Of course not, you’ve probably already taken a thousand of them — Anyone with an invisible disability would be familiar with the drill. You’re in an interactive environment, such as volunteer work or a special interest club, where you need to do things differently from the rest of the group. For practical reasons, you need to risk at least partially disclosing your…

An alopecia sufferer’s perspective — I am an alopecia sufferer, and my most recently published story just happens to be my first about alopecia. I put myself out there way more than usual in that piece, so that fact is still with me. Then look what happened at the Academy Awards less than two weeks…

Hair loss, medical misogyny, and a hired gun — I suffer from a biotoxin-related illness often referred to as “chronic inflammatory response syndrome” (CIRS). I also have multiple chemical sensitivities (MCS). …

Meet the crocodile who keeps interrupting storytime at the library — My local library, where I sit right this moment, is one of the best locations I have for writing. Once a week, my usual table is close to children’s storytime, which includes reading a picture storybook, an enthusiastic singalong and sometimes even some dancing. It’s quite a racket, but a…

In a small town, even mild short-sightedness can turn into a mega drama — I spent my mid-twenties in the Australian outback, a tough economy to live in as a minimum wage worker. Everything costs more at the ends of the earth, and I didn’t have a full-time job. I survived by barely having enough pieces of part-time jobs to make a whole one…

A story of cute, fluffy, polychromatic klutzes — Many years ago, invisible bunny rabbits had the run of my family’s house. Well, not entirely invisible, my little sister could see them. She described them to us in detail, and they were unlike any I had ever seen before. There was a pink one, a yellow one, a blue…

Raw egg fever swept through my town, and I was not impressed — Remember the ice bucket challenge? If anyone managed to miss it, it was a viral fundraising effort in which people were filmed getting a bucket of ice water tipped over themselves, nominating friends over social media to do the same, and donating to the ALS Association or a similar organisation…

So much more than the names and dates we can find everywhere else — Our city-dwelling ancestors had to do something particularly notable to be either remarkable enough, or notorious enough, to get a mention in a metropolitan newspaper. If they do make an appearance, it may be their name on a court list or a public notice here and there. …

With so many parallels to my own college life, I couldn’t help but notice — Even from the other side of the world, I have noticed the Blackburn Takeover, a student protest at Howard University due to mould, vermin, and generally unsafe student housing. Hazardous student accommodation is a global problem, and more students should be proactive about it. There’s a mentality out there that…