Doctors without prejudice

It happened again: another visit to a doctor’s office where my answer to a questionnaire about my mental health ended up affecting, adversely, the way they viewed me, communicated with me, treated me.

I always dread the question at health practitioners’ offices about which medications I’m taking. For the past 20 years I’ve wanted to dodge answering that I am on medication for bipolar disorder because once I do, the tone of the visit changes dramatically. My husband happened

I made the community better

I have always wanted to help my community, to do my part to make the community better. As a student with a disability, I don’t always get those opportunities. I finally got the chance to do this through the University of Delaware’s Alternative Spring Break Program, called UDaB, a program for UD students to serve communities across the country. During my trip, I lived with 21 other students for the week, sleeping in a church in Philadelphia and creating an

Love beyond Valentine’s Day

Recently a couple of friends suggested I should write about love since February is the month about love and matters of the heart. My first reaction was that I am no expert on love. I suggested that I would leave the discussion to Cupid and the cute trolls in the Disney movie Frozen, who are “the love experts.” Furthermore, since February is Heart Health Awareness month, the American Heart Association covers this subject with great tips.

The more I

Disability at the debates

Question: How many times in the 15 debates for president have moderators specifically asked candidates about issues concerning disability?

a. 1 b. 5 c. 7 d. 11

If you answered b or c, thinking five or seven times sounds about right and should seem reasonable to the one-in-five people watching the debates who have a disability (and the more than 50 million Americans who live with a disability), you’re mistaken. The answer is “a” – one time. In September,

Silver linings

While spending time in the hospital this past month to deal with a difficult situation, one of the phlebotomists offered some familiar words of encouragement to help me get through the day:

“In every cloud there is a silver lining.” Then, she provided me with an example.

She noted that she only had to stick me once instead of several times to draw blood from a sensitive part of my hand. And she was right: I am sure sticking