Tag: mental-health
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When a PCA Isn’t the Right Match
Living Independently: The PCA Journey — Part Ten Our Beautiful Challenges — Marie W.O.W.C.P. One of the hardest things about managing your own PCA care is realizing that not everyone is going to be the right match. Someone can be a good person. They can have good intentions. They can genuinely want to help. And…
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What a PCA Really Means
Living Independently: The PCA Journey — Part One Our Beautiful Challenges — Marie W.O.W.C.P. When people hear the words Personal Care Assistant, or PCA, they may assume that having one means a person with a disability cannot be independent. For me, it means almost the exact opposite. Having a PCA doesn’t mean I’m not independent.…
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The Doors That Opened When I Chose to Believe
Closing Disability Pride Month As Disability Pride Month comes to an end, I’ve found myself reflecting on the journey that brought me here. This month, I’ve written about disability history. I’ve reflected on the meaning of the Disability Pride Flag. I’ve shared stories about growing up with cerebral palsy, the barriers I’ve faced, and the…
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Meeting Disability at Different Doors
Our Beautiful Challenges — Marie Disability Pride series One of the greatest lessons I’ve learned is that not everyone meets disability at the same door. Some of us are born with a disability. Some acquire one through an illness, an accident, or simply through the aging process. No matter how we arrive, we all become…
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I Wasn’t Meant to Be Fixed
Disability Pride Series Our Beautiful Challenges — Marie For much of my life, I believed my disability was something that needed to be fixed. Not because my parents ever made me feel that way. Not because the people who loved me believed I was broken. But because the world often acted as if I would…
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They See What’s Different-Not What’s Possible
Disability Pride series Our Beautiful Challenges — Marie There have been so many moments in my life when people noticed my disability before they noticed me. They saw my walker before they saw my smile. They noticed my cerebral palsy before they noticed my personality. Sometimes they made up their minds about what I could…
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The ADA Changed the Law-Not Every Mind
Disability Pride Month series Our Beautiful Challenges — Marie When the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) became law in 1990, it changed history for millions of people with disabilities. It opened doors that had never been open before, creating a whole new world for people with disabilities. It brought greater access to schools, businesses, transportation,…
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Accessibility Is Not One Size Fit All
Disability Pride Series Our Beautiful Challenges — Marie One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned about disability is that accessibility is not one size fits all. For years, people with disabilities have fought for equal access. The ADA changed our country in incredible ways, making schools, businesses, transportation, and housing more accessible than ever before.…
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The Ugly Laws: The History Many People Never Learned
Disability Pride Month Series Our Beautiful Challenges — Marie One of the reasons I wanted to create a Disability Pride Month series was because I realized that many people—even people within the disability community—don’t know some of the history that shaped our lives today. I know I didn’t. Not long ago, I learned about something…
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The Generation In Between
Disability Pride Month Series — Marie W.O.W.C.P. Sometimes I feel like I belong to a generation that existed between two worlds. I was born after the disability rights movement had already begun changing lives, but before many of those changes fully reached everyday life. I was born after people had already started fighting for accessibility,…
OUR BEAUTIFUL CHALLENGES 