Getting a COVID-19 Vaccine Based on BMI Is Exciting and Complicated at the Same Time. “One theory is that because obesity is a state in which our bodies have more inflammation, the body reacts in an abnormal way to COVID infection because it's already in this kind of revved up inflammatory state,” Salles says. “There [are] other ideas about when people have obesity, their lung capacity can decrease, which can make it hard to exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide.
And so that may be a part of the mechanism as well.” Salles goes on to explain that even if someone with a BMI over 30 has no additional medical conditions — like hypertension, diabetes, heart conditions, etc — the elevated level of weight on their body can still cause difficulties if COVID-19 is contracted, thus pointing to why this large group of people have been labeled “higher risk.” Alex Joseph, an anti-diet nutritionist, still believes, however, that using the BMI is a flawed measure. “The problem is that the BMI classifies a lot of people as being overweight or obese when, in fact, they’re not,” she says. Dos and don’ts on designing for accessibility – Accessibility in government. Karwai Pun is an interaction designer currently working on Service Optimisation to make existing and new services better for our users. Karwai is part of an accessibility group at Home Office Digital, leading on autism. Together with the team, she’s created these dos and don’ts posters as a way of approaching accessibility from a design perspective.
The posters The dos and don’ts of designing for accessibility are general guidelines, best design practices for making services accessible in government. Currently, there are six different posters in the series that cater to users from these areas: low vision, D/deaf and hard of hearing, dyslexia, motor disabilities, users on the autistic spectrum and users of screen readers. The dos, that run across various posters, include using things like good colour contrasts, legible font sizes and linear layouts. While this is true, the aim of the posters is to raise awareness of various conditions through good design practice. The team Next steps Do Don't. The Perfect Thing My Doctor Said About My Life With Chronic Illness.
My doctor sat at his desk facing his computer as he read through my chart and got updated on the various specialists I’d seen and the tests I’d had done since my last appointment with him. He turned around and said, “So pretty much you’ve become a professional patient.” It’s true. I’ve seen several new specialists lately and am waiting to see a few more. This is a good thing because it means that after years of trying to politely convince my doctors that there are other things going on, I’m finally getting somewhere. But it’s still hard. He said, “I know. It was the perfect thing to say. Instead, there was awareness of the “chronic” part of my chronic illness. And because of all that, I also felt encouraged. It was exactly what I needed to hear, and I can’t help but think that maybe you need to hear it, too. So I want to tell you that you’re doing a good job. Maybe, like me, you’re facing a chronic illness or disability. We’ve all got something.
Sometimes we get defeated. MTV to Chronicle Eddie Ndopu's Quest to Travel Into Space. 7 Phrases You May Not Think Are Fat Shaming – But Definitely Are. 7 Reasons to Stop Calling Disabled People Inspirational. If there is one overused adjective to describe disabled people, it’s inspirational. Let’s back up for one second. I should mention that I’ve had cerebral palsy from birth, and I use an electric wheelchair for mobility purposes. My muscle tone, range of motion, and speech pattern are all significantly impacted. Throughout my childhood and adolescence, I was called “inspirational” so many times that it became completely devoid of meaning. Apparently, having a visible disability is all it takes to be considered inspirational, which is frankly a pretty low bar – not to mention arbitrary.
As an adult, my patience for that word finally evaporated. What the hell does inspirational even mean in the context of disability? And if you haven’t thought through this stuff before, then let’s explore all of the reasons why you shouldn’t call disabled people inspirational. 1. This argument might raise a few eyebrows. Obviously, calling someone inspirational isn’t offensive in itself. Please stop. 2. 3. 4. 5. The Inspiration Porn Resolution — Disability Stories. The Inspiration Porn Resolution Will you make the #InspoPornResolution to improve the depiction of the disability experience? The Mighty is a well-known media company that publishes stories about disability. Their tagline reads: As their readership quickly grew, writers with disabilities and readers of The Mighty began to grow concerned about a problematic practice of framing of disability as a tragedy or burden.
Throughout 2015, The Mighty became a content machine perpetuating the problem of Inspiration Porn. Inspiration porn hurts disabled people in numerous ways, according to writer/activist Stella Young: And that quote, The only disability in life is a bad attitude, the reason that’s bullshit is because it’s just not true, because of the social model of disability. Concerns about The Mighty came to a head when they posted and then swiftly removed an offensive and disability-shaming story, apologizing to their readers on December 21, 2015. The media can and must do better. Thank You. R. The “R” Word. Posted by Tom Megginson | 25-05-2011 18:24 | Category: Human rights When most other derogatory terms for people’s ethnicity, religion and sexuality have been banished from appropriate conversational English, the word “retarded” is still regularly heard as a synonym for “stupid” or “messed up”.
While it is rarely (openly) used to refer directly to people with mental challenges or developmental delays, its continued common use to denigrate things or situations still hurts the people who feel labelled by it. The “Spread The Word To End The Word” campaign demonstrates the harm and hurt caused by the word “retard” by comparing it to other hurtful labels that are no longer acceptable. Some might make you cringe: (The woman on the right is the great comic actress Jane Lynch, best known for her portrayal of a evil cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester on Glee.) The campaign asks you to pledge never to use the “R-Word” again. Soft Grunge: Mental Illness Is Not a Style. Millennials have long been accused of being self-absorbed. The rise of social media enables us to share our thoughts and opinions across multiple platforms within seconds. As we enter adolescence and young adulthood, we experience the typical turbulence associated with coming of age, amplified and echoed through smart phones, tweets, and reblogs.
More than ever, our generation has eagerly embraced what I like to call the “sad chic” mentality to reclaim their alienation. Just look at popular works like The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Skins, Warm Bodies, and Twilight, to name very few. Everyone worships existentialism as long as it has shiny packaging, with pretty people saying poetic things while a single tear runs down their cheek. Out of all of the social media sites, Tumblr has capitalized the most on this phenomenon, almost single-handedly spawning the soft grunge trend.
What is Soft Grunge? Soft grunge basically transforms taboo emotions like self-doubt into an aesthetic. We’re all human. What to Know About Taking Medication for a Mental Illness | The Mighty. Editor’s note: This piece is based on the experience of individuals, and shouldn’t be taken as medical advice. Please consult a doctor before going on or off any medication. We know you shouldn’t be ashamed of taking medication for a mental illness. We know it doesn’t make you weak. We know it’s a treatment option a lot of people find beneficial, while others don’t. But let’s get real: What are some of the things about taking psychiatric medication we don’t talk about? Prescribing medication for our brain is far from a perfect process, and while we want to spread the word that it shouldn’t be shameful, it’s also important to acknowledge the complications that come with the process.
So, we asked our mental health community to share one thing about taking psychiatric medication people don’t talk about. Let’s talk about it. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. Let's Talk About How Bell Fired Me After I Asked For Mental-Health Leave - CANADALAND. Today, a giant Canadian company is doing a wonderful thing for mental health awareness. The hashtag #BellLetsTalk will be used a record-setting number of times and will raise a record-setting amount of money. Tomorrow, praise will rain down on Bell for their record-setting generosity, and all I’ll be able to think about is how Bell responded to my mental health needs when they were my employer.
They fired me. Since the New Year, something in me was off, I wasn’t myself. I was depressed, and to me it didn’t make sense, at all. Life was good, wonderful actually, but I was struggling. On Jan. 12 in the white-walled office of a worried physician, I let it all out. Driving to his office that morning, I can remember the strong grip I had on the steering wheel, willing tears not to swell up my eyes just yet. The drive back to my own office, at K93, a Bell-owned radio station in Grand Falls, N.B., was totally different. My next obligation was to tell my supervisor that I would need time off. Pyer Moss' Mental Health And Depression-Themed Show Makes A Powerful Statement At Fashion Week.
When Pyer Moss designer Kerby Jean-Raymond showcased his "Black Lives Matter"-inspired collection last season at New York Fashion Week, it became one of the most talked about and prominent shows of the spring 2016 season. Shortly after showcasing the collection, however, Jean-Raymond fell into a period of depression. "It was freeing to be able to create that collection and I have no regrets, but I went through the emotions," the 28-year-old designer told Mashable on Saturday. "I just felt like you kind of accidentally typecast yourself by speaking out. Was I going to be defined as a black person first, designer second? " This led to the inspiration behind his fall 2016 collection, titled "Double Bind," which tackled mental health, particularly in the black community, head on.
"The Black experience in America is the ultimate double bind; a place where natural-born citizens live an immigrant experience in the only land they’ve known as home. Close Ilya S. Are you in crisis? You Can’t Flee From What’s Inside Your Head. Posted by Marc van Gurp | 18-04-2012 20:20 | Category: Health, Social aid This is a new campaign from Denmark, initiated by the Region Sjælland.
It is about psychosis, a generic psychiatric term for a mental state often described as involving a “loss of contact with reality”. The campaign focus is on early intervention in psychosis. It is a relatively new concept based on the observation that identifying and treating someone in the early stages of a psychosis can significantly improve their longer term outcome.
The message is simple and clear: You can’t flee from what’s inside your head (Du kan ikke flygte fra en psykose). The campaign contains many print items as well: Posters, flyers, post cards, big ads on busses. The original Danish version: The short versions (in Danish): Advertiser:Region SjællandAgency:DETUSCH&LUBAAdditional credits: Actress: Ronja Mannov Director: Simon de Tusch-Lec Producer: Louis Paldrup Idea: Louis Paldrup & Simon de Tusch-Lec Post: Welcome Post. 15 Common Phrases That Are Way More Ableist Than You May Realize. When I was in middle school, my family started going to an autism support group. Well, I say “family,” but in reality, my sister Creigh was going for her high school volunteer hours and kept dragging my mother and me along. Creigh seemed to think that, because she was my sibling and I’m Autistic, it was her responsibility to show support for me and other autistic people by going to these meetings and guilting my mother and me into going, too.
She never asked me – she simply assumed, as so many do, that it was something I would want. Creigh has apologized since, of course, but the damage had still been done. You see, the autism support group was ironically not a place friendly to autistic people. It wasn’t that they didn’t care. I was told, repeatedly, that I was an inspiration. These are just a sampling of the things they said. Imagine yourself in my shoes. How would you feel? The answer, by the way, is absolutely terrible. There is no escape. This is my life. 1. It’s not. 2. It’s not that bad. Autistic, Allistic, Neurodiverse, and Neurotypical: Say what? | Cracked Mirror in Shalott. Coming into the neurodiversity movement, there are some terms that a new person might not be familiar with. I’ve been seeing a lot of questions about some of them, and some misunderstandings about them as well, so it is perhaps time for writing something on these terms. If you are reading this blog, I’m assuming that you know what Autistic means in a general way.
Some of you might still hold some misconceptions about autistic life, but I believe that to be a part of the learning process. You are reading Autistic voices either here or on the blogs of other Autistics, hopefully learning from it, and that is what matters. You’ll notice that I use “autistic” rather than “person with autism” throughout. This is intentional. The basic idea is that my being is autistic- the patterns my brain form thoughts in, the essentials of the way I perceive and learn from the world are autistic.
There are many brilliant writers who have addressed Autistic vs person first language in more depth. Like this: