disability Archives

Accidentally Adaptive: Day After Dry Shampoo Brush

Post author:theheatherreportblog
Post published: September 27, 2022
Post category:Accidentally Adaptive beauty disability
Post comments:2 Comments

I have hair that gets very oily very quickly - but I also have a lot of very thick hair, so if I can get away with skipping a day or two of washing, it saves me a lot of time and effort. To do this, I absolutely have to use dry shampoo if I want my hair to look semi-decent on day two. This means that I have tried many, many different dry shampoos over the years, to varying degrees of success. But I have a new favorite to share today - the m'Chel Haircare Day After Brush.

SMA Pride Month: What Having SMA Has Taught Me

Post author:theheatherreportblog
Post published: August 30, 2022
Post category:disability
Post comments:0 Comments

Since this is my last post for SMA Pride Month, I wanted to end on a high note. I wrote a post last year about coming to the realization that I am defined by my disability, and how that's okay. I wouldn't be the person that I am today if I didn't have SMA - it's had an irrevocable impact on my life. So today, I thought I'd share what I learned from having SMA.

Accidentally Adaptive: Hilton Hotels Confirmed Connecting Rooms

Post author:theheatherreportblog
Post published: August 25, 2022
Post category:Accidentally Adaptive disability
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I know I've shared a lot of travel related posts recently - I think that this should be the last one for a while! But this is something that I was so excited to find out about myself, and am equally excited to share with all of you. For this post in my "Accidentally Adaptive" series, I'm sharing about Hilton hotel's confirmed connecting rooms.

SMA Pride Month: Being Your Own Expert and Advocate

Post author:theheatherreportblog
Post published: August 23, 2022
Post category:disability
Post comments:1 Comment

SMA is (officially) a rare disease - it affects about 1 in every 6,000 babies born around the world. That rare signifier means a lot of different things. Obviously, rare means rare in number - you may be the only person you know with your disease. Rare often also means that there aren't many (or any) treatments available for your disease. And for me, especially when I was younger, rare sometimes meant that even doctors didn't necessarily know much about SMA.

SMA Pride Month: What I Bring When I Travel

Post author:theheatherreportblog
Post published: August 16, 2022
Post category:disability lifestyle
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Since I just got back from a trip to Charleston a little over a week ago, travel is still high on my mind. And since we drove to Charleston, what's also on the top of my mind is everything that I have to bring when I travel. Looking at the sheer amount of things that we fit into our car looks like a game of Tetris where none of the rows ever disappear. So I thought that I'd share the many different things I have to take with me each time I travel, whether it's for a short weekend trip or a week long one.

SMA Pride Month: Knowing My Limits

Post author:theheatherreportblog
Post published: August 9, 2022
Post category:disability lifestyle
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I have been living with SMA for almost 34 years now, so I'm pretty familiar with it. I (typically, at least) know how I feel when I'm getting sick, I know what I need help with so I can shower, get ready, all that stuff, and I know to listen to my body and what it's telling me. Sometimes, though, I try to push past and ignore the signs - I want to do one more thing, or stay up just a little bit longer, or go out one more place - and I always end up regretting it.

SMA Pride Month: My Life with SMA

Post author:theheatherreportblog
Post published: August 2, 2022
Post category:disability
Post comments:0 Comments

July and Disability Pride Month might be over, but the disability-related content isn't over! August is SMA Pride Month (or SMA Awareness Month - you may see it both ways). Just like I did for Disability Pride Month, I'm going to write one post per week about something related to SMA. For this first week, I thought I'd start at the beginning, and share a little bit about what my own life with SMA has looked like over the years.

Disability Pride Month: Books

Post author:theheatherreportblog
Post published: July 26, 2022
Post category:disability lifestyle
Post comments:2 Comments

I'm so excited to write this post! It's something that I've wanted to write for a while, but honestly never quite got around to it - and then I realized that Disability Pride Month was the perfect time. Today I'm sharing books with disabled or chronically ill characters, or written by disabled or chronically ill authors (or both!). It's hard to put into words how important it is for disabled people to be represented in books - to feel seen in the things you're reading. And for non-disabled people, reading about disabled characters, or reading about disability, can help broaden your understanding. It's so important and honestly, something that's still really lacking.

Disability Pride Month: How to Talk to Kids About Disability

Post author:theheatherreportblog
Post published: July 19, 2022
Post category:disability lifestyle
Post comments:0 Comments

This has been a highly requested post! I get it - knowing the best way to talk to kids about disability is tough. I know that I don't have kids, but I've had so many interactions out in public with kids and their parents - some good, some not so great. So I'm going to share a few tips and the best things you can do to talk with kids about disabilities without making it awkward for anyone.

Disability Pride Month: Traveling While Disabled

Post author:theheatherreportblog
Post published: July 12, 2022
Post category:disability lifestyle
Post comments:2 Comments

Traveling with a disability, for me, is pretty complicated. This is not going to be an exhaustive post - there is just so much that goes into traveling that there's no way I can fit it all into one post. But I'm going to cover some of the basics, and add in details where I can. My hope is that for other disabled people, you either learn some tips and tricks or feel seen, and for non-disabled people, that you realize how inaccessible so much of travel can be, and give disabled travelers a little grace.