by Chloe - 9 October 2011
I identify as a mother, a wife, a wheelchair user, a friend, a scientist, someone with compassion, a lesbian, an inventor; or maybe just Chloe… We can self identify with as many or as few labels as we please. We can be many things all at once, and we can wear many hats. Usually this isn’t much of a problem. However, two of my ways of self identifying seem at great odds with each other, and it bugs me. It has to do with BIID.
Discordant Identity continues »
by Chloe - 8 December 2010
I have two entirely separate conditions, both of which are associated with muscle spasms: fibromyalgia and the minor SCI. As a child I had no idea that paralysis would come with muscle spasms, so I can’t honestly say they are an integral part of my BIID. Mine are much less substantial than those of my friends who have more significant SCIs. Consequently they by and large serve as pleasant reminders of things to come. Not always so pleasant…
My Muscle Spasms continues »
by Chloe - 23 August 2010
My disability presentation has evolved over the last two years. It has lacked consistency, both over time and also between different groups of people. I’m not sure I could have done it any other way. I needed to experiment in order to find an optimal presentation for treating my BIID. These things simply weren’t obvious to me ahead of time. However, it leaves me with the discomforting baggage of being known in different ways to different people.
Consistent Presentation continues »
by Elisabeth - 19 January 2010
Where they have gone, all those young people with SCI? All those young people after car accidents? Where are all the manual wheelchair users? Those sexy, muscular, elegantly wheeling young people some of us want to be?
Tell Me, Where They Have Gone? continues »
by Chloe - 23 July 2009
My hands were still on the steering wheel; I was the right way up. Although there were holes in the windshield, none were in a spot through which I could see anything useful. The driver’s window was completely gone. I could see that cars were going by in the opposite direction, so that meant I was in the fast lane, parked facing oncoming traffic. After a while there was a shout from outside the car: "Are you okay?"
Unbreakable continues »