Weekly Check In Oct 19 - 25
Hey, sorry it's a bit late this week. I have a longer post for a check in this week as I'm sharing a post about a story of an exercise, if you want to skip over, jump down to the purple text, below the image.
One thing I think about now and then was this thing that happened in this class that I don't remember what it was called, where we learned things like sex ed and how to deal with your emotions, and one of the 'how to deal with your emotions' things was a speaker talking about how if you want to get a handle on your problems, something like that, you need the right 'tools'.
To demonstrate this point, he picked two volunteers from the class, gave them each an apple, gave one a peeler and the other a toothpick, and told them to peel their apples. He gave them a minute, I think.
Of course, the one with the peeler got a lot farther than the one with the toothpick.
But the one with the toothpick surprised the speaker by figuring out how to actually peel the apple with it, and had gotten a decent amount done.
He had never seen someone do that before.
The speaker recovered and just pushed forward with the narrative of the 'right tools'.
And it just occurred to me how perfect of a metaphor this is for disability, and being neuro atypical.
We have toothpicks, and we can figure out ways to get things done with those toothpicks, maybe not as well and certainly not as quickly, but get it done, and actually quite alright.
But it's not good enough for most of the abled and the neurotypical, because we didn't use the 'right tools'.
Tools we don't have.
Maybe even tools we can't use if they are given to us.
But we have our toothpicks. We can peel our apples. And a peeled apple is still a peeled apple, no matter how it was done.
What tools do you have to help you manage the disabilities & barriers you deal with?
How well are those tools working for you?
How is this week going for you? What's good? What's not so good?
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@AffyAvo
Hiya how gos today? Hopefully things are pawsome.
Most things are done for me.
But I'd say my Tools are, my Family, my friend,
Therapist and definitely not least cups and all the pawsome people here.
@AffyAvo
Greetings AffyAvo happy to be a part of this community.My name is JoyfulA.Nice to meet you!
@repen13 Welcome! Glad to have you here!
@AffyAvo
That's a really inspiring post about the apples! :D
What tools do you have to help you manage the disabilities & barriers you deal with?
My medication, my student support equipment, my compression socks.
How well are those tools working for you?
Pretty well. :)
How is this week going for you? What's good? What's not so good?
It hasn't been a good week for me. I was a bit emotional in work the other day because I've been feeling quite miserable and exhausted recently. I have been dealing with what I can only describe as IBD flare ups for years, but I have yet to get the correct diagnosis. I believe I developed erythyma nodosum again recently which knocked me, but it's yet another sign of IBD and I've got an ulcer in my mouth and I've had some abdominal pain. All the signs have been there for years but I'm just not getting anywhere. It's distressing knowing something's not right with your body but doctor's won't fight your corner and try to get you some answers. I've also asked to be investigated for PCOS, I need to get the bloods back for that. It would be a knock if it turned out I had that as well, but at least I know what's going on with my body. Doctor's don't seem to get that people just want the answers to what's affecting them. 
@MythologicalMayhem
That sounds really tough to deal with, I hope the docs will do something to help. It sounds like you Still fighting and that's pawsome. Hang tough stay pawsome ur friend 🔥
@MythologicalMayhem I'm glad you liked the story.
Hi my name is Emil. I have a lot of different things that I struggle with. I've had depression PTSD and anxiety my entire life. I've also had chronic pain my whole life, and was diagnosed with Ehlers danlos Syndrome, as well as about 15 other different things that cause pain and limit my mobility. I had a two and a half year break from school. And during that I almost died due to medical neglect. Now, this is my first semester back at school and it's been very overwhelming. I've had so many times where just from studying, I had severe brain fog, or was so physically drained that I couldn't take care of myself at all. It makes me very embarrassed and makes me worry that I won't be able to finish my degree and get my dream job which is very demanding. I need to get a PhD in physics in order to do what I've literally always dreamed of doing for my career. So I'm really stressed that I just won't be able to finish my degree, and that I know that it'll take forever for me to get my degree as well, because I can't take, because I can only take like one class at a time. It's hard because I used to be insanely like so disciplined and good at everything. And I feel like, you know, having chronic pain, makes me really unreliable like I feel like I'm just so different, you know, I used to be able to push myself, and just do so much. And now I like I you know I very clear limits where I just physically and mentally can do what I need to. And that's really hard to accept. Especially because this is the healthiest that I'll ever be. And, you know, it's only gonna get worse as time progresses. So, I guess, I mean, support with being a disabled student, it's very hard to find support for this specific thing.
@navyHuman259 I hope you're able to find some more tools as you go to help you get through your education. School with illness can be really challenging.
@navyHuman259
I really feel like if you need someone to talk to about things that I can help you...
All my years in school, r at least since the start of 6th grade, I had physical problems, due to a wreck the summer before 6th grade. So I'm just saying that I understand the emotional and psychological battles that come from having those problems. Reach out to me if you'd like to....
what i do to deal with my disability: plan out everything and check in with how my symptoms are each day. for each level of symptoms (bad, normal, light) i have limits I've set on physical and mental activity and rest. so on bad days I have strict limits of what I will do and plan lots of rest. I also like to do adapted yoga, sometimes bed yoga, or just stretches in bed, and light pt and ot every day. I also have a list of things I can do that give me energy like deep breathing, nap, hot bath
@AffyAvo
Please add me JoyfulA
@AffyAvo Hi, i have got many devices which help me in coping with everyday life. My electric wheelchair helps me to move around, my hearing aid helps me listening, etc. They are very halpful. I have got also many friends and family who support me but i don't call them tools. My week is going ok for me.
@gentleSun78 Haha yes, good idea to not call friends and family tools, although they can be a great part of what makes functioning easier. I've glad you have so many things that help you.
