signal boost: on disability
The awesome stephanieburgis has important things to say about being on disability. So, passing it on.
Trust me, I do not feel happy about being helpless. NO ONE feels happy about losing their independence. If I ever get disability benefit (which is, by the way, incredibly difficult to get, even for people who are really badly disabled), it'll be much less than minimum wage. I would never in a million years choose this.
And the statistical truth is that the overwhelming majority of people who get disability benefit do it because they need it, not because they're trying to get away with something.
Personally speaking I'm not happy either about this illness crap -- about being utterly unable to work, or finish my dissertation, or finish anything it feels like. But I am very much feeling my class and financial privilege these days, because I don't need to try to get on disability and that is a huge huge relief.
Though this doesn't stop me wishing it were a less hostile system for the people who do need it.
Trust me, I do not feel happy about being helpless. NO ONE feels happy about losing their independence. If I ever get disability benefit (which is, by the way, incredibly difficult to get, even for people who are really badly disabled), it'll be much less than minimum wage. I would never in a million years choose this.
And the statistical truth is that the overwhelming majority of people who get disability benefit do it because they need it, not because they're trying to get away with something.
Personally speaking I'm not happy either about this illness crap -- about being utterly unable to work, or finish my dissertation, or finish anything it feels like. But I am very much feeling my class and financial privilege these days, because I don't need to try to get on disability and that is a huge huge relief.
Though this doesn't stop me wishing it were a less hostile system for the people who do need it.