Making invisible illnesses less invisible
As all the candidates, I am disabled. At 19, I have racked up 11 different diagnoses, and I don’t know if that’s impressive or not, but It gives me experience in different areas, mental and physical. At 15 I was diagnosed autistic, and obviously, had to learn to navigate that alongside school, when already having fibromyalgia, bent spine and hypermobility. This was a pain, literally and metaphorically, as my school had no support, so tried to expel me. However, having gone through this young, I have developed skills to cope. And know what needs to be put in place to support me.
Though, needs change with each person and that’s something to get across. To make individual little changes that make big differences to us
• Explore if making food cheaper for us is possible, to keep strength up.
• Communicate to students issues, especially invisible illnesses, through table activities/magazines, including spoon theory for example.
• I have already helped in course board meetings, making the online system clearer on displaying disabilities, so lecturers know, but It still needs work.
When I started this, I didn’t know how to approach it, as autism makes me question words. But I knew my goal was to show that I’m one of you – I know what it’s like to deal with disability, invisible or not and I respect every one of you that have had the courage to continue studying instead of give up. Together, it’s easier