Ep. 18 - The Medicalization of Disability, Part 2: Diagnosis

11/21/22 • 53 min

In this week’s part two on the medicalization of disability, Harper and Shruti discuss diagnosis. They dive into the difficulties disabled people often have getting diagnoses, the problems with the gatekeeping and lack of intersectionality within diagnostic systems, and the negative impact it all has on real-life people—especially those who go through it in childhood.

Harper shares her four experiences of diagnosis—her elementary school dyslexia diagnosis, her ten-year journey towards a late autism diagnosis, her college arthritis diagnosis, and her current search for answers about her dysautonomia and chronic pain. Through these stories, Harper opens up about how growing up feeling like a mystery and not being believed has shaped her self-concept.

Listen wherever you find your podcasts and follow on social media to keep to update on all things Disabled Standard.

We will be going on a mid-season hiatus and new episodes will return Dec. 12.

Listen wherever you find your podcasts and follow on social media to keep to update on all things Disabled Standard.

We will be going on a mid-season hiatus and new episodes will return Dec. 12.

Previous Episode

Ep. 17 - The Medicalization of Disability, Part 1: Therapy

Disability has a long, painful history of medicalization. In this two-parter, the Disabled Standard explores some of the ways medicalization affects the real life of disabled people in the modern day. In part one, Harper and Shruti discuss therapy, including the problems with the system, the importance of autonomy, and ways improvements can be made.

Shruti shares their experiences with physical therapy and medical intervention as a physically disabled person of color. She discusses the impact childhood physical therapy has on her development and her agency, as well as her decision to stop physical therapy and her outlook on future therapies. Harper also shares her experience with language therapy at her specialized learning disability school, and how this therapy was done in a better, more disability-centered way than most interventions.

Listen wherever you find your podcasts and stay tuned for part two: diagnosis.

You can follow The Disabled Standard on Instagram @disabledstandard and on Twitter @disabledspod. Thank you for listening and supporting!

Next Episode

Ep. 19 - Disability and Travel

Have you ever wondered what traveling is like when you're disabled? How to fly on a plane as a wheelchair user? What it's like being an autistic teen on a choir tour? Why the same travel accommodations can create exclusion for one person and access for another?

In this week's episode, Harper and Shruti talk all things traveling while disabled. From school trips to family vacations, on planes, trains, and busses, all the way across the world or just over state lines, they share their own experiences, how they were accommodated (or not), and what they've learned. Traveling while disabled—with growing support needs and new mobility aids—is an evolution that Harper and Shruti are both still trying to navigate with themselves and their loved ones. It can often create feelings of burden, isolation, and the inability to engage—but with disabled-informed support and lots of grace, sometimes travel can be positive not in spite of disability but because of it.

You can follow The Disabled Standard on Instagram @disabledstandard and on Twitter @disabledspod. Thank you for listening and supporting!