Self-acceptance in the Form of Class Assignments
I’ve never liked my voice. I went to speech therapy as a child, and people have struggled to understand me for as long as I can remember. I learned at a young…
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
What do you do when video game accessibility is inaccessible?
It’s 2014. I’m months-deep into a major depressive episode. Nothing is enjoyable, not even my all-time favorite video game. I feel listless in the worst of ways. Several of my friends are playing “Dragon Age: Inquisition” (DAI), the…
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Twitter Hashtag Leads to Disability Activism
Those of you who follow me on Twitter may have noticed that I’ve been posting a lot of selfies lately. I’ve written about…
Waiting for the Sun to Rise
Those of you who’ve followed my column for a while know I try to be honest about what I’m going through. I don’t pretend my life is perfect for many reasons, one being that ……
Selfies Help Me Overcome Anxieties
I deactivated my Facebook account a while back, so I’m trying to be more active on other social media platforms. This is partly to keep in touch with people and partly to curate a more…
Mindfulness, Radical Acceptance, and the Effects of SMA
When I started grad school earlier this year, a friend told me that I could not, under any circumstances, start to psychoanalyze the people in my life. I laughed because technically we’re not…
A Friend’s Diagnosis Leads to Reflection on My SMA Past
I’m lucky that I was diagnosed at a young age, too young to remember anything that happened. I was talking to my father about it the other night, how he and my mother…
Possibility of Straighter Teeth Brings Risks of Surgery
You know how sometimes a comment can stick with you? That’s been my life this past week. It was something my dad said a while back. I don’t even remember the context, though…
Kicking the Door Open
I’ve never been all that interested in the Oscars. I prefer TV over film and, anyway, I can trust social media to keep me informed of the fashion highlights. Still, I’ve found myself…
New Therapist, New Goals
I recently switched therapists. I’ve only seen her a few times, but I already have a good feeling about it. She’s survived two different types of cancer and has a wheelchair for when…
Living on Borrowed Time
I officially graduated with my bachelor’s degree in December, but I only just received my diploma in the mail. I’ve been expecting it for weeks now, but it was still kind of surreal,…
Different Bodies, Still Equal
I realized the other day that I am missing a collarbone. It’s something I’ve been thinking about lately. Parts of the body that appear in my writing and reading: collarbone, sternum.
In Defense of My Identity as Disabled
A majority of my classwork this semester revolves around discussion forums: posting our analyses of different counseling theories and responding to other people’s analyses, among other things. It’s a staple of online education…
