For me, the worst part of being #disabled is the drain on my ego. Its incredibly hard to maintain a sense of self-worth and confidence when you are literally constantly thwarted by simple tasks that almost everyone else does with ease, compounded by the social isolation. 1/8
This thread isn't to invite pity.
For the #disabled, its to give hope that you can achieve great things. I'm living out my dreams, even though I still struggle with the weight of my brokenness. 2/8
For the #disabled, its to give hope that you can achieve great things. I'm living out my dreams, even though I still struggle with the weight of my brokenness. 2/8
For the abled, this thread is to share a piece of my world and ask that you extend empathy to those who have a very different set of challenges and blessings due to a disability they have zero control over. 3/8
My typical day starts with rolling over and being unable to read my alarm clock. That's when I hear the first silent whisper: "You are f'd and there is nothing you can do about it". Then the choice, am I going to play the hand I was dealt today, or fold? 4/8
For the next 16 hours, I'm a fighter. As a biomedical scientist, I fight against global health threats like #COVID19. I also fight against small print and the temptation to let that damned whisper grow into a roar that drowns everything else out. 5/8
Sometimes I get so engrossed in things that I forget I'm legally blind. But that whisper is always lying in wait. Any non-trivial bump along my journey is an invitation for it to yell, "Don't forget that on top of this setback, you are totally f'd!" 6/8
Social settings are some of the hardest and most crushing challenges. How am I supposed to network when I can't recognize my own wife from 10 ft away? People are often uncomfortable with me because I can't make eye contact. Our mutual discomfort quickly compounds if I let it. 7/8
At the end of the day, I get to close my eyes. Sometimes I reflect on the fact that this is the one part of my life where my poor vision doesn't put me at a massive disadvantage. I get to make that whisper shut up while I get ready to kick its butt again in the morning. 8/8
#disabled #DisabledTwitter #blind #AcademicChatter #academiclife #AcademicTwitter #phdlife #phdchat #PhDVoice
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
