing our community has only gotten tighter during COVID.
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”Are You Sure You Shouldn’t Extend Another Semester?”
Grappling with the disappointments of graduate school as a disabled student during the COVID-19 pandemic As we slide into our third summer dealing with COVID-19, I cannot stop thinking about privileged people’s approach to problem solving. I find myself surrounded by people who seem to seriously believe that if they ignore the problem, it will…
Medical Sociology on Wheels
Comments on Health Beliefs, Risk, Mitigation, and Sociological Research Methods, a Disabled Perspective