contributor

Hello I’m a new contributor and will be sharing my experience with Rheumatoid Arthritis and autoimmune disorders. I’ve had RA for over 20 years but only recently have accepted who I am and my ‘Mightyness’!! I hope to become an advocate for others to find their exquisiteness as I express my voice. #MightyTogether #RheumatoidArthritis #contributor

Hello, I am a returning writer and now a contributor. My list is long is what we as a family live with it-but we are lucky to have support and find the good in the darkest of places with love and dark humor. I grew up as a youth caregiver to my father who had M.S. and a major stroke leaving him paralyzed on one side. MY mother has bi-polar and personality disorder, the younger brother has bi-polar& schizophrenia. My older brother has passed sexually abused me for years so I am a survivor in the true sense. I have also had melanoma, live with a seizure disorder, and other chronic illnesses. I am lucky and work hard to find magic in everyday life and try to make me corner of the world a better place- This became more important to me after my son (at the time 16) was hit by a vehicle leaving him to live life as a T-12 para.2020 has presented unprecedented challenges for everyone including our family. My dad passed by suicide and my mom had a heart attack, stroke, and diagnosed with mixed end-stage dementia/Alzheimers. WHEW! I have learned and grown so much this year and have felt the darkest of "modor". I am glad to be part of this community. Have a safe holiday season.
#contributor

Hi! I have #ADHD , but I wasn't diagnosed until my thirties because I was a mostly quiet girl who excelled in school (at least on the days when I could remember where my classroom was).

What helped me understand my disability was having a daughter who shared my poor emotional regulation and inability to find my shoes. My daughter has also been diagnosed with #SensoryProcessingDisorder , which I probably share, and very strong #Dyslexia , which I don't. I have also been diagnosed with  #PTSD , which I hope she never has, and likely share my own mother's #EhlersDanlosSyndrome , which would explain why my hip randomly fell out around my thirtieth birthday.

The last couple years have involved a lot of frustration with a body that I feel has kind of betrayed me with its ineffective joints and unhelpful brain chemistry. I'm coming to terms with it.

I've also spent a lot of time thinking about how to parent a person whose soothing behaviors happen to be your triggers, and whose messiness you can't really fix because your mind is also chaotic.

We're getting there.

Anyway, it's nice to meet you!

#MightyTogether #contributor

I logged into my zoom session with my therapist a few weeks back and she was beaming ear to ear and said “well, there she is! Guess what I was just reading?” I replied “uhm I don’t know haha...” She said “ I was on MSN News and I read an article written by you!” My jaw kind of dropped and I said “wait what?” She sent me the link and sure enough one of the stories I wrote for The Mighty here got republished by MSN News. I don’t know how common that is but I was humbled knowing something I wrote went out to so many people. I felt so accomplished. Here is the link: www.msn.com/en-us/Health/medical/my-experience-with-schizoaf... #MentalHealth #contributor #SchizoaffectiveDisorder #BipolarDisorder

"OMG this is it, it's the end of the world and I didn't go for it!". And by 'it' I mean contributing to society by sharing my story. Which will hopefully serve others ***you***.
Basically I'm having an existential crisis and I'm grateful for this global crisis in that sense, despite the havoc it has caused in my life and in literally billions of lives.
That's why I was so thrilled when I got the mail that said I'm a contributor! I'm so looking forward to sharing my stories and hearing from the others, *** you ***. Ironically I'm 'stepping out' and connecting more than ever before and feeling incredibly fulfilled in doing so.
#MightyTogether

Allison Boot also known as the Wheelin' Wordsmith has been a Mighty Contributor. Much like the main characters in her novels Allison M. Boot has a disability. She wrote Just the Way You Are and The Magic Within to spread messages of self-acceptance and equality to young boys and girls traveling paths similar to hers. She is very proud to say that she earned a Master of Arts in Mass Communication from the University of Dayton. Additionally she is proud of her extensive troll doll collection started at the tender age of three after being told that trolls bring good luck. To this day her collection continues to grow and do just that. While she enjoys being a daughter to 2 and sister to 11 it is being an auntie to 12 and a dog mom to 2 that she loves most. She relocated to Urbana Illinois where she lives with her husband Dylan a few years ago. Since relocating to Illinois Allison has been blessed to become a member of the Alliance for Inclusion & Respect ( AIR The Champaign-Urbana Disability Resource Expo Steering Committee and the Illinois Statewide Independent Living Council ( SILC Want to learn more about the Wheelin' Wordsmith's writing Visit www.allisonmbootauthor.com #MightyTogether #contributor