Thread by @Nicole_Lee_Sch

I was diagnosed with #EhlersDanlos and #ArnoldChiari in undergrad. The eds dx came the winter of sophomore year, and the Chiari dx the spring of senior year. I would have given anything to have disabled mentors through those years. 1/11

I care about disability representation in higher ed because I had to find my way into claiming a disabled identity. Alone. Because I didn't know what to read or who to reach out to or what to ask for. Representation leads to belonging. 2/11

In undergrad I had wonderful profs, some of whom privately disclosed medical issues, but none of whom were vocal and public about identifying as disabled. I didn't have a professor with mobility devices like I had. 3/11

I didn't have profs with braces or support devices. I didn't have a prof with a chronic illness who could talk to me about crip time and the crushing guilt I felt over falling behind in my classes. I was unfairly harsh to myself. 4/11

I hated that I was disabled. Because my experience of disability boiled down to medical gaslighting, painful mismanaged medical issues, and fighting all of this alone. I started a club on campus for disabled students. I was the only one who showed up. For months. 5/11

It took me pursuing a whole graduate degree to learn about disability culture. To learn about how I could be kind to my body. To reconfigure what I knew about life. To find inspiration in my community. To start to love my body. To proudly demand accommodations. 6/11

And I wonder how much healthier and happier I would be if it didn't take me seven years of independent work to build that. I want disabled individuals on every college campus who feel comfortable disclosing and take pride in their identity. 7/11

I want disabled staff and students and faculty to disclose without fear. To BE a community. To carve out equitable spaces. Spaces where people can explore their identities and disability culture in a positive and prideful manner. 8/11

I know I talk A LOT about the job market. But it's not about my employment. It's about building the space I needed as an undergrad. It's about making sure that disabled students feel safe and supported. Because I had to build that for myself. And that work is unnecessary. 9/11

I want vibrant higher ed spaces where we can talk about crip knowledge. Where #DisStudies and #DisHist are valued. Where disabled profs lead community initiatives. Where allies learn PROPER allyship (that doesn't infantilize, silence, or negate dis knowledge) 10/11

I want our spaces of higher education to BE the communities we pretend they are. I want disabled students to see higher ed as a mode for connecting with other disabled people, not a space of masking our realities. 11/11 #AcademicChatter #AcademicTwitter #DisabilityTwitter