Suicide hotlines are set up to do one thing, and one thing only: to get people through the moment. To provide them with someone to talk to when nobody else is available, until the moment of crisis has passed. That's it.
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Productivity is not the answer: unpacking the hierarchy of disabililty advocacy
Narratives of disability that focus only on employment end up doing harm to the marginalized
Four things I learned about boundaries in 2017
Boundaries are important. Both in the personal lives of the women I know, and in the life of community organizing, I've been hearing a lot of conversations recently about the importance of having them, setting them, and respecting them. But how do we do that? What does it look like to have boundaries? In an … Continue reading Four things I learned about boundaries in 2017
Let’s talk about the fact that a doctor recommended murdering a patient
Trigger warning: this story contains discussion of eugenics and violence against disabled people. Last year, a doctor at Labrador-Grenfell Health in St. Anthony, N.L. told Sheila Elson that her 25-year-old daughter Candice Lewis was dying, and offered to kill Lewis using Canada's assisted dying laws. Elson immediately said no and is now complaining about the … Continue reading Let’s talk about the fact that a doctor recommended murdering a patient
Larger class sizes hit kids with learning disabilities where it hurts
Until now, kindergarten to grade 3 classrooms in Manitoba, where I live, have been limited to 20 students each. Yesterday the provincial government announced they would remove the cap, and allow individual school boards to decide for themselves what is an acceptable classroom size. This isn't the first time this has become an issue in Canada. … Continue reading Larger class sizes hit kids with learning disabilities where it hurts
“Believe women” is not only about sexual assault
I have learned, almost unconsciously, that I have to fight almost constantly for people to listen to what I have to say or take my ideas seriously. Confident young men are assumed to know what they are talking about until proven otherwise, but confident young women are assumed to not know what we are talking about until we prove ourselves.
Five unhelpful things I wish people would stop saying to me
Our society is not very good at listening to neurodivergent folks. When we're not being told we are lazy, the things we ask for are routinely ignored. Sometimes the way that this happens is very subtle, and even the people who say they value accessibility sometimes say hurtful things when they are not paying attention. … Continue reading Five unhelpful things I wish people would stop saying to me
