Derek Schmitz's Blog

Some squares from my life as a UAB transfer in October 2025!

Alternative text:
A photo collage features eight photos taken by Derek, a white nonbinary person with long brown hair and blue glasses. The background of the collage is dark green, and the title of the collection “October 2025 Squares @ UAB” is centered in gold.

From left to right, top to bottom:

Derek sits in an infusion chair wearing a red shirt and black KN95 mask with their hair down.Derek sits against a wall wearing a green shirt and N95 mask with their hair up.Derek sits against a wall wearing a blue polo shirt and N95 mask with their hair up.Derek stands in an elevator wearing a pink shirt and N95 mask with their hair down.Blazers Win graphic outside Protective Stadium after homecoming.Derek stands outside near a bush wearing a blue shirt and N95 mask with their hair down. Their blue headphones are around their neck, and they’re holding their computer.Derek sits against the wall wearing a red polo and N95 mask with their hair up. They have blue headphones on.Derek sits against a whiteboard wearing a gray jacket and N95 mask with their hair up.

September’s in the books (literally). Here are some snaps from my days on the UAB campus.

Alternative text:
A photo collage features eight photos taken by Derek, a white nonbinary person with long brown hair and blue glasses. The background of the collage is dark green, and the title of the collection “Strips from September 2025 @ UAB” is centered in gold.

From left to right, top to bottom:

A laptop open with Pink Pony Club playing next to a Panera cinnamon roll.Derek sits in a blue polo shirt with an N95 mask on. They’ve clearly been sweating, and their hair is frizzy.Derek sits in an infusion chair under a blanket. They are wearing a red shirt with their hair down and an N95 mask.Derek smiles at the camera wearing a yellow shirt. Their hair is frizzy.Across the street from the UAB Hill Student Center, the image depicts the tall, slanted building corner with the UAB monogram shrouded by trees.Derek stands against a wall in a blue polo and N95 mask.Derek stands against a door in a thin green shirt and N95 mask.Derek wears a dark green shirt and black KN95 mask.

Forgive my horrific Canva skills, but here’s my Snapshot for August, capturing my first couple weeks as a UAB transfer! Hoping to do one of these each month I’m enrolled & taking classes, but we shall see if I stick to it.

Alternative text:

A photo collage showcases 5 photos of Derek, a white nonbinary person with long brown hair and blue glasses, in various places on the UAB campus. The top is labeled “August 2025 [at symbol] UAB.”

Top left corner: Derek wears a yellow shirt, a brace, and knee-high socks and smiles at the camera. A bed of flowers and a UAB granite feature are present in the background.

Top right corner: Derek wears a mask and a grey shirt with a Children’s of Alabama emblem and stands next to Blaze, UAB’s mascot.

Center: Derek wears a green shirt and eats a fudge pop outside with a smile. Their mask is down around their neck.

Bottom left corner: A messy desk captures the contents of Derek’s screen: the Canvas dashboard with the caption “Good morning, UAB” on the bottom.

Bottom right corner: Derek wears a pink polo shirt in a car.

Following today’s announcement of my acceptance into The University of Alabama at Birmingham, a new copy of my CV is available!

Check it out:

Schmitz Public Full CV_2508 (embedded, or click the file name to view)

For as long as I’ve been alive, The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) has been my second home. I was born there, receive my braces from their partner organizations, attended hundreds of physical and occupational therapy appointments, and been treated by the best team of physicians anyone could ever ask for.

And, now, I’m ecstatic to announce that, later this month, I will be continuing my post-secondary journey by becoming a UAB Blazer pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Medical Sociology, with a minor in Legal Affairs. This opportunity feels almost surreal, and I’m excited to be the one learning rather than being the one used to learn (by medical students etc.) for a change.

My interest in Medical Sociology seeks to explore and better understand human interactions and the impact of healthcare systems on disabled people. I hope to learn the forms and consequences of human interactions, as well as why social inequalities exist. I seek to explore, through qualitative and quantitative data analysis, how a person’s disabilities or other social factors impact their health and the healthcare they receive, as well as be able to identify how and where policy changes can be implemented to improve quality of life and healthcare access. UAB’s program is heavily research focused, and I’m looking forward to learning not only how to conduct research, but what to do after research is conducted.

In making these discoveries, I hope to build upon and increase my effectiveness both as an advocate and a legal professional. As an advocate, understanding how and why people are impacted by things outside their control, such as their disabilities, will allow me to best support them during times of hardship. As a legal professional, understanding how and why harmful legislation and policy are passed will allow me to craft creative, science-backed opposition to injustices in our world.

I can’t wait to get started.

In May, I graduated with Magna Cum Laude honors in Paralegal studies from Gadsden State Community College. I feel honored to have learned in such a supportive program, and will be eternally grateful to all my instructors and advisors for sharing their knowledge with me over the past 2 years.

Each semester, I served as a member of the Gadsden State Paralegal Association, and in my final year, I was honored to have been selected to serve as President of the Association. As President, I was delighted to lead the Association to First Place in the Candy with the Cardinals booth contest. Our exceptional VP and advisor, as well as my classmates and other association members really stepped up for this event.

Throughout my time, I received numerous honors, for which I am grateful and proud of myself for earning. Honors I received included:

Fall 2023 Dean’s List MemberPhi Theta Kappa International College Honor Society InducteeSpring 2024 James L. Brown Scholarship RecipientSpring 2024 President’s List MemberSummer 2024 Dean’s List MemberFall 2024 Dean’s List MemberLambda Epsilon Chi Paralegal Honor Society InducteeSpring 2025 Student of Distinction

In my final semester, I completed an internship with Disability Rights Maryland’s Developmental Disability and Healthcare team, where I was empowered to blend personal experience and legal knowledge to effectively assist clients.

At DRM, I:

Utilized the National Disability Rights Network Elevate platform to complete 3 continuing education coursesServed 131 hours over 60 working daysAttended 35 meetingsWorked 10 casesReviewed 3 legislative session hearingsI delivered a presentation in front of my classmates and academic advisor regarding my exceptional experience at DRM, which allowed me to complete the academic requirements for my internship, as well as the Paralegal program as a whole.

I can’t wait for what’s next! Stay tuned for my announcement on August 1 about my next steps.

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Next Steps Announcement

The Department of Energy currently has two “direct final rules” that will adversely affect disability rights. One of these rules removes regulations requiring new buildings to be accessible, and the other would remove accessibility requirements for older buildings and alterations to buildings. Further, the rules remove highly-specific language regarding accessibility requirements, called the Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards, from regulation.

“Direct final rules” (DFRs) are typically used when rule changes are routine and noncontroversial. These are anything but. If enough “significant adverse comments” are received on a rule designated as a DFR, the Department of Energy will provide notice in the Federal Register before July 15th either withdrawing the rule or issuing a new final rule which responds to significant adverse comments.

Our job is to submit those DFRs before 11:59 Eastern Time on June 16, 2025. The Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund has incredible resources, including templates and step-by-step directions on how to make a comment for these rule changes. You can view them here.

This is our time to take action. We cannot allow these changes to take effect silently.

My Submitted CommentsFILED_Schmitz_Public-Comment_DOE-HQ-2025-0024 (Click to open in new tab)FILED_Schmitz_Public-Comment_DOE-HQ-2025-0015 (Click to open in new tab)

Earlier today, while I was eating lunch, I got an email from the Health and Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health’s Office of Long COVID Research and Practice mailing list that was so exciting that I dropped my food.

A screengrab of the email follows (with alt text embedded):

The referenced committee webpage is here, and the general project webpage is here.

Disclaimer

I took a look through some of the resources that the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine put out and wanted to share my takeaways as a patient advocate only, in a personal capacity.

None of the opinions in this piece are medical or legal advice, and I encourage you to take a read through what I did to form your own opinions.

The sources I reviewed were:

Examining the Working Definition for Long COVID (Project Webpage)NASEM Long COVID Definition HighlightsNASEM Long COVID Definition One PagerNASEM News Release: Federal Government, Clinicians, Employers, and Others Should Adopt New Definition for Long COVID to Aid in Consistent Diagnosis, Documentation, and TreatmentInfographic: Elements of the 2024 NASEM Long COVID Definition

In the two hours since I got the message, I haven’t had the time to skim the full 150+ page report, but it has been released as well and is available to read free here. You can also buy the pre-publication copy or preorder a paperback version through that link.

NASEM also hosted a webinar announcing the report’s release, which I wasn’t able to attend. A recording of the webcast is available here.

My Takeaways

This is HUGE. Long COVID advocates have long fought for a uniform definition to assist doctors in making the correct diagnosis for Long COVID.

HHS, in the email above, is careful to note that they are in the reviewing phase of this research, and have not made a final decision on adoption (which will likely require a public comment period—stay tuned.) However, If HHS adopts the recommendations of the NASEM committee on this issue, there will be a science-backed, patient-included consensus definition for Long COVID. I believe it’s likely to be adopted, considering HHS was one of the requestors and financial sponsors of this research.

NASEM now defines Long COVID as “an infection-associated chronic condition that occurs after SARS-CoV-2 infection and is present for at least 3 months as a continuous, relapsing and remitting, or progressive disease state that affects one or more organ systems.”

They appear to make five basic criteria to identify LC:

Attribution to Infection: Can follow SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) infections of any severity, including asymptomatic. No laboratory confirmation or other proof of initial SARS-CoV-2 infection is required.Onset and Duration: Symptoms must be present for at least three months. Onset may be continuous from infection or be delayed following acute SARS-CoV-2 infection.The committee does not define a strict cutoff time after infection for diagnosis of symptoms as Long COVID.Symptoms: More than 200 symptoms and conditions were observed to be possible, including exacerbation of pre-existing conditions. Symptoms may be of any severity and resolve within months or persist over years. The committee gives examples of possible symptoms and conditions that may be part of Long COVID, but is very careful to note that the symptoms and conditions they mention are not required or exclusionary in the diagnosis of Long COVID.Equity: The committee recognizes that Long COVID may affect children and adults, regardless of health, disability, socioeconomic status, age, sex, gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, or geographic location.This reinforces advocacy efforts to communicate that anyone may be affected by Long COVID.Functional Impairment: The committee notes that Long COVID can have profound emotional and physical impact and affect ability to work, attend school, take care of family, and practice self care.

Again, and this cannot be overstated, this is a HUGE win for Long COVID advocates, patients, and caregivers. If adopted, this definition would:

set the stage for proper diagnosis; potentially expand eligibility for health services, insurance coverage, disability benefits, and school or workplace accommodations; andprovide a resource for the development of public awareness and education, especially for patients and their families and caregivers.

Today is a great day. We should take a moment to revel in the fruits of our labor as advocates. But, tomorrow, the fight to get this adopted will begin. Thanks for reading.

Last month, I wrote a Letter to Governor Kay Ivey Regarding Medicaid Expansion in Alabama. In it, I requested a response in writing in the mail. Today, I received it, and in the interest of transparency, I’m releasing it publicly (with my address information redacted, of course).

Response to Derek Schmitz from Governor Kay Ivey, dated June 6 and received June 8, 2024.

Plain text version:

[Office of the Governor, Kay Ivey, State of Alabama letterhead with state seal]

[Redacted address information covered with a “COPY” stamp]

June 6, 2024

Dear Mr. Schmitz:

Thank you for contacting me regarding Medicaid expansion. As Governor, ensuring all Alabamians have access to quality health care is top priority of mine, and to this end, your input on the matter is very important to me.

As you likely know, the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), which became law in 2010, contains a provision that authorizes states to expand the number of individuals who are eligible for Medicaid and to pay for their coverage. Since being elected Governor, one of my primary considerations while evaluating Medicaid expansion has been – and remains – our state’s long-term ability to pay for the program.

Please know that Medicaid expansion in Alabama will continue to be a serious consideration of mine. Your taking the time to contact me about this important issue is greatly appreciated, and I will remain mindful of your comments.

Sincerely,
[Kay Ivey wet signature]

Kay Ivey
Governor

KI/hs

Do I believe she will be making any changes to her policies anytime soon? No. There’s still a lot more work to be done to fully convince her of the dire need to make a change.

But it was cool to see her (or, her typist, at least) acknowledge that I know what I’m talking about.

As always when I discuss this topic, I will again encourage donations to Alabama Arise, the organizers behind the Cover Alabama Coalition.

Last week, I had the distinct privilege to speak to the attendees at the Maine Department of Education’s Transition Maine “I Belong” Youth Summit through my work at Derek Schmitz: Advocacy!

The atmosphere was vibrant and full of energy. It truly filled my heart with joy to see the faces of students taking in the endless possibilities of the future—a future they are free to define however they wish. It was also incredible to watch educators absorb the information to help their students.

I was honored, as the first keynote speaker, to help set the tone for the day. My speech, entitled “A Self-Advocate’s Guide to Transition,” focused on the importance of community and provided information and resources that are often lesser-known, like Vocational Rehabilitation and Centers for Independent Living. I also mentioned the phenomenal work of the folks at Generation Patient and Global Healthy Living Foundation/CreakyJoints as resources for these transitioning students.

While at the event, I was interviewed by multimedia journalist Caroline LeCour and featured on NEWS CENTER Maine. The story I was quoted in is linked here.

This event was truly incredible and a one-of-a-kind experience I’ll never forget. Can’t wait to see what the Transition Maine team does next!