Status Updates From Disability Intimacy: Essays...

"To give respectful help is a process of becoming aware of our own capacity in the moment. It takes practice to know providing help is not always convenient and boundaries can also exist. Grappling with interdependence necessitates slowing down, listening, disappointing each other, and mending"

“The US child welfare industry is a broken, violent machine rooted in ableism, white supremacy, and systemic oppression. We are all ensnared. As a Disability Justice dreamer, I believe that if we practiced collective care and wrapped support around struggling families, perhaps more children & parents could heal together, w/o ever separating.” A ‘Justice Dream’ in which state power cedes to community support.

“Those of us whose disabilities aren’t physically apparent often live in the schism pretense creates- we’re fine until we’re not, pretend until we can’t, our minds and bodies suffering through the unnecessary demands to which ableist culture clings”

The Exhaustion of Pretense and the Illusions of Care

I love how many different kinds of intimacy are addressed and acknowledged in this book. I’ve definitely felt connected to people I’ve cared for, people who have taken care of me, but also people from the past who I’ve never met, people online who I’ve never met, art from people I’ll never know, animals that live with their own disabilities and struggles. Love that these experiences are forms of intimacy.

“Hoe shit brings me joy.” Me, an ace, nodding my head while listening to essays about disability and kink while walking dogs.