Margining philosophies & human health & safety

Idk if this is a STEM workplace thing but lack of “human performance” margins in everyday work is so pervasive It’s esp silly in space science bc we spend so much attention/effort on project margins – technical/schedule/cost But culturally that doesn’t translate to accessible workplace cultures It’s like humans are expected to not need margins […]

Insight & Control: 2 extremely important mental illness concepts

This post is to describe some concepts I’ll be referencing in other posts & which I think are extremely important for the general public to understand. They’re common knowledge in psychiatry/psychology but rarely show up in mental health discussions among the wider public. This includes many progressive & leftist spaces that promote discussions on mental […]

What’s the opposite of conflicting access needs? Tw: suicidal ideation

You know how there’s the concept of conflicting access needs in the disability community? Including with yourself? Like, for example, I need background music to focus on certain tasks but I can’t put it on because of hyperacusis. I don’t know if there’s a term for the opposite of that? Where symptoms of one illness […]

#MyDisabledIslam & how abled theology makes no sense to me [Tw: suicidal ideation]

To start with, the hashtag for this post is inspired by the #MyDisabledRamadan series by Masjid Al Rabia I don’t have a lot of spoons today but I do have a lot of anger & sadness & “I’ve had enough” feelings today so this is gonna be a sort of an expanded listicle rather than […]

My finding psychiatric care saga or how hard it is to “get help” even with immense social privilege

This is traumatic to write about because it’s tied up emotionally with what happened next, which is me getting hospitalized in a psych ward, which I don’t wish on my worst enemies. I can’t write about that, not yet. So this saga will end in a bit abruptly till I can get out the rest […]

Mental illness as a mobility issue

It was a typical New England January day in 2013 & I was feeling nervous as I was being given a new patient orientation for the partial hospital program at the OCD Institute at McLean Hospital. As the counselor finished giving me a tour of the building I’d spend the next several weeks getting treated […]

Options based accessibility vs accommodations based accessibility

Ok so I wanna talk abt what I call “options based accessibility” vs “accommodations based accessibility”… “Accommodations based accessibility” is what we’re mostly used to. There’s the default way of doing things & access needs disabled ppl have require an accommodation which is separate from the default. It may require modification of equipment, processes etc […]

Handout based medicine needs to change

This will be a short post against what I call “handout based medicine”. What’s that? You say… Let me explain. If you’re a chronic illness patient, you’ve likely had this experience: You get sent to a new medical provider. Say a nutritionist or a sleep therapist. You go to the appointment. Pay the copay. In […]

TSA screenings: where Islamophobia & ableism intersect

I keep sharing this story in different contexts so I thought I’d right it down in one place for easy sharing. A few years ago I had to go for a day trip for a work meeting (that could’ve been a Zoom call but this was prepandemic) that involved an early morning flight down & […]

Unusual medication reactions are not “in your head”

Note: I wrote this back in 2014 to share to some support groups. Posting it here. Some info is outdated. There are newer more comprehensive tests available & costs have changed but otherwise it’s accurate. I will update this post when I have spoons with newer info & a longer story of what happened next […]