Meriah Nichols Talks About Disability

This is a review of the book, "Year of the Tiger: An Activist's Life," by Alice Wong. You can listen to me read this post by clicking the player below this, or on my podcast on Spotify or iTunes. Year of the Tiger: An Activist's Life Sometimes I feel like any memoir written even a little decently and capturing a piece of the disability experience is poised to become a bestseller. Not necessarily because it deserves to be – not because it really brings us to a new place or takes us where our mind explodes in an element of new awesomeness. They just become bestsellers because of woke box-checking.  Alice Wong's “Year of the Tiger” is a whole different cat. It BELONGS on the bestseller list. Oprah needs to pick this book up it needs to be required reading for all those diversity and disability college courses.  Why?  Glad you asked. First, here's the trajectory of Instagram updates that I posted as I was reading it: https://youtu.be/GOTItJT-Fek You'll probably noticed that my tone changed after I started really reading Year of the Tiger, right? I got pretty serious, pretty fast. I went from masking/smiley/happy, “oh cool, my friend wrote a book and this is awesome!” to, not smiley or masking at all – not even caring that my selfie angles were completely unflattering because I just wanted to get that message out that “this book is phenomenal and you better pay attention.”  That is how good this book is.  So, again, why? Why is Year of the Tiger so good? Out of all the books available in the world right now, why should you reach for this one? Here's why: Alice is a really good writer who knows her shit In a world that doesn't take disability seriously when it should, and way too seriously when it doesn't need to, Alice consistently hits the right notes and explains the pieces that matter. She's your buddy who always says the perfect thing, who knows how to twirl a sentence out so it can cast the messages, sinking them deep while you laugh, cry, or get pissed off. But she's also a storyteller.  Year of the Tiger isn't all disability stuff; it's also about being a Chinese immigrant in Indiana, it's about culture, family, connections, community. It's about choices and chances in life.  These intersections speak to Alice's life, but they echo through all of us, they are relatable because we all have our intersections and if we are lucky, they can help ground and support us. Alice seems to be lucky in hers, and it's a beautiful story. Alice is playful, snarky, and fun On the heels of good writing comes a good time, and Alice definitely enjoys a good time. She has games, puzzles, drawings, and photos woven into her stories. Her descriptions of all that good food left me drooling.  Because disability justice and advocacy can be so painful, I appreciate her playful approach to handling some Big Subjects – playful, but she still handles them. She doesn't shirk the hard stuff that we really need to talk about. And of course, I love her use of curse words :) Alice has vision and leads by example Her strength of vision comes through clear and strong in this, her first memoir. She is a powerful visualizer, seeing the world as it is – with rampant ableism, oppression, and inequities. She sees the world as it should be, in the Star Trek model (and even beyond!) but in her striving to bridge the present with the future, she somehow remarkably and miraculously manages to refrain from falling into vats of bitterness, despair or anger. She remains playful, spirited, a calm force of connection. I want to talk about that calm because it inspires me (in the best sense of that loaded word).  My brain is in a perpetual rush, trying to Do All The Things and getting super excited about each new project or whatever. Alice shows me through her writing how possible it is – how necessary even – to take time to get things done right. How important access is,

This is a comprehensive post about Medicare. It covers: What is Medicare? What Are the Parts of Medicare? Detailed Explanations on the Parts of Medicare? Who Can Get Medicare and way more - please refer to the table below with links to jump directly to the part you are looking for guidance on. Kathleen Downes wrote this post. She knows a whole lot about Medicare but she does not work for Medicare. Take what's offered here as friendly advice and do your own investigation too! You can listen to Kathleen read this by clicking below, or subscribing to the podcast at the end of this post. What is Medicare? Medicare is a U.S. government-run health insurance program for qualified workers age 65+ and some people with disabilities. It is run by the federal government or the government for our whole country. The money that pays for Medicare comes from 2 trust funds held by the U.S. government (Medicare 2021). The first fund, the Hospital Insurance fund, pays for Part A costs such as inpatient hospital stays, limited home health services, and limited stays in skilled nursing facilities. I will talk more about the parts of Medicaid later (Medicare 2021). The money from the hospital insurance fund comes from: Payroll taxes Income taxes on Social Security retirement benefits Interest on trust fund investments Premiums, or monthly payments, from people who don't get Part A for free (2021). The second trust fund is called the Supplementary Medical Insurance fund. It pays for Part B costs such as outpatient care (services that are not overnight hospital care). It also pays for Part D care (prescription medicine). The money for this fund comes from: monthly premiums interest earned on trust fund investments. Typically, everyone enrolled in Part B and/or D pays a premium (Medicare 2021).  What are the Parts of Medicare? Medicare has 4 parts, each represented by letters. Part A: Inpatient hospital care and some limited home health care, limited nursing home care Part B: Outpatient care such as doctor's visits and some limited home health care Part C: Is also called an advantage plan (MA plan), which allows the government to contract with a private company to deliver Medicare benefits. Part D: Prescription drug coverage (Bunis 2021). You can receive Part D benefits in two ways:  A separate drug plan An MA “Part C” plan that includes drug coverage You have to have Parts A & B to join an MA plan or a separate drug plan. Not all MA plans cover prescription medications (Medicare 2021b).  What is Meant by Part C vs. Original Medicare? Original Medicare is the traditional way to receive benefits. The government pays a provider directly for services in Parts A and B (Center for Medicare Rights 2021). Most Americans use Original Medicare and most providers accept it. The other choice is to package benefits together with a Medicare Advantage Plan (MA) which is also called Part C. You can think of an MA plan (Part C) as a way to combine the parts of Medicare into one plan (Bunis 2020). Those in an advantage plan still receive the services in Part A & Part B, but may be offered additional services not covered by regular Medicare such as dental benefits (Center for Medicare Rights 2021). You can also get Part D, drug coverage, through an MA plan, or as a separate benefit (Center for Medicare Rights 2021). Not all Medicare Advantage plans cover drugs.  Most Medicare Advantage plans do have drug coverage, but you might be allowed to join a standalone drug plan if your MA plan does not cover drugs. You cannot join a standalone drug plan if your MA plan already offers prescription coverage (EHealth 2021). If you have an MA plan, you still pay a premium for Part B (and Part A if you don't get it for free).  The MA plans have to place a limit on out-of-pocket costs for A & B (Center for Medicare Rights 2021). Every MA plan is different.

This is a discussion essay on disability pride, models of disability, sparkle sauce and glitter juice. Why Do We Need to Feel Disability Pride? Why do we need to feel disability pride at all? Doesn't that feel slightly masochistic, feeling pride in something that has given us grief in our life? Feel pride over something that essentially “isn't working” from a mainstream cultural perspective. As a friend said on Facebook, “isn't it enough that I accept it? Why do I need to feel pride over it?” “Isn't it enough that I accept it? Why do I need to feel pride over it?” Brene Brown wrote in Atlas of The Heart that pride is a feeling of pleasure or celebration related to our accomplishments or efforts. This is authentic pride, it's positive and can be felt for ourselves and/or others. “I can feel proud of myself, proud of you, proud of us.” Pride is an emotional response or attitude to something with an intimate connection to oneself, due to its perceived value. Oxford defines it as "the quality of having an excessively high opinion of oneself or one's own importance." Wikipedia Hubris, on the other hand, is “an inflated sense of one's own innate abilities that is tied more to the need for dominance than to actual accomplishments.” It's the negative piece that usually flavors the word, “pride,” and is not actually part of pride at all. To me, there are two things going on with using “pride” in connection with disability: there is the definition of pride itself and the negative taste it can leave in our mouths. And there is the confusion over feeling like we must feel pride over something that may have simply been something difficult for us in our lives.  The Feelings Associated with Disability The feelings that we tend to feel growing up with disabilities are shame (feeling flawed, unworthy of love, belonging, connection), guilt (feelings of what we've done or failed to do, putting others out, been an inconvenience), humiliation (feeling belittled and put down), and embarrassment (feeling that we've done something that has made us uncomfortable, but is a fleeting and relatable experience).  These feelings plug in to the medical model of disability (that disability needs to be fixed), and they make perfect sense when viewed through that lens.  We feel guilt our families have to go out of their ways to accommodate us, guilt that everyone in our class must wait, bored, while the teacher tries to figure out how to enable the closed captions in our Zoom session. We feel shame in who we are when we see ourselves through the lens of the medical model, that we need to be fixed, made “well”, that our edges of our square pegs need to be shaved off to fit in the round holes of the world.  Read: Square Pegs in a Round Peg World The power of the neurodiverse The Social Model of Disability The social model of disability, however, sees disability as a natural and normal part of the human experience. From the social model of disability, it's the culture that we live in that's the problem, and culture can be changed. Culture is a living expression, it's fluid, it can transform. Shaving off our square pegs to fit in the round holes of the world, a'la Medical Model of Disability, is a travesty from the viewpoint of the Social Model of Disability, as it removes all juju, the mojo, the good sauce that disability brings with it. It's like a giant vacuum cleaner hose, sucking up the glitter that also makes up disability. And make no mistake about it: there IS glitter in disability. There's sparkle-sauce and awesomeness in the world of disability. Whether or not mainstream culture recognizes it, almost everything that is deeply cool in the world came from someone with a disability. Think about it: we're the ones who push outside the round pegs of the world – we push past the given consciousness.

the disability pride flag: what it represents, who it's for

This is about developing disability pride. You can listen to me read it by clicking the player below, or subscribing to my podcast on Spotify or iTunes. Patrons can download the pdf for this. Become a Patron! Disability Pride is a Protest When you are continuously told by your culture, language, history, school, work and/or family that you need to fit your square pegged self into a round pegged world, need to conform, change, therapize essential aspects of who you are – shame is the consequence. You feel shame in all that you need to change, all that you seem to embody. You are representing the broken, the inept, the weak, the ugly, the mocked.  To even hint of feeling pride over all the things you have been taught to feel shame over is a radical act. To feel proud that you can't hear? Of your deafness? Proud of what, Down syndrome? Proud of being neurodiverse? Proud of whatever condition you have that sent you in for therapy or an IEP or IPE or funky medical gadgets that made you feel like a freak in the cafeteria? To feel pride in any of that can see delusional or masochistic.  And pride can also be a profound statement of protest. To claim, say or feel pride in all that we've felt shame over is a daring protest to the culture, language, history, school, work and/or family that told us we should feel that way about ourselves. It's a fundamental refusal to buy-in to the shame anymore. It's a call out to dig in even deeper: this is me; I am valid. I am worthy. Whether or not my culture, language, history, school, work, and/or family believe it, I have a right to be here. Pride is radical. Pride is powerful. Pride is a protest.  And like Laura Hershey said, we get proud by practicing.  Some of us have spent a lifetime, decades, of trying to cover up our hearing aids, walk without a limp, mask our neurodivergence. Some of us have spent years in cubicles, offices, with people giving us treats to change the way we talk, move, express, or feel so that we can better conform within our culture. Some of us have already given in to all that we could to self-soothe, self-medicate, ease the raging internal pain – because nothing hurts so much as feeling so unwanted, broken, inept, ugly, mocked. Feeling pride in those circumstances is monumental, an enormous reach, a leap of Everest-worthy proportions. How do you do it? How can it even be done? We get proud by practicing- Laura Hershey We get proud by trying. One step at a time. One piece at a time. Bit by bit. Little by little. Inch by inch.  It's a massive unlearning, a fundamental shift in our understanding of the world and our claim to space within it.  Those of us with the decades of shame internalized within us, it'll probably take a little more consciousness and practice. Which doesn't mean that for those of you who are still coming up in the world it will be much easier – it may not, it may still require a great deal of conscious thought and practice to shift your internal compass and feelings about yourself. But the first thing to do is to start.  Learning to Run "Why Bother?" She Asked The Impact of Disability on Siblings: The Story of Dana & Meriah Let Down syndrome Define You: A Letter to My Daughter Tell Me Why Why Frida Kahlo Remains Relevant Choosing Moxie The Influence of Disability Within My World I Never Knew I Wanted a Child with Down syndrome Until I Had One

This is an opinion post about abortion, Roe vs. Wade, disability and choice. Click the player below to hear me read this. When I was 13, I wrote a report in my Catholic school about abortion. I think it was part of a debate, and of course I was arguing against abortion. I had seen … The post God Gave Us Choice appeared first on Meriah Nichols.

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MeriahMeriah Nichols is a career counselor, teacher and blogger. Single mom to 3 (one with Down syndrome, one gifted 2E), she is also a cat-loving Trekkie who likes her coffee hot and black.