When It Rains, It Pours
We all know the saying. It can never just sprinkle. It can never just be a gentle spring rain, with sprouting blades of grass and birds twittering about new beginnings. It’s either drought or…
The Wolf Finally Frees Itself
— Brianna Albers
Brianna Albers (she/her) is a crip-cyborg storyteller living in Minneapolis-St. Paul. She was diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy type 2 in 1996 and lives with co-occurring physical and mental health conditions. By day she works as an advocate, bridging disability and mental health awareness to empower people to live their best lives; by night, she dabbles in imagination, and is currently writing “An Angel in the Garden,” an adult space fantasy with #OwnVoices disability representation. Find her online at briannahopealbers.com and on social media @briehalbers.
Featured Post
With cancer in the family, my SMA has been out of the spotlight
Note: This column was updated July 9, 2025, to correct the year the author’s mother retired from May 2024 to May 2023. I’ve been putting off this column for months, I guess in…
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‘Livin’ It Up on Top’: To the Worlds We Dream About
If you live in the U.S., or are in any way, shape, or form active on social media, you’ll know that Tuesday is a big day for us Americans. But I want to briefly…
My Body Is My Home
I write a lot about the body. It’s inescapable in my line of work. I identify as disabled, and more than that, my disability is painfully visible. But my interests are rooted in…
In Defense of Cybernetics
If you’re a member of the SMA News Today Forums, you might know that I trialed the JACO robotic arm a few months ago. When I heard that Numotion was servicing my…
The Evrysdi Chronicles: Waiting for a Diagnosis
Let me set the scene. It’s 9 a.m. I’ve been awake since 6. My poor, sweet dad has been up since 5:30. We’ve been preparing for this gut punch of a medical appointment…
Doggone It, I Deserve It!
Every once in a while, I get the urge to go to the hospital. I’m not sick. I’m not concerned for my health. But there’s something about hospital stays that, when the stars align,…
Shine Meditations Are Helping Me Build Somatic Awareness
I’m a big fan of mindfulness. In theory, at least. Mindfulness is associated with all sorts of benefits: greater tolerance, focus, and self-acceptance, decreased reactivity, an understanding of negative, self-sabotaging behavior patterns, and…
‘Disability Visibility’ Imagines a Wildly Necessary Future
Content warning: The following contains discussions of ableism and eugenics. I knew from the dedication that “Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century” would be healing. “To my younger self,” writes editor…
I Think My Dreams Are Telling Me Something
The romantic in me wants to believe that dreams are portents, or windows to the psyche, or invaluable self-knowledge tools. But the therapist in me, who dabbled in clinical psychology for a time, is…
For Some Disabled People, Early Start Times Are Inaccessible
My dad and I are night owls. We rarely leave the house before noon — and when we do, we complain the entire time, like a pair of sulky babies. My mom laughs…
The Truth About SMA Awareness Month
Not everyone likes it. A while back, I was talking to a friend in Singapore who also has SMA. She mentioned that although she wanted to post something for SMA Awareness Month, she…
Storms and SMA: The Opposite of a Love Story
When it comes to storms, I’m a dog with high levels of anxiety. Don’t get me wrong, I love the rain. A gentle rainfall is the perfect backdrop to at least half of my…
