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 sat shell-shocked across from the doctor, listening to explanation after condolence…
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 “Death and the Blade,” a romance-forward adult fantasy novel with #OwnVoices disability representation. Find her online at briehalbers.com and on social media @briehalbers.
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When it comes to sleep studies, I mainly remember orange juice. Don’t ask me why. I was young then, around 8 or 9, so I have to assume the technicians were trying to bribe me or something. My last study was in 2002, so I was a little nervous when…
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 I’m pretty sure it was random, out of the blue. “You…
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 getting reluctantly dragged into the discourse surrounding the lack of diversity…
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 her chronic illness flares up. Her daughter also was misdiagnosed with…
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, opening the manila envelope and seeing my name in fancy script,…
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. I memorized each term for an exam in high school —…
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 and, after several years of it, I’ve gotten to the point…
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 took the plunge, we’d get them together. Early in 2017,…
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 I think it’s something we have to acknowledge at one point…
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 my to-do list every day for a week, maybe two, but…
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 middle of finals. I still don’t know what I…
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 with an impossible disgust. It’s not that I hate my body,…
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