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Select a Month September 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011

June 2015

June 13, 2015

On a Difficult Anniversary, Making Room for the Better Stories

I will always remember that terrible June day in 2009. But I’ve reached a point...

December 2014

December 29, 2014

On Assisted Suicide and Chronic Pain, Sex and Prayer, DNA and Ice Buckets: Top 10 Posts of 2014

The 10 most-read blog posts of 2014—a list that provides a good snapshot of topics...

November 2014

November 18, 2014

Not All Pain is Gain

Not all pain is gain. Pain is not always fixable. This is the truth. But...

October 2014

October 02, 2014

No Easy Choices When It Comes to Genetics, Disability, and Reproductive Decisions

TIME Magazine online picked up my post from earlier this week on whether a parent might...

September 2014

September 29, 2014

Can You Regret Having a Child Who Inherits Your Genetic Baggage?

But while I sometimes wish I could have spared my daughter her genetic fate, I’m...

July 2014

July 14, 2014

A Letter to My 16-Year-Old Self

To my 16-year-old self: When people tell you that your scars are a kind of...

May 2014

May 19, 2014

“Inspiration Porn” Objectifies People with Disabilities

Admire me for what I do—for writing well or raising decent kids or having a...

May 07, 2014

A Broken Body, Redeemed

Eight years ago, when my three children were still very young, we traveled to Omaha...

May 06, 2014

Resemblances

“Look at those fingers! And her toes! So long and skinny…just like yours, Ellen.” I...

April 2014

April 02, 2014

Yes, We Can Change Cultural Assumptions About Disabilities. Here’s How.

Last night, I gave a lecture at the University of Hartford to students in a...

February 2014

February 11, 2014

Philip Seymour Hoffman’s Death Scares Me for a Different Reason

The same medication that I take every day, in doses that would leave most of...

February 10, 2014

Ode to a Minivan

I love my minivan for lots of reasons having to do with convenience, but also...

January 2014

January 23, 2014

What We Can and Can’t Know About Our Babies Before They are Born

In using genetic screening to ensure that our baby would not inherit my painful bone...

December 2013

December 17, 2013

Broken Ribs, Crooked Backs, & Seeing Our Vulnerable Selves Reflected in Another

Having a body that defies cultural norms as mine does (it is crooked, uneven, lumpy,...

November 2013

November 04, 2013

My Story, and My Take on Narrative Ethics, in a Nutshell

I have a cover article in the current issue of the Christian Century that summarizes the...

September 2013

September 20, 2013

[Snapshots from Oak Ridge] I Wrote a Book. Want One?

I will confess something that will be not at all surprising to most of you,...

September 17, 2013

“Wonder” and the Paradoxes of Living with a Disability

R.J. Palacio's young adult novel Wonder tells the story of Auggie, a boy with a severe facial...

September 12, 2013

Bodily Betrayal, Redeemed by Love

John Green’s bestselling young-adult novel The Fault in Our Stars is a love story about two teenagers,...

August 2013

August 01, 2013

The Redemption of the Mundane: My Post at Convergent Books

There's a new imprint in town! Convergent Books is a division of Penguin Random House...

June 2013

June 27, 2013

[Me & My Naturopath] When Nothing Works

This is the third post in which I discuss my efforts to deal with chronic...

June 24, 2013

Everyday Resurrections (& a New Bench)

This post is very slightly edited from its original version published last August. You'll note...

May 2013

May 28, 2013

How Poverty Affects Vaccination Rates

Last fall I pointed blog readers to my colleague Rachel Stone's post on vaccination as...

May 13, 2013

At Home in a Place Where Imperfect Bodies Are the Norm

At my local pool, people with limps and spots and wrinkles are the norm, and...

May 09, 2013

The Summer When I Didn’t Cherish Time with My Kids

Note: I wrote this in the summer of 2009. I am reposting it here as...

May 06, 2013

How Mother’s Day 2006 Was the Beginning of the Rest of My Life

This is the story I told at this past weekend's inaugural Speak Up storytelling event...

May 02, 2013

Parents-to-Be Have More Choices Than Ever, But We Can’t Choose Our Way Out of Pain

Jennifer Gilmore’s story is enough to scare anyone away from open adoption. (It also provides...

April 2013

April 25, 2013

[Me & My Naturopath] On Being Unfixable in a World Obsessed with Fixing

A few weeks ago, I took a detour from my naturopathy focus to go see...

April 02, 2013

Last Night at Yoga

My teacher was showing us some really wild things she has learned to do with...

March 2013

March 22, 2013

[Me & My Naturopath] Why I’m a Hopeful Skeptic

Fed up with my increasing impairment due to chronic pain, I went to see a...

March 12, 2013

Taboo Stories About Disability: What We’re Not Allowed to Say

Last week's New York Times featured a story about Joshua Miele, who at the age...