I’m guessing you read the title and thought, “People have actually gotten angry with you for being disabled?” The short answer is, yes. It doesn’t happen often, as most people have been incredibly kind and willing to help if the need arises. For the few people who have gotten inexplicably…

16 years ago, my entire life changed in an instant — No, this isn’t the story about the worst thing that’s ever happened to me. Don’t get me wrong, it was a singularly miserable experience filled with pain and tears, frustration and depression. But if you’re looking for “sorrow porn,” look elsewhere. If you read the title and thought, “That sounds…

Sometimes, being in a wheelchair is funny. Not the actual being disabled part, though that presents its own set of hilarious circumstances which make people uncomfortable and a little squeamish when I describe them. Many people err on the side of caution when they interact with me for the first…

One of the most frustrating aspects of being in a wheelchair is people constantly asking me if I need help. The difficulty of the task I’m working to accomplish is irrelevant. If I’m doing anything in public, invariably someone will ask me if I need help with it. It’s frustrating…

All of us, I’d wager, have had to use a public restroom at some point in our lives. I would also wager it’s by no means anyone’s preferred place to answer nature’s call. …

How sad is it that mass shootings are commonplace in our country? How sad is it that there are people who will blame everything but guns for why we have so much gun violence. Even sadder is that we’ve collectively begun to grow desensitized to the damage and death wrought…

If you’re like me, you grew up watching re-runs of The Jetsons. One of the aspects of the show that most appealed to six-year-old me was the automated utopian version of the future. …

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve noticed more and more when I venture away from home, my primary goal, regardless of what I set out to do that day, is not to be bothered. Particularly when I’m out running errands. No one enjoys running errands. Whether it’s going grocery shopping, dropping…

Language is a curious thing. It can be beautiful one moment, and hideous the next. It can be expressive and subtle in the same sentence. It is ever-evolving with new words and phrases constantly being entered into the common lexicon, while the old and outdated are quietly laid to rest. …