#adaptandresist

Disability advocates arrested during health care protest at McConnell’s office. Thank you for risking your lives #cripplepunk

50+ arrests and counting

AARP Calls the Cops on Disabled Protesters

Today, ADAPT protested at major nonprofits in Washington DC, to demand support for the Disability Integration Act. By the end of the day, both  the Heritage Foundation and Center for American Progress  expressed their support for the bill. AARP, however, decided to call the police to disperse disabled protesters. AARP represents the interests of older Americans and reports a membership of over 38…

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[The Women’s March on Washington Disability Caucus tweeted:

Ugh. Yesterday congress voted to pass HR 620 - a bill which significantly undermines the Americans with Disabilities Act. You can read more about the bill here) and you can see how your reps voted on this issue here.

In this context, it feels totally absurd to offer you stickers. But I do think Disability Pride is critical and stickers are what I have available in this moment so here we are. I'm quite fond of them. This sheet is 4x6" (so each sticker is fairly small - hopefully small enough to fit on your wheelchair if you have one). If you're disabled and broke right now and you really want one shoot me a message with your address and I'll send one your way. ;)

For the sake of transparency, in a small run these cost me $3.20 each to print, I'm selling them for $5 and donating $1 of each sale of these to National ADAPT. If you have the means to support financially, you could also make a donation to National ADAPT (www.adapt.org) or the Disability Community Resource Center (https://www.dcrc.co/) who are both doing grassroots organizing to fight this bill and support disabled folks. If you'd also like to support my work, feel free to buy a bunch of these for your disabled buds so I can print more and give some away, or buy other things from my site.<3 Thanks for your attention and support, tender beings!

To order these stickers or see my other work, please visit www.haleybrown.org.

[Picture shows woman with gray hair being carried by three cops, as one more cop looks on. Behind them, more protesters in wheelchairs are visible.]

With her permission, I have decided to share this story about my best friend - @thisfibrolife

In her early twenties, nearly 20 years ago now, she came down with some sort of strange illness, the symptoms of which were vast and varied. Muscle aches, trouble sleeping, tingling and shooting pains throughout her body, to name a few. It stopped her life from moving forward. The disease, undiagnosed and untreated due to lack of health insurance, continued to be self-manageable but far from great.

Fast-forward to her late 20s and she had a college degree in history and was working as a receptionist in the same office as her father. She decided she wanted to do something with herself, she wanted to go to law school so she could work in some sort of social justice area and help people (though what she found was she actually really enjoyed contract law!).

It took her five years to get through law school and the stress of it caused the illness to extremely overwhelm her entire body. But she still didn’t have health insurance and she couldn’t afford to go to the doctor. Her parents paid for her to see the family doctor a few times but, as we all know, a few times is not enough to get a diagnosis. Her health declined rapidly. She didn’t have the stamina for the extras that law school required, like the oh-so-important networking. She had to drop out of her semester abroad. Her mental health dropped, the thought of living like this in a rutted-state for the rest of her life sending her into a depression.

She barely made it though law school. She never passed the Bar exam. Eventually she found herself living in her parents basement, in her childhood bedroom, in her early 30s, unable to do more than temp-work - and even that was nearly intolerable. Her illness, still undiagnosed at this point even, was sending her to an early grave. The depression was speeding it along.

And then the Affordable Care Act was passed. Under the Medicaid expansion, she qualified for insurance. Within six months, she had a diagnosis - fibromyalgia. She began regular treatment. Her doctors tried medicines until they found the one that worked. The fibromyalgia - while never able to be cured - was being treated, was being managed. She got a job. She got health insurance from her employer. And with no pre-existing condition clause, everything was covered for her. She even moved out of her parents basement and into her own apartment again!

Now she is nearly 20 years out from the first onset of symptoms and her whole life has done a complete 180. She is healthier. And happier. Most importantly to me, she is happier. The mental and physical pain that she was in every single day were unyielding detriments to her body. I do not believe I am using hyperbole here when I say it was all putting her in the ground at an alarming rate. I absolutely believe that without the ACA, she would not be where she is today. I believe, in fact, she would be dead. And she believes it too.

But instead, she is in the best place that she has been in since I met her 14 years ago - enjoying her long holiday weekend, coming to my family cookout on the 4th of July to celebrate the country that gave her the chance to be where she is today, that gave her the chance to keep living. We need to keep being that country and not repeal the Affordable Care Act.