I Am Gem

don't fuckin touch me yo

[h1234567890-deactivated]

[leaf-beard-deactivated20200913]

[vogista-deactivated20190302]

[gefuhl-des-zweifels]

🖤

[exhaustedscreen-deactivated2019]

‘The grave of the Russian composer Alfred Schnittke in Novodevichye Cemetery in Moscow is surmounted by a stone on which is engraved a rest beneath a fermata with a triple forte noted at the bottom: A very, very loud extended silence.’

- John Biguenet, Silence (London: Bloomsbury, 2015), p.49.

[ectotechbiologist]

Actually, the fermata is held “as long as the performer or conductor desires.” Which is, in a way, better and worse.

[denisesoyletras]

[theinturnetexplorer]

RIP Beautiful Prince.

[talknerdytome33]

canadians smh

[hazhasmycoffee]

this was a journey from the beginning

[tuhgootoo-gone-deactivated20191]

im going to lose my fucking shit over this tweet nothing will ever live up to this

[spoonhacks]

Ergonomics for Spoonies

Ergonomics is a broad subject, but the definition that’s relevant here is this: ergonomics - the applied science of equipment design intended to maximize productivity by reducing operator fatigue and discomfort. So while workplace engineers have a certain relationship with this concept, those of us with chronic pain or low energy have an important interest in this as well. You may have heard this term mentioned when discussing chair or keyboard designs. It’s basically the science of designing things to be comfortable for human use. This gets very important for those of us with limited energy. So how do we design our lives to be comfortable for us, limit our fatigue, and avoid exacerbating our chronic pain? There is a lot to consider on this subject because it can be applied to literally every object you interact with daily but I’ll get you started with a few important things to think about. 1. Your shoes. Get shoes that fit right and you are comfortable in, in each style that you require in your life. This takes a lot of trial and error, and a bit of investment, but long term it is so worth it. You can prevent a lot of foot, knee, hip, and back pain by wearing the right pair of shoes. Is one of your legs longer than the other? You might benefit from wearing a lift in one side. 2. Your chair. Does your chair hit your back in the right place? Is it the right height for you? Don’t mess around with siting in an uncomfortable desk chair, get the right one. 3. Your car seat. Take the time to adjust the height, and your steering wheel, and all the mirrors just right, especially for long drives, and even if you are just borrowing someone else’s car. You can put it back when you return it. 4. Your mattress. You spend your life in either your shoes or in bed. Invest in both. Getting the right mattress can help you sleep better and prevent a lot of body pain. 5. Your posture. Those of us with chronic pain get really good at ignoring our bodies. Please check in with yourself once in a while to make sure you’re not sitting stupid. 6. Your fashion choices. I am slowly giving up on skinny jeans because they make my legs sore at the end of the day, and a jacket or two I have definitely limit my arm mobility and make my shoulders sore. Replace these things with better options. You don’t have to dress ugly; there are loads of fashionable ways to be comfortable. I have a hippy-bog-witch thing going lately and it’s wonderful– lots of layers so I can regulate body temperature, soft breathable fabrics. Find a style that works for you. They even make dress pants with a little elastic in them if you work in an office with a dress code. 7. The height of your desk/counters. I am short and I really should be using a stool when I’m chopping things in the kitchen so that I can use my weight instead of my neck and shoulders. While desks and counter heights can’t usually be changed, it’s worth checking in to see what you can do here to make yourself more comfortable. Try to be mindful of your body and discover your own ways to ergonomically modify your life. And please feel free to reblog and add your own examples!

[cottonvibes]

wishing i was on a balcony in italy, wearing a long floral dress, eating fresh fruit, and staring at the sunset and landscape below me

[stormwaterwitch]

Rabbits Rabbits Rabbits

Reblog this on the first of the month for good luck all month long!

[fuckyeahinteriordesigns]

[knf-nb]

ok 2 reblog if ur disabled

[shencomix]

[deeplifequotes]

“Get comfortable with being alone. It will empower you.”

— Jonathan Tropper

[this-isnt-my-bra]

Once my friend Henry was accused of wearing wireless headphones by a substitute so she said for him to hand them over so he took them off and handed them to her. Then later on she asked him a question and he didn’t respond so she said it louder and he still didn’t respond. She asked why he was not responding and he said “I can’t understand you ma'am, you took my hearing aids.”

[lolodapsycho-deactivated2017030]

HOLY SHIT

[mamoru]

one time we had a sub that was handing back papers and called my name. I asked if someone could grab it for me and she started mocking me for not even standing up. taunting me asking why I was not walking up to the front to get the paper myself.

my classmates went dead silent and after the sub’s laughter ended someone informed her that the wheelchair parked nearby belonged to me

[dykeofdaring]

My sister once had her insulin pump ripped off of her because her exam proctor (a sub) thought it was some cheating device. He soon figured out that it was, in fact, not, when the port on her side (the place the needle goes in) started bleeding through her shirt. Her pump started beeping frantically, because that’s what it does, and it was general chaos until my sister ripped what’s basically her pancreas out of his hands, told her friend “Let the next proctor know I’ll need extra time,” and walked out of the room towards the nurse.

[ongoingflames-deactivated201905]

Literally schools are shit with disabilities. In elementary school I was having a high blood sugar reaction(cold sweats to rapid passing in and out of consciousness, vomiting and finally leading to a massive seizure before you die) and I KNEW I had to go to the nurse cuz I was getting worse. Kept telling my teach I needed to go and he kept saying no till finally I felt myself about to throw up and I’m screaming LET ME GO (i was a little kid to me i couldnt do anything in an institution without an adults say so or id basically go to hell) and the bitch said SHUT YOUR DAMN MOUTH AND PAY ATTENTION TO THE LESSON where I proceeded to projectile vomit all over my desk and he jut kept going on with the lesson. Finally I just booked it out of the room but I was too far gone to even REMEMBER where the nurses office was let alone where the hell I was that my class literally just left and helped me to the nurses office. I immediately went to the hospital and officially died for 5 minutes before I was revived. I could have stayed dead all because some fuck twad thought his lesson was more important than a students life

[circe154-deactivated20220408]

After Columbine, a local school installed metal detectors and made everyone walk through them and put their bags on a table for a teacher to search. 

A few days into the school year, a teacher ripped a boy’s insulin pump off him because she thought it was a weapon, despite he and his sister insisting it was an insulin pump and he needed it to live. 

[spellbound-willow]

I don’t know how many of you are still in school but I have some valuable knowledge that might actually help with this problem! In the United States there’s this thing called a 504 Plan that you can get which basically gives you legal protection from disability/chronic illness discrimination in public schools. 

Students can qualify for 504 plans if they have physical or mental impairments that affect or limit any of their abilities to: walk, breathe, eat, or sleep; communicate, see, hear, or speak; read, concentrate, think, or learn; stand, bend, lift, or work

 Examples of accommodations in 504 plans include: preferential seating, extended time on tests and assignments, reduced homework or classwork, verbal, visual, or technology aids, modified textbooks or audio-video materials, behavior management support, adjusted class schedules or grading, verbal testing, excused lateness, absence, or missed classwork

 I’m a type one diabetic and my school nurse would do stuff like keep all my meds in a locked cabinet, not let me take my insulin or test my blood sugar unless she was watching me, and lie to my mother about me inducing low blood sugars in order to get out of class. She wouldn’t even let me keep glucagon (emergency sugar injection) on my person in case I passed out from low blood sugar. 

 So one day I casually mentioned all this to my endocrinologist and she was really mad. She was really angry at the school nurse for mistreating me like that and informed me of this thing called a 504 plan. A 504 plan protects students with disabilities and chronic illnesses from discrimination by outlining exactly what a student needs to meet their special needs. For me, this meant I had to be able to keep ahold of my own meds in case of emergency and keep track of my own glucose levels, that I would never be marked late for a class if I was busy treating a low, and I could pause the clock on a standardized test to check my blood sugar and treat it. If you have a disability and you’re still attending public school, PLEASE read up on 504 plans because they saved me so much grief when I was still in school. It might help you too. Here’s some more information about 504 plans:

https://www.understood.org/en/school-learning/special-services/504-plan/understanding-504-plans

http://m.kidshealth.org/en/parents/504-plans.html?WT.ac=

[ophidian-naiad]

Passing this along. I would not have made it this far without my disability documentation in school.

[pyroteknich]

Guys. A student with a disability DOES NOT automatically mean you are a Special Education student. 504′s cover a WIDE range of disabilities. YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO DEMAND A MEETING TO DETERMINE IF YOU SHOULD BE CONSIDERED A 504 STUDENT.

Whether a SPED or 504 student, you should know what your IEP (SPED) or 504 paperwork says. You need to be aware of your accommodations and modifications.  Your teachers should have a folder of 504 and IEP papers for the subs. As a SPED teacher, I made sure my subs knew who had what for their IEPs.

[ixellent]

These stories make me sick.

Offering up some college-level or post-secondary recommendations here: If you have a disability and/or need accommodations, assistance, or tutoring of ANY KIND, speak to your Student Services office (also called Student Affairs or Student Support, sometimes they even have a disability services coordinator). It’s their job to make sure you are receiving necessary accommodations and that your teachers and school are compliant with them. Don’t be afraid to rat out your teacher(s) for not complying with your accessibility needs or for treating you the way some people in these stories have been treated! You don’t have to handle it on your own and you should not suffer any indignity, insult, or injury due to your disability or the accommodations necessary for your education.

Section 504 still applies to colleges and organizations that receive federal funding - that could affect your experience at private schools, although there is some additional legislation that can help protect you via the ADA regardless of funding status. Affordable Colleges has a great and detailed AND relevant article on this (interestingly enough, from a contributor local to me), including things to check to ensure school compliance and what to do if they are not.

[aprilslady-deactivated20181029]

That’s it. The best version of the meme. We’ve done it lads

[theorydictatespractice-deactiva]

This might come as a shock to some of you but saying “I’m not informed enough on this particular topic to have an opinion” is about 100 times more respectable than being misinformed

[feynites]

I know in school they often teach us that ‘I don’t know’ is the worst possible answer and that you are better off making your best guess than admitting ignorance, but that’s because the educational system is a dumpster fire, and this is a habit that it pays to un-learn.