#diabetes advocacy

[crippledpunks]

i wanna say fuck you to anyone who shame disabled, chronically ill & neurodivergent people, especially homebound folks, for "spending too much time on their phone/on the internet/etc." when it's the only (Somewhat) accessible way for them to experience the world. many people don't get to get out much even if they want to because of their disabilities. shaming someone for trying to connect with the world, make friends and engage with hobbies in ways that are accessible to them is beyond cruel and unnecessary

[gofitnesspro]

Diabetes in Young Adults: Causes and Solutions

Addressing the rise of diabetes in young adults requires comprehensive strategies that promote healthy lifestyle choices, including regular physical activity, balanced nutrition, stress management, and increased awareness of diabetes risk factors. Additionally, early detection through regular screenings and improved access to healthcare can help identify and manage diabetes at an earlier stage,…

[hopegrasping]

It's important to think before you speak and Prioritize what Your Actual Problem Is!

If you spend all your time pointing at the "dope addict" (I'm rolling my eyes btw I love addicts with everything in me. I have family in recovery remember your "dope addict" is family, friends, neighbors everywhere. You are not better for not having their specific struggle. Don't dehumanize my loved ones.) screaming about what They get, you will not fix Your problem. People in power care about Money and Not You if you tell Those People you don't understand why narcan is free for addicts while your insulin costs A Lot, they aren't going to make your insulin free- they're going to take away the narcan to shut you the fuck up. Narcan is used for saving people from Overdosing. Do you want that to be taken away?

Think about the weight of that. Think about the process of dying of an overdose on whatever drug of choice you are concerned about. You're high and scared and suffering the whole way through and a lot of people who die this way die completely Alone. Do not complain about the life saving medicine they get for emergency, life threatening situations. Drug addiction isn't a pick yourself up by the bootstraps situation and picking yourself up by the bootstraps is a satirical statement coined by labor unions (edit: not coined by! It was actually coined in a physics textbook, but is now used by unions and general people alike to describe an impossible task-- all this to say, anyone who uses the term literally doesn't understand what they are saying. They are just saying a thing because they've heard it before and accepted its contextual meaning as reality.) because You Can't Pick Yourself Up By Your Bootstraps. Because the straps are on your boots. Back to my original point -- People suffering from addiction need this support and community this board is complaining about and painting as unfair. What we really want is equity. We want free narcan for the addicts so they don't Die Forever AND free Insulin so the folks who need insulin don't Die Forever. Not to exchange one for the other. Neither party should be left in the dust. Advocating for your rights by pointing out the rights of others and being mad about them Only hurts normal everyday people. Your actions and your words have power and they Can and Will be used against us in ways we never intended them to unless we are very thoughtful about the words we use, which is why it's important to be as clear and concise as possible with your demands. Know what Your problem is and talk about Your Problem.

Pay attention to what you're saying and make sure you are advocating for more, not for less.

[windysjourney]

Unraveling The Mysteries of Autoimmune Diseases

In the intricate tapestry of the human body, the immune system stands as a vigilant guardian, defending against invading pathogens and maintaining overall health. However, in some cases, this defender turns against its own host, giving rise to a category

In the intricate tapestry of the human body, the immune system stands as a vigilant guardian, defending against invading pathogens and maintaining overall health. However, in some cases, this defender turns against its own host, giving rise to a category of diseases known as autoimmune diseases. This blog post aims to unravel the complexities of autoimmune diseases, exploring their causes,…

[auschizm]

I see the "mental illnesses are caused by chemical differences in the brain which psychiatric medications can fix - just like how insulin treats diabetes" in a lot of mental health advocacy posts on this website, and I just want to state that this theory is not scientifically proven let alone factual. It has, for many decades, been a very useful narrative for selling and normalizing the use of psychiatric meds, and to add credibility to psychiatry as an institution of science. But despite many attempts, there isn't scientific documentation to back up that this is actually how mental illness works let alone how psychiatric meds treat mental illness. This is not to say that psychiatric meds can't and doesn't help anyone, but the "chemical imbalance" theory is a pop science myth - not actual scientific fact.

[crippledpunks]

chronic fatigue weaves its way into everything. people love to tell disabled people they'd love to rest as much as we do, but they fail to understand how tired we are while we rest. we are not relaxed, we are generally pretty miserable, either from pain, irritability, or fatigue- which bleeds into every aspect of your life. being too fatigued to get up off of the couch means that you're too fatigued to get to the cupboard to pull out pans to attempt to start cooking.

the steps hidden within steps that are required to do a lot of tasks related to being a "functioning adult" are daunting, there are often way too many steps necessary to make "Simple" foods or do "simple" chores for disabled people to accomplish these tasks. chronic fatigue often means that even waking up from a nap or night's rest requires time to adjust to and power through

waking up is a process for me. im often no more alert and awake hours after i've woken than I am right after doing so. caffeine does not help fatigue- at least not at safe doses, for me, anyways. many days the act of moving from my bedroom to my living room is too much. taking dishes to the sink can be too exhausting. i have began falling asleep in front of the kitchen counter while standing because i realize the amount of steps required to clean the counters, or do the dishes, or prepare a meal that all of my energy instantly bleeds away

it's okay if you feel this way too. i have been dealing with chronic fatigue my entire life and it cost me my best paying job. i lost my ability to work because of it. it's not just you being "sleepy", you are genuinely too exhausted to function. you do NOT have the energy levels other people do, and that's okay. it's okay to let yourself be tired sometimes and address that instead of trying to pretend you're not tired.

i wish you good luck. you are loved

[blackpearlblast]

Night 2: Nisreen Shaheen's Family

Nisreen Shaheen is trying to get her family to safety. They have lost their homes and been displaced multiple times, according to the last update on their GoFundMe page they had been sheltering at the St. Porphyrius church with 400 other people. Her grandmother has diabetes and osteoporosis, and is struggling to keep up with her medications due to the scarcity. They had hoped to be able to safely reach the Rafah border crossing to try to evacuate to Egypt, but with the border having been closed in the months since this original plan was made, this fundraiser is likely the only thing allowing them to pay for food and medicine to stay alive. Nisreen Shaheen and her family deserve to be reunited and we can, in some small way, help work towards making that possible.

This campaign was shared by the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network. This post is part of a series of posts where I highlight one campaign for each night of Hanukkah and you can view the rest here. I will be donating 20 USD to Nisreen Shaheen's campaign. I encourage you to give what you can, even if that's only the minimum donation value or just a reblog! Small acts of kindness and hope have the potential to do far more than we know, so long as we have the courage to give them a try.

[acti-veg]

hi, do you know of any charities which help people with diabetes which don't conduct animal testing please? thank you

Hey anon. This is a bit tricky without knowing where you are, as most of these organisations are national. I can give you some general advice, though!

With health charities, you’re better off looking for groups that are engaged in support functions rather than research. Look for those who are focused on patient advocacy and education, in particular. If they’re engaged in research then they’re probably testing on animals, unfortunately, though there are some exceptions, like Animal Free Research here in the UK.

[my-specials-interests]

30 Facts about Autism

Autism spectrum disorder affects 1 in 36 children.

Boys are nearly 5 times more likely than girls to be diagnosed with ASD.  Girls are often underdiagnosed with autism and misdiagnosed with other conditions.

Autism spectrum disorder is one of the fastest-growing developmental disorders in the United States. ASD is more common than childhood cancer, diabetes, and AIDS combined.

Autism spectrum disorder affects all nationalities, all creeds, all religions, all races and both sexes. It doesn’t differentiate or affect only one group.

Self-Advocacy is an important skill that is especially important for autistic individuals. In order to be a great self-advocate, people first must know what their strengths are as well as what accommodations serve them the best. With that knowledge, they can be their own best advocate with family, school, or community.

Autism spectrum disorder is a developmental disability that often presents with challenges before the age of 3 and lasts throughout a person’s lifetime. 

Early identification, treatment, and support matters! Many important outcomes for children's lives are significantly improved with early diagnosis and treatment.

Early behavior-based interventions have positive effects on some children with autism spectrum disorder and less note-worthy effects on other children. Early services need to be based on individual children's needs and learning styles. Services for adults with ASD must be carefully individualized.

There is currently no medical detection blood test or cure for autism spectrum disorder.

Parents do not and cannot cause autism spectrum disorder. Although the multiple causes of ASD are not known, it is known that parental behavior before, during, and after pregnancy does not cause ASD.

Many individuals with autism spectrum disorder have difficulties with communication. For some people this can look like significant challenges with spoken language and for others it can look like challenges with social communication.

Autism spectrum disorder is not a disorder that gets worse with age. Individuals with ASD can learn and build new skills with the right support, and are most likely to improve with specialized, individualized services and opportunities for supported inclusion.

Being nonverbal at age 4 does not mean that a child with autism will never speak. Research shows that most will learn to use words and nearly half will learn to speak fluently.

Children and adults with autism spectrum disorder often care deeply but struggle to spontaneously develop empathic and socially connected typical behavior. Individuals with ASD often want to interact socially but lack the ability to spontaneously develop effective social interaction skills.

Supporting an individual with autism spectrum disorder costs a family $60,000 a year on average. The cost of lifelong care can be reduced by 2/3 with early diagnosis and intervention. According to a recent study, the lifetime costs of autism average $1.4 million to $2.4 million.

Co-occurring medical conditions in autism spectrum disorder are common and may include allergies, asthma, epilepsy, digestive disorders, feeding disorders, sleep disorders, sensory integration dysfunction, cognitive impairments, and other medical disorders.

Children and teens with autism often have lower bone density than their peers.

Up to a third of people with autism spectrum disorder also develop seizure disorders—the rate of seizures in people with ASD is 10 times higher than in the general population.

About 10% of people with autism spectrum disorder also have another genetic, neurological, or metabolic disorder.

Each person with autism spectrum disorder is a unique individual; people with ASD differ as much from one another as do all people. Children and adults with ASD may speak or interact with others. They may have good eye contact. They may be verbal or non-verbal. They may be very bright, of average intelligence or have cognitive deficits.

Hyperlexia, the ability to read above one’s age or grade level in school, commonly accompanies autism spectrum disorder.

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder may be very creative and find a passion and talent for music, theater, art, dance, and singing quite easily.

Children with autism are 160 times more likely to drown than typical children. Therefore, it is very important to teach them to swim and to keep an eye on children around water.

Researchers and clinicians hypothesize that symptoms of autism spectrum disorder in males and females may differ, leading many females to be diagnosed later than males. Females with autism spectrum disorder are often an understudied group in research.

Gender differences in symptoms have been found within the areas of social understanding, social communication, and social imagination.

About 50,000 individuals with autism spectrum disorder will exit high school each year in the United States. Many services required by law end abruptly after high school, leaving young adults under-supported.

35% of adults with autism spectrum disorder have not had a job or received postgraduate education after leaving high school.

Employers are recognizing that creating a neurodiverse workforce is fundamental for success. Companies that recruit, retain, and nurture neurodivergent employees gain a competitive advantage in the areas of productivity, innovation, culture, and talent retention, to name a few.

There is no federal requirement for providing supportive services to people with autism in adulthood. This leaves many families navigating these types of services on their own.

Many people with autism spectrum disorder are successfully living and working and contributing to the well-being of others in their local communities. This is most likely to happen when appropriate services are delivered during the child's educational years.

source : https://www.massgeneral.org/children/autism/lurie-center/30-facts-to-know-about-autism-spectrum-disorder

[sclfmastery]

im sorry if this is a bother but because i know you're also disabled and are/were involved in academia i wanted to ask something.

im a student in senior year (18) and im chronically ill. in the first quarter my school basically allowed me to do "weighted work" because i got super sick and was incredibly behind and it was the only way for me to catch up.

in the second quarter i did good and got straight As. but now the third quarter is closing and im thinking of asking for a medical exemption.

obviously no pressure to answer but if you had a student who basically got off easy in the first quarter and then is now looking for a medical exemption for the third would you think they were lazy?

i swear im actually smart. like i have a 4.0 GPA. its just that this year my health got really bad.

sorry to ask and have a nice day!! may it be *lightning strike sound effect* masterful

First things first: You are NOT lazy, and I would never think so. Any faculty, school counselor, or student resources coordinator who is good at their job would recognize this. Unfortunately, your fear of being perceived as something you are not (something that may, in fact, not exist in the first place) is based in being surrounded by abled (and ableist) systems, and societies. You can still navigate them, even though it is and will be frustrating.

I want to tell you something about myself: I have one major regret in life, and that is that I cared more about being perceived as a hard worker and "good kid" than I cared about RESTING. I got a 4.0 every semester of undergrad and graduate school, too. I took only ONE medical leave of absence in 12 years of higher ed schooling. I put my Type 1 diabetes on the back burner and let my A1c run way too high, so I could make all those meetings and writing deadlines, conferences and committees. And today my kidneys are three percentile points away from totally failing. I'm only 41 years old and soon I will be going on dialysis (temporarily, while I find a kidney donor, but that whole process won't be fun).

I don't blame myself, or think I'm "bad" for my choices, but I wish I'd had different priorities. I am proud of what I achieved academically and of the relationship I have with my students--but I didn't need to forsake self-care, physical and mental, to the extent that I did, in order to get where I now am.

Take the medical exemption. You are worth it. <3. High school senior year will be there when you're feeling better. College will be there when you're feeling better. And if it's a matter of turning down a scholarship to a specific university, you can speak to the campus disability resources coordinator about your situation. Big hugs from me. I am proud of you for seeking answers. It's the first step to self-advocacy.

If you need any more specific advice about the process, I can provide the perspective of an American educator, and I can try and ask friends from other parts of the world about the process if you're not also in the States.

Hang in there. You are ALSO.... * * * MASTERFUL * * * lol <3

[windysjourney]

Unraveling The Mysteries of Autoimmune Diseases

In the intricate tapestry of the human body, the immune system stands as a vigilant guardian, defending against invading pathogens and maintaining overall health. However, in some cases, this defender turns against its own host, giving rise to a category

In the intricate tapestry of the human body, the immune system stands as a vigilant guardian, defending against invading pathogens and maintaining overall health. However, in some cases, this defender turns against its own host, giving rise to a category of diseases known as autoimmune diseases. This blog post aims to unravel the complexities of autoimmune diseases, exploring their causes,…

[globalnewscollective]

Your Health, Your Life: What Happens When the Government Hides Critical Medical Data?

Imagine going to a doctor, only to find out they can’t properly diagnose or treat you because the government has erased vital health data. This isn’t a plot from a dystopian novel—it’s happening right now under the Trump administration.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has quietly removed crucial health statistics from its public database, making it harder to track issues like obesity, suicide rates, and other critical public health crises. These removals aren’t just bureaucratic decisions; they are calculated moves to suppress inconvenient truths that don’t align with the administration’s narrative.

What Data Is Being Erased?

Obesity Statistics: The U.S. has an obesity crisis, with millions at risk of diabetes, heart disease, and other severe conditions. Removing obesity data makes it harder to allocate resources to fight this epidemic.

Suicide Rates: Suicide is one of the leading causes of death in the U.S., especially among young people and veterans. Eliminating this data hinders suicide prevention efforts and mental health advocacy.

Gun Violence and Public Safety Data: Many CDC studies on gun deaths and injuries have vanished, making it harder to understand and combat firearm-related deaths.

Reproductive Health and Maternal Mortality Rates: Women’s health data, particularly concerning pregnancy-related deaths, is disappearing, erasing evidence of the crisis facing mothers in America.

Medical Treatment Guidelines: The CDC has also deleted treatment guidelines for doctors, including protocols for treating sexually transmitted infections (STIs) like syphilis and chlamydia. This means that doctors may lack up-to-date recommendations, leading to misdiagnoses and inadequate care.

Why This Matters to You

Health data is not just numbers on a spreadsheet; it determines funding, policy decisions, and life-saving medical research. Without accurate statistics:

Doctors and researchers can’t properly study health trends, leading to misdiagnoses and inadequate treatments.

Lawmakers won’t have the information needed to craft policies that protect public health.

You and your loved ones may not receive critical services because the crisis isn’t being documented.

Journalists and advocates lose a key tool to hold the government accountable for public health failures.

The Bigger Picture

This is not an isolated incident. The Trump administration has systematically erased or altered data across multiple federal agencies, from climate change research to economic inequality reports. The goal? To control the narrative and eliminate evidence of policy failures. If there’s no data proving a problem exists, the administration can pretend it doesn’t.

By removing statistics on obesity, suicide, and other health crises, the government is not solving these problems—it’s hiding them. And when problems are hidden, they grow worse.

What Can You Do?

Demand transparency: Call your representatives and insist that public health data be reinstated.

Support independent research: Organizations like the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Guttmacher Institute work to provide accurate health data despite government censorship.

Speak out: Share this information on social media and educate others about how data erasure affects everyone.

Vote for leaders who prioritize science, public health, and government transparency.

We can’t afford to let critical health data disappear. The consequences could be deadly.

[bonefall]

I will say that as much as i adore mom!briarlight, it would be all but impossible for her to give birth to kittens on her own without without human intervention. I did a lot of research about paralyzed cats and pregnancy recently, and was only able to find examples where the cats underwent a c-section to deliver the kittens. Without being able to use her hind legs, it seems like it would be very difficult for her to give birth

I went and checked myself and I need more data, I found a decent but brief paper on it which uses one cat as a case study, but it doesn't specify at which vertebrae the spinal chord was severed which is SUPER important to compare with the human data I have

The paper: Özdemir Salci ES, Güner B, İpek V: Dystocia caused by spinal paraplegia in a cat with superfetation. Kafkas Univ Vet Fak Derg, 26 (6): 839-840, 2020. DOI: 10.9775/kvfd.2020.24689 (WARNING: CONTAINS PHOTOGRAPHS OF EXTRACTED FETUSES AND ORGANS. MEDICAL PAPER.)

If you can get me your sources I can give us both better data-- but the paper itself says that the reason the 4-year-old cat had issues giving birth was related to the nervous system itself plus loss of control over abdominal muscles, not necessarily leg positioning, which sounds a lot like an injury higher up in the spinal chord which makes me curious

(Injuries around T-10, the second-to-last of your thoracic vertebrae, is generally where humans lose sensation of childbirth. Aside from needing to be monitored for blood pressure issues it is possible for a person of nearly any spinal chord injury to give birth naturally)

(Also an article on pregnancy and delivery with a spinal chord injury for humans. Obvious TW for birth here. Also unfortunately the language is not very inclusive)

Though that said, I wonder how much of this would change even with just the one paper I have + sapient cats. Medicine for them is entirely cat-based and they make do with what they have, as opposed to humans where obviously the safest and easiest option is a cesarean.

Additionally, and I guess most importantly, it wouldn't be the first time I completely ignored cat anatomy because it was incompatible with human disability representation needs.

For example I exclusively reference Human Diabetes, NOT Feline Diabetes. This is because feline diabetes does progress from Type 1 to Type 2, and both types are treated with insulin injections. I was personally asked by a disability advocacy blog to not portray it Cat-Accurately, because Diabetic type progression does not happen in humans AND is a common misconception.

Plus several folks in my audience have basically asked me to make a version of metformin (oral supplement) to better represent their Type 2, which wouldn't happen if I was only referencing feline diabetes. (I caved guys it's going to be derived from Goat's Rue <3)

In the end we are humans, and I do extra fun fixes to Clan Culture based on cat accuracy (like making the kitties obligate carnivores and crepuscular!), but I am ultimately writing this for me and all the other queer disabled goofballs in the audience.

(and give advice based on that, in this situation, since they came and asked me personally y'know?)

[shamandrummer]

Indigenous Activist Leonard Peltier Granted Clemency

On January 20, 2025, in one of his final acts as President, Joe Biden commuted the life sentence of Indigenous activist Leonard Peltier, who is now 80 and of declining health, allowing him to serve the remainder of his term under home confinement. This decision concludes nearly five decades of imprisonment for Peltier, who was convicted in 1977 for the 1975 murders of two FBI agents during a confrontation on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.

The action is an extraordinary move that ends a decades-long push by Indigenous activists, international religious leaders, human rights organizations and Hollywood insiders who argued that the Native American activist was wrongly convicted. The National Congress of American Indians celebrated the "historic" decision in a statement saying the case "has long symbolized the systemic injustices faced by Indigenous Peoples."

Background on Leonard Peltier

Leonard Peltier, born on September 12, 1944, in Belcourt, North Dakota, is a member of the Turtle Mountain Chippewa tribe. He became an active member of the American Indian Movement (AIM), an organization established in the late 1960s to advocate for the rights of Native Americans and address systemic issues such as poverty, discrimination, and police brutality. The mid-1970s were a tumultuous period for Indigenous activists, particularly on the Pine Ridge Reservation, which was marked by violent confrontations between AIM members and federal authorities.

The 1975 Incident and Conviction

On June 26, 1975, a shootout occurred on the Pine Ridge Reservation, resulting in the deaths of FBI agents Jack Coler and Ronald Williams. Peltier was implicated in their deaths and subsequently fled to Canada. He was extradited to the United States in 1976 and convicted in 1977 on two counts of first-degree murder, receiving two consecutive life sentences. Peltier has consistently maintained his innocence, asserting that he did not kill the agents. Over the years, questions have arisen regarding the fairness of his trial, including allegations of withheld evidence and coerced testimonies.

Advocacy for Clemency

Throughout Peltier's incarceration, a diverse coalition of supporters--including Indigenous groups, human rights organizations, and notable figures such as Nelson Mandela, Pope Francis, and the Dalai Lama--advocated for his release. They highlighted concerns about the integrity of his trial and his declining health, which includes diabetes and heart issues. Despite multiple clemency petitions, previous administrations, including those of Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, denied his requests.

President Biden's Decision

President Biden's commutation permits Peltier to transition to home confinement, a move celebrated by many as a step toward justice and reconciliation. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and Cherokee Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. lauded the decision, viewing it as an acknowledgment of historical injustices faced by Indigenous communities. Peltier expressed profound gratitude, stating, "This is as good as freedom."

Opposition and Controversy

Despite widespread support for Peltier's release, the commutation faced criticism from law enforcement agencies. FBI Director Christopher Wray and the FBI Agents Association condemned the decision, describing it as a "cowardly act" and a "cruel betrayal" to the families of the slain agents. They maintain that Peltier's conviction was just and that he should serve his full sentence.

Implications for Indigenous Rights and Justice

Peltier's release is seen by many as a significant victory for Indigenous rights and a testament to the enduring efforts of activists who have long championed his cause. It underscores the broader issues of systemic injustice and the need for reconciliation between the U.S. government and Native American communities. As Peltier returns home, his story serves as a poignant reminder of the ongoing struggles faced by Indigenous peoples and the importance of addressing historical grievances to foster healing and understanding.

In the words of Leonard Peltier himself: "No human being should ever have to fear for his own life because of political or religious beliefs. We are all in this together my friends: the rich, the poor, the red, white, black, brown and yellow. We share responsibility for Mother Earth and those who live and breathe upon her…never forget that."

[crippledpunks]

i love you so much if you are diabetic, or pre-diabetic. our society treats diabetes so poorly. it's such a readily mocked condition, people often times resort to blaming the individual for having it, even going so far as to pass judgment on the diabetic's character, regardless of what type of diabetes they have.

diabetics are wonderful and deserve to love themselves regardless of whether or not they 'gave' themselves their diabetes. whether or not the person is "unhealthy" whether or not the person eats "right" or knows how to eat in ways that are safer for their body doesn't matter, they still deserve love, respect, and compassion.

diabetes is not a fucking judge of character. diabetics deserve better. diabetics deserve respect. diabetics deserve to be recognized as disabled. diabetics deserve kindness, love, care, compassion, and support. no matter what.

[n0ts0phism]

I'm gonna go ahead and copy the post's text here, just so my story doesn't have to be completely offloaded to another website. You can read it after the break.

An apology is in order. My work on this blog slowed to a crawl recently. I couldn’t muster up the energy to commit to writing routinely. It’s not that I didn’t want to, don’t get me wrong; I still have lots I want to say. My resistance to posting anything right away is because I don’t want to talk about exclusively negative topics.

But there’s one inescapable fact that has influenced my decision-making throughout Summer and Fall:

The job hunt where I live is demoralizing, yet despite that, I’ve been hyper-focused on it.

My mind is at odds with itself. If I’m investing too much time in a job hunt, it begs for me to stop. But it simultaneously urges me to keep going—because it feels like it doesn’t deserve to stop fretting about my employment prospects until I’ve applied to something. There have been multiple times when I’ve applied to a position that I knew I’d dislike or be a poor fit for. Whether it be due to my lack of experience, the complications of my disabilities, or having to account for my demented father when it comes to commuting—or doing anything outside of the house, for that matter—my job choices are limited. I’m trapped, others like me are just as trapped, and society only pretends to care about us.

I do at least have some advocates helping me through the job search and disability advocacy. And thanks to my father’s SSDI, meager as it is, I’m more financially stable than I would be living alone. But unfortunately, that job-hunting-first mindset has only recently decided to budge. So much time was lost on anxiety over employment, time that could’ve been spent on personal development in my hobbies. Or, more relevantly, that time could’ve been spent updating this blog, screaming into the void, and hoping someone would shout back.

There’s more to my outlook on this period of my life than the job hunt itself. While I’ve held down paid positions before, they collectively only lasted a little under a year. Both were retail associate roles, and both ended with me exiting on bad terms with my employers. For privacy reasons, I won’t give out the company names, but I don’t care if my former workmates find this. The writing from this point will be fairly rough and ramble-filled.

JOB #1

I was quite excited to start out working for this company. The staff seemed welcoming enough, to the extent that they wanted to get down to business and not fool around. It was all for the better, too; this was an office supply retailer that hired me just in time for the back-to-school season, and customers would be flooding in to prep their kids for the year ahead. It was nice growing accustomed to how things worked in this place; the training modules were decently thorough.

… But things started going downhill the second an abusive coworker made her opinion of me known on the same day. Going forward, I’ll refer to her as Kay. When we met, she not only didn’t greet me, but the very first thing out of her mouth when she decided to talk to me was “Do you not have work to do?”

I was on my lunch break. Because how dare I stop to take care of myself when my diabetes requires somewhat strict mealtimes?

Since then, Kay remained openly hostile and condescending towards me, rudely ordering me to get out of her way and dressing me down for even the slightest mistakes. Mind you, she was a fellow sales associate with no official power over me. It’d still be unforgivable if she were a manager, but her humbler role just makes her treatment of me worse.

Even so, Kay did have some seniority over me. She’d done good logistical work for the store over the years, and she was in the good graces of nearly every manager. At the very least, I wasn’t the only one who recognized how problematic this person was. But the store manager was too spineless—or rather, too willing to turn a blind eye—to discipline Kay whenever our coworkers voiced their concerns.

After the back-to-school season ended, business dropped off a cliff. There would be extremely long periods of nothing to do for me between customers, often as long as thirty minutes to an hour—which was frequently 25% of my shift for the day. The training modules did not prepare me for unstructured time, so, unless I was given furniture or a display to assemble… I spent a lot of the latter half of my six months in this store standing around and watching for oncoming customers.

Don’t get me wrong. I certainly tried to do more with my time, but I got conflicting information from my managers. Some of them wanted me to man the registers constantly and let other people complete other tasks, while others wanted me to venture out and do something other than wait, even if that meant leaving the registers unattended.

While this was happening, I’d stuck up for myself against Kay’s verbal abuse a handful of times. The first time, I politely but firmly told her to stop treating me like an idiot, after she began dressing me down for confusing one customer’s order for another. She backed off after that; I could tell she wasn’t used to retaliation in this setting.

Kay’s shock continued when, after once again ordering me to get out of her way, I snapped back at her—within reason--to cut it out. I seemed to be disappointing everyone at that point, between the managers and their poorly expressed and unfulfilled expectations, and now, this power-tripping bully once again displacing her frustrations with life on me. I had enough.

Of course, when word got around about what happened, I was reprimanded for my response. Never mind the fact that the head manager, Jay, said to my face that she knew this coworker was abusive due to past incidents, but did nothing to address it. From that point forward, all the managers grew increasingly passive-aggressive with me, especially one who also began displacing her frustrations about unruly customers onto me. I assume they and the others took Kay’s side because it’s easier to blame the new guy with the disability.

This isn’t just me playing a victim card here, or assuming the worst out of frustrated retail workers. I know definitively that they hated dealing with me and my diabetes. The nicest coworker I met there, Pim, was a retired nurse, and she relayed to me that Kay once vented to her about me and my diabetes. Considering everything else I’d heard about Kay by this point, I was deeply inclined to believe Pim, and still am; she had no reason to lie about this, and it lined up with Kay’s contempt for me too well. The managers were likely eating up every bad thing she was saying about me, like a pack of starved wolves.

There had even been times when my head manager snarkily asked about why I was taking my lunch break so early, despite the fact I had established my diabetes-related strict eating habits as early as the first week of the job. In fact, in times when I was manning the registers with nothing else to do, that manager asked me—and specifically me, no one else; I checked—to stand by the entrance and greet people. Another manager was confused about what I was doing one day, and when I explained, he seemed to have more questions than answers…

As you can imagine, midway through my final month in this job, I worked hard to find a new job and get the hell out of there. I managed to cut down my two-week notice to one week after finding something, and I left without saying goodbye to anyone except Pim—the one coworker who gave a crap about me and my struggles.

All this time, I felt I was losing my passion for illustration again. But as the first day of the new job and the last one of this current role both drew near, I started to realize my confidence was being pushed down by people who were bankrupt in good character. The best I had managed to do on the side were doodles of trees… So it was rather appropriate, then, that I managed to digitally paint on as my first finished piece done in the Krita program.

The victory was fairly short-lived, however, as complications with the second job began to arise shortly after its completion. But I still appreciate what it stands for: my growth in opposition to a world that wants me to kneel.

JOB #2

My second job was another retail position just down the street, this time specializing in home décor and gifts. It started as a temporary job for the holiday season, and I took to it like a fish to water. Business was constant, the register system was identical to the one in the first job. Sure, it was the exact work as before, but I liked it enough to transform it into a year-round position. The whole reason I did was because my coworkers seemed a lot more understanding about what I was going through.

Emphasis on “seemed,” at least when it came to the head manager.

Mills was a gossipy sort. Even during the interview, she asked me to elucidate on my negative experiences in the first job, and I, desperate to escape and find solidarity with someone, opened myself up all too willingly.  She was probably genuinely concerned at the time, but it’s also a product of her two-facedness. Based on her regard for her customers, this was someone all too willing to viciously deride someone behind their backs while putting on an insincere smile whenever they were in the vicinity.

She even expressed how prideful she was in the gossipy culture she cultivated for the store, something that was maintained by the encouragement for managers and fellow associates alike to text each other. I ended up being too open about myself, simply because Mills and some of the others were overly open about themselves. This set a bad precedent for me even long after this job ended. It probably had something to do with my autism, but I assumed this sort of honesty about job troubles would fly in every interview. Thankfully, I caught on to how wrong that was after only one.

A few months into the job, Mills requested I stop pulling out my insulin pump when attending the registers. From what I remember, she feared corporate would assume I was pulling out my phone in plain view of the customers. I complied, simply because I assumed she had my best interests in mind…. But knowing what I do know, this was probably the biggest red flag of the two before the actual fallout. Intended or not, this was flat-out discrimination. If I need to deliver insulin through my pump, it is infinitely more practical to deliver it on the spot.

I shouldn’t have to cater to a corporation’s inability to tell the difference when I’m only trying to take care of myself. Besides, if my blood sugar is out of range, that can often leave my motor skills impacted. Having to retreat to the back of the store to administer treatment in private meant I’d be liable to trip on something. This wasn’t a corporation that knew how to apply basic logic; they just wanted to protect their fragile sensibilities by refusing to acknowledge a person’s diabetes—which would be manageable if I was given the grace to do so.

Unfortunately, I was not given that grace. In March of this year, I had three blood sugar episodes across a time span of two weeks.

The first one was a persistent case of hyperglycemia—high blood sugar—caused by two failed infusion sets. Eventually, I requested I go home; the issue hadn’t been corrected by the time I arrived at work, and I’d spent an hour and a half sitting in agony in the break room as I struggled to recover. This was entirely fair, but it colored my coworkers’ outlook on me going forward, especially in the subsequent incidents.

The last two were cases of hypoglycemia—low blood sugar. This time, Mills pressured me into returning home because of a perceived attitude problem. I was visibly tired and sad because I was running out of energy, but I didn’t figure that out until after she made her decision. I didn’t feel like I was able to argue, so I once again complied.

The final incident saw me catch the low blood sugar this time… which meant having to take a second break to eat more food to make things right. Though she tried her best to hide it, Mills remained visibly and audibly incensed about this, questioning why I can’t just eat like everyone else, callously suggesting I upend my mealtime routine so I can make do with only one meal break alone. I tried explaining that it wasn’t feasible without serious consequences to my health, and while she seemed to accept my explanation, she seemed to remain unsatisfied.

I was correct. By the time I got home, my blood sugar was back in range, so I decided to apologize for what happened to Mills over text. The following is the paraphrased conversation:

Me: I'm sorry about the additional break I took tonight. Sadly, no matter how good my control is with my blood sugar, I'm going to end up burning through whatever food I’ve eaten, as doing work like that uses up a lot of energy. I was on my phone back there looking at potential food that could help with this. I'm going to try some of it out next time I have a longer shift like this. Mills: As I stated, it's my job to make sure that we comply with each other. You communicated to me clearly what you needed, and I, in turn, communicated the company’s break policy. It’s not more complicated than that. I need to communicate company policy. I do have worries. I might need to see if you may need some accommodation. Let's see where it goes from here. You might just not be able to do the job, and I'm waiting to see if we can work out some things. You must be able to hold your own... and I'm just not seeing it at this stage. We’ll discuss this when I’m next available.

It was probably a mistake speaking about this blood sugar issue in absolutes, but it’s true. When I’m low, I need food to keep it higher. And as for the response I got, I feel there’s an attempt to stay professional and understanding, but some of that frustration bled through, clear as day. And it’s even more insulting to read now after approaching M about this issue in person. She acted like the conversation didn’t even happen until I elaborated. It’s like dressing me down over text was the most unremarkable part of her day.

She had a litany of issues with me that went entirely unexpressed until that afternoon. I don’t want to toot my own horn and say I was a saint, as a handful of them were legitimate complaints. No one’s perfect, and there’s always room to improve. The only reason I know the rest were discriminatory was because I also asked for them in writing. Establishing a paper trail is useful in situations like these… And sure enough, most of the complaints traced back to my diabetes, just worded in such a way to avoid implicating it as the issue. And when I asked Mills about whether the diabetes was to blame, she instead fingered my autism.

No one aside from Mills was passive-aggressive with me during my last days in the store, but I no longer felt welcome. And by early April, I exited and didn’t look back for a second… And that unfortunately brings me to where I am today.

I’ve struggled to find a job ever since. Life with my father has grown harder, as his mental health has seen some sharp declines. I feel demoralized, resentful, and more than frustrated. It’s not all been doom and gloom, however. I managed to get an official diagnosis of my autism, and I’ve built quite a rapport with some friends of mine, both my one in-person friend and his family and a few online ones through Discord.

And, well… Like my grief with Tiger, I did manage to complete one art piece to embody how horrible those ten months were. The bullying, the rejection, and the anxiety of not being able to push forward…. It put me right back where I was in 2022, facing an imaginary monster in an epic fight to the death, a monster that restricted and taunted me for feeling I wasn’t good enough. A monster I tried drawing again right after the tree painting in 2023, but I couldn’t finish this other piece in time for the new year.

But, shortly before my 26th birthday, I found it in me to not only complete the piece but take some significant risks in doing so. I may be struggling now, but I can rest easy with this victory:

But for now…. I must keep going.