Accessibility and the Never-ending Quest for a Tattoo
If you follow me on Twitter, you know I’ve been seriously considering getting a tattoo for months now. A former personal care assistant (PCA) and I decided way back in 2015 that if we ever…
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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On Getting Up Again
Part of being disabled is waking up one morning and wishing you could be done with it all. I’ve never admitted that before, least of all in a public forum, but…
2018: A Year for New Beginnings
I like setting goals and making lists of everything I want to accomplish over the next 12 months. But resolutions feel dangerous to me — mainly because I never actually achieve them. I finish…
Another Year, Another Adventure
You may have noticed I was essentially AWOL throughout the month of December. I certainly wasn’t planning on disappearing, but you never can truly prepare for a two-day hospital stay right in the…
SMA and Days of ‘Bad Body Vibes’
I’ve always had a weird relationship with my body, and I’ve always struggled to put that relationship into words. I don’t struggle with self-image; my reflection isn’t distorted. Most times, I just wake…
Finding Gratitude in Unexpected Places
I’ve been having a lot of headaches lately and, naturally, my anxiety had me convinced I was going to die of a brain tumor. I knew, of course, how improbable it was. Every article…
Raised by the Internet
A year or so ago, I came across a zine on Tumblr that was all about being “raised by the internet.” It was an interesting, enjoyable read, so naturally, I reblogged it, only to…
What Comes Next: Graduate School and Beyond
I survived my interview! Funnily enough, we never even got to voice/video chat. My interviewer — the director of the entire mental health counseling program, apparently (cue me, having a mild…
Struggles with My Voice Lead to Fear and Anxiety
I have always struggled with my voice. Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) causes muscle degeneration and weakness. In this case, it means that my voice is quiet. Soft. And not just my…
3 Things to Help with Depression, Part 2
In continuation of last week’s column, here are three more things you can try that might help with depression. They’re all things that have made a difference in my life, so…
4 Things to Help with Depression
It’s easy for me to hide behind a computer screen and tell you that it gets better. To believe that it gets better – yet still wake up every morning with an unbearable sense of…
It Gets Better
I don’t know about you, but it’s getting harder and harder to keep my head above water these days. Part of it is school and part of it is depression, but most of it…
