advocacy Archives - Christina Irene

What Chronic Illness Taught Me About “Uncertain Times”

14 Mar

Here's the thing about not having a diagnosis: It's very challenging to move forward. I couldn't get a clear treatment plan, because we didn't know what we were treating. I couldn't explain to friends and coworkers what was going on,...
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It’s Pain Awareness Month. Here’s What I Need You to Know About Mine.

12 Sep

I remember the very moment I noticed. It was March 31, 2018, days before my 38th birthday, I was on vacation in the Philippines, out with a group of people I met there, and I looked down at my left...
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Finding a Comfy Spot on the Advocate-Activist Continuum

4 Sep

A close friend of mine has been making a lot of Instagram reels lately, all on the point of raising awareness for medically complex children and their parents, and for inspiring positive change in the medical community. I fondly realized...
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Advance Information Checklist for People with Disabilities and Their Allies

24 Apr

One thing I love when I’m doing a presentation on disabilities is experiencing the volume of human kindness. There is always an atmosphere of “how can I help?” and this yields great questions during the Q&A portion at the end...
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Interview: How a Disabled Human Resources Professional Started Her New Job

7 Nov

I’m in California visiting my best pal Brianna, who lives with four autoimmune diseases … and a four-year-old. She just started a new job, so I’m checking in with her to see how it’s going and what advice she has...
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An Unanswerable Question: How to Disclose Disability in the Workplace?

17 Oct

When I speak to corporate audiences, I often get questions about how and when someone should disclose a disability in the workplace. I don’t have a firm answer for that. For one, I do not have a human resources background...
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My Treatment Plan for Fear

8 Oct

One of my invisible disabilities speaking programs this week was to a group of students at a college. It was an in-person event, which is a nice treat these days, and it was a smaller, intimate group of just a...
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The Sag Wagon Advantage

27 Aug

Earlier this month, I attended a bicycle ride event for charity in Iowa. It’s an event a friend of mine puts on and I’ve seen the pictures on Facebook every year and decided this time I was going to go,...
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“Usual” Does Not Make It “OK”

17 Jun

I’ve had a bad stretch of bad days lately. One of my very least favorite symptoms of my chronic conditions, extreme stomach bloating, has had an excessive tenure this month. In addition, my fibromyalgia has been super active. Last weekend,...
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11 Pandemic Trends People with Disabilities Want to Keep

13 May

In my home state of Pennsylvania, signs of the COVID-19 pandemic are finally fading away. Governor Wolf has lifted many of the restrictions, such as capacity limits in businesses and no seating at bars, meanwhile promising to lift the mask...
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