Disabled in Higher Ed - #DisInHigherEd Profile picture
Sep 29, 2020 β€’ 19 tweets β€’ 4 min read β€’ Read on X
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Good morning/afternoon/evening! My name is Linda (she/they)& I'm part of the Disabled in Higher Ed team who are organising Disabled Empowerment in Higher Education Month! #DEHEM
I am going to 'takeover' the account today to talk about the month ahead & share some of my story Headshot of Linda - a white...
So as I said my name is Linda and I am non-binary so I use she/her and they/them pronouns.

I have multiple invisible disabilities including autism, ADHD and dyslexia. My journey through Higher Ed has been a little bit turbulent as I wasn't diagnosed until my late teens/early 20s
I am currently doing a Master of Science (by research) in Food Science at Univerity College Cork (Ireland) in conjunction with Teagasc (Irish Government Authority of Food and Agriculture Research) as a Teagasc Walsh Scholar. (they funding so what they say is my full title is)
But to be honest, before I got diagnosed, I never would have been able to get to this position as I was kind of flailing about the place, wondering why everyone else could get their shit together so much quicker than I could?
Why wasn't I diagnosed before this? 2 main reasons:
1. Ableism (by my parents)
2. Ableism (by society)
I had always, from a young age been 'different' but as I found out recently, my parent took an 'if we pretend it's not there, it'll just go away' approach to any issues I had.
And after a certain age, society deemed I was 'too smart' to have any kind of disability. I was obviously just lazy and didn't want to succeed.

I have also heard similar phrases from many other people regardless of if they've been diagnosed as neurodivergent/neurodiverse or not
It took me a long time to process my diagnoses when I did eventually get them and what that meant for my life. And honestly, I was fine with it after tackling my internalised ableism. However, many people around me weren't. People I'd known for years in a professional capacity.
Suddenly did not trust me anymore? Even though it was fine for me to do things for/with them last week, I was suddenly not good enough anymore?

Like ???? And I just really didn't get this.
I mean... apparently to a lot of people 'I've diagnosed with autism means that I was suddenly not intelligent or able to do work anymore?

Which for a bunch of scientists is very unanalytical thinking...
Anyway... the fact of the matter is that all that thinking is just ableism and absolutely nothing else.

Do I work a bit differently to everyone else? Yes
Do I sort of do my own thing? Yes
But do I still get the work I need to do done? Yes
When we talk about research in particular - do I have (some) amazing ideas that no one else has even considered? Yes

But also an important point - should this matter in terms of my life being considered valid and worthy? F**** NO
Should I need to make this point that disabled people are an asset for them to get 'worthiness' in abled peoples minds? NO

But do I have to? Apparently...
I've been asked by many people, why I choose to be open about my disabilities because I could 'just go unnoticed' as I have invisible disabilities.

I absolutely refuse to be ashamed of who I am.
But also *extremely* important!

Just because I am open about my disabilities doesn't mean anyone else has to be!

Disclosing disability in any circumstance is a personal thing & people deserve to do so if & when they decide to. Society is massively ableist & anti-disability.
One reason I decided to become more outspoken as a disability advocate & join this movement is that in society & academia, disabilities can be seen as a childhood thing & often they don't last past graduation. Because you apparently stop being disabled after your degrees...
Many disabled people have to fight to get any research accommodations at all and in higher ed/academia it is the always disabled persons 'problem' to sort everything they need and nearly beg for things that are need and are legally entitled to.....
This is a problem. Because society is not built for disabled people. Often they are seen as a liability/an inconvenience but it is also our problem to sort everything out & justify why we need things to do our damn jobs & also justify to ables why we should be valued as a person?
And yet it is somehow optional in some universities for professors to make their work accessible?

It is optional to make sure that every student can access your content or take part in labs? How does this make sense?

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More from @DisInHigherEd

Oct 28, 2021
Okay let's talk accommodations! I am grateful to have mine which include working from home during the pandemic and having a research assistant because my #RheumatoidArthritis has hit me fast and furious. But for me, they weren't easy to get... Mainly on the medical side 1/
I live in #Houston, Texas that has the WORLD'S largest medical center in the world. I was required to do a Functional Capacity Evaluation (FCE) because my initial rheum said he wasn't qualified to say what my impairments were... 2/
We had several appointments where I described to him the things I could and could not do. He wouldn't even prescribe me a rollator to get around even though I needed one. I couldn't ambulate well and was in excruciating pain if I attempted 0.1mi walks. 3/
Read 25 tweets
Oct 28, 2021
So the first thread I want to do is tech/applications that have made my science easier and more accessible. Some of them are paid (not always accessible), but I'll try to offer a free version that I've used that may not be as great but worked for me. 1/
I'm not paid by any of these companies and I am welcome to be corrected/supplemented on any of these resources from people in the community. Because we work together, not separately!! So LET'S GO! 2/
Science is hard. And trying to keep track of all the literature can be a pain so I have some resources for that. The trifecta: @RsrchRabbit, @zotero, and Excel Splicer worksheet. 3/
Read 24 tweets
Oct 28, 2021
Hi, my friends! Today is my (@AlexisSMobley / she/her/hers) takeover! I'm running on #SpoonieTime, but we're also going to #ReclaimOurTime talking about accessibility and accommodations! 1/ A picture of Alexis Mobley, a Black woman, outside of a red
A little bit about me, I'm a doctoral researcher at @MDA_UTHGrad in the @NeuroMDAUTH and Immunology Programs. You can learn more about my research here:
I love the #NeuroImmunology research I do! 2/
I'm also a co-founder, President, and Treasurer of @BlackInImmuno where we amplify, celebrate, and support Black voices in immunology. 3/
Read 6 tweets
Oct 28, 2021
The first of the named stories we're sharing comes from @ChrisMillsRD.

We will be posting this story as a thread below, but if you'd prefer to read it as a blog, you can do that.
[blog post]
disabledinhighered.weebly.com/blog/fortunate
(1/7)
#DEHEM21 #DisInHigherEd
I've been extremely fortunate to have had all my accommodation needs met in my undergrad studies, my master's, & now my doctoral studies.

​At all 3 universities, connecting with the accessibility office was easy, although getting the required paperwork did take time & money 2/
I'm fortunate to be supported by an amazing partner who has job security; so, I've been able to afford all the paperwork. All of my professors, except for one, have easily accepted my accommodations. 3/
Read 7 tweets
Oct 28, 2021
So I (@theADHDacademic) did a thing and made a website. It might be useful, it might very well not be. It's #ADHD centered, but I talk about accommodations and I've got more posts planned on #UDL and inclusion. My point is, if I've said anything helpful, it might be helpful too?
I cover things like how to register with the disability office: theadhdacademic.weebly.com/advice-as-a-le…
and how to talk to a professor who has denied your accommodation: theadhdacademic.weebly.com/advice-as-a-le…
Read 6 tweets
Oct 28, 2021
I have tweeted very little about #ADHD and accommodations during my time taking over this account. Maybe I should take some time to do that...
#ADHD is one of those conditions that a lot of people think they know about, but they really don't. They "know" one narrow experience of #ADHD and they still assume it's bad parenting or lack of effort or something we grow out of.
The stereotype of #ADHD hurts students. So many of them won't register for accommodations because they think it isn't serious, they don't know they can receive accommodations, they've internalized the ableist thought that they can work harder and tough it out.
Read 8 tweets

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