Able and Disabled

Hey All! Sorry for my absence last week. Things haven't been overly easy recently and I needed to focus on coping with the basics for a little while but today I'm back to have an honest chat about the importance of speaking out about mental health, why this can be difficult and why it is especially important not to feel bad for struggling. Over the last term I have been struggling, both with individual circumstances and with my mental health but I really want to work on my self-compassion and being open when I am having a difficult time. Ultimately that is exactly the kind of thing that all my work on here and with #InvisiblyValid is all about, overcoming stigma and feeling valid in our experiences. Having found myself struggling with anxiety and mood related issues throughout my life I have and still do experience the difficulties attached to being open about your mental health struggles. I think it's especially important to recognise that stigma isn't overcome onc...

Hey All, Unsurprisingly, following my diagnosis in the summer autism has become sort of its own special interest in my life. This is an experience which I have heard a few different people talk about online and it is my opinion that this comes from our instinctive need to research and understand. At least personally the way I process things is often by learning about them, meaning that the way I process is often less emotional and more informative. For this reason I have read a lot of books about autism in the months after my diagnosis. I think that this way of processing the diagnosis is more common than we may think, a fact that is suggested to me in part because I was actually recommended a few different books on my diagnosis letter. I have read several books and have found helpful parts in all of them, whether they be fiction, non-fiction or more of a memoir. However, I recently read 'Odd Girl Out' by Laura James and this was a book that I not only found useful but also f...

Hey All! I'm sorry that this week's post is a day late. I took some time last night to be with friends and breathe. It's this current need for breathing space which I would like to talk about this evening. We all have the capacity for overload and stress but I do believe that there is an additional element of natural anxiety that may need considering. Today has been a tough day for me in some ways. There's been a lot that I am learning to balance, some old things in new combinations, like friendships and university, and some completely new things, such as work, and today I think it all got the better of me a bit today, making the day a bit of a challenge. However, what I think usual doesn't help, and for me this was something I have been struggling with, is the pressure to be productive. We live in a world where your value as an individual is too often based upon what you can offer and what you can achieve. While it is often positive to encourage others to aim h...

Hi Guys! Sorry for not posting as usual on Wednesday. I've actually got a bit of a cold at the moment and I thought that's what I would talk today; disability and illness. Obviously many of those who live with chronic illness would identify themselves as disability but today what I want to talk about is rather the experience of minor illness or sickness (e.g. bugs, flus, etc.) with disability, as I think it's not something that is often talked about. I would like to talk about sickness in regards to both physical and neurological disabilities and why being sick when you already live with other conditions can be a potentially frustrating experience. Please remember that when I am talking about physical symptoms that I am not a professional and that I am only talking from personal experience. I think the experience of disability and sickness that is most understood is that of physical disability. It is completely understandable that if you already live and experience a c...