As a new school year approaches, I want to share some of my own experiences with education. Navigating school with a disability, especially higher education, can lead you down a confusing path. From a young age, I knew I would go to college. I envisioned college to be a beautiful…
“Can you make me a coffee and cream when I get there?“ The text flashes on the screen of my phone and I smile. Replying yes, I eagerly await the arrival of my visitor on a Saturday night. He appears shortly after dusk, the sound of his car rambling up…
I’ve found myself feeling hurt lately after heartfelt requests for support from friends seem to have come up short. It occurred to me that perhaps people are just unaware of how they can help. I recognize that the tumultuous nature of chronic health challenges can be daunting, but it…
Some days, you keep it to yourself. You look into the eyes of another faceless doctor looking back into yours, telling you the wrong thing. You keep breathing in and out as he rationalizes why he’s not ordering the right tests and you remember that he’s human, too. The instinct…
Sometimes you find the love you’re looking for in the most unexpected places. This Friday, I found it curbside at my neighborhood café. As the owner of a coffee business, I partner with a local coffee roaster specializing in small-batch, craft coffees. Each week, I deliver the labels for…
In the dimmed hospital room light, I hoist myself into a sitting position. The room swirls momentarily as my brain attempts to find equilibrium. Bending my elbows, the IV catheter stings in my arm. Even in my exasperated state, my heartbeat quickens as I reach for my phone. The connectivity…
Participating in mindfulness-based group programs via online video conferencing is a feasible strategy for improving mental health in adults with cerebral palsy (CP), but more study is needed to determine the effectiveness of these sessions, a small study suggests. The study, “A Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program…
It occurred to me recently that I have been writing this column for more than half a year. My mind has been delving into contemplation about what this opportunity has meant to me so far. As a writer, I’ve spent the last decade cataloging my most intimate battles with chronic…
Adults with cerebral palsy (CP) are more likely to be hospitalized on an emergency-care basis than planned care, mainly due to respiratory illness and feeding-tube problems, an Australian study suggests. This may reflect problems in transitioning from pediatric to adult care for people with CP, and a better understanding…
“This pandemic is really working for you,” my mom said, half-jokingly. She nor I never could have imagined that over the course of only weeks, society would rearrange itself into a more Briana-friendly place. The “awkward” social necessities characteristic of my interactions with others have now become the norm.