Far too many books about borderline personality disorder needlessly stigmatize people with BPD, calling them “borderlines” and focusing only on the experiences of family members. (Don’t get me wrong, family members do need support and validation, but individuals with the illness need it just as much if not more.) Continue reading
stigma
Xenophobia: An Act of “Othering”
The term xenophobia is traditionally used to describe fear of literal foreigners from distant countries. I think it can reasonably describe any process by which a person or group of people are perceived as “the other.” Continue reading
The Importance of Validation for Abuse Survivors
The need for validation is an utterly human one. We both desire and deserve to be heard — and this goes doubly so for those of us on the margins. Continue reading
How We Respond to Hidden Disabilities Makes a Huge Difference
Hidden disabilities include any which, as their name suggests, aren’t readily apparent. Chronic fatigue, depression, anxiety, epilepsy — all fall under this category and affect millions of people on a daily basis. Continue reading
Combating the Heartbreak of Erasure
Part of my commitment to courage in writing fiction is my desire to give voice to the marginalized: people with mental illness, people of minority sexualities, people who are neurodivergent. Almost all my characters, even those more superficially on the “inside” of society, find themselves in situations where they feel cast adrift, either geographical or emotional outsiders. Many are expats. Most cling to an equilibrium that’s fragile at best. Continue reading
How the Social Model of Disability Revolutionized My Life
For most of my life, I looked at my disabilities through the lens of a medical model: there was something broken about me, and I just had to suck it up and deal with it. But as I got older and the bravado of my youth faded, I began to feel more vulnerable, more disenfranchised, and — yes — angry. Continue reading
An Open Letter to Writing Bloggers
An Open Letter to Writing Bloggers:
Listen, I don’t want to start some inane blog war. I debated long and hard whether or not I should approach people directly, write about the problem here, or even write about it publicly at all. But as an author who also has lived experience of mental illness, I feel it’s my duty to address this misguided and often callous “advice” that I’ve seen on multiple blogs. Continue reading
How To Avoid Using Ableist Language
To kick off the A-to-Z Blogging Challenge, I’d like to talk about the important subject and task of avoiding ableist language.
Writer Parker Marie Molloy defines ableist language as “any word or phrase that intentionally or inadvertently targets an individual with a disability” in a pejorative way. Continue reading
