PGP / SPD My story:

Lil' 'Hood of Horrors: ChatGPT actually cheered me up! 😂 I ended up venting to the poor thing about what’s been happening with one of Peter’s neighbours after I woke up at 4am, already in agony, saw I’d been removed from the local community WhatsApp group, and immediately had my RSD go: OH, WE’RE DOING THIS NOW ARE WE? To some people, being removed from a neighbourhood group probably sounds tiny. But for me, it wasn’t really about a group chat. I stay at Peter’s regularly because he’s my partner and also supports me, and being in the group helped me keep an eye on what was happening locally. When you’re disabled, neurodivergent, dealing with chronic pain and already trying to manage a dysregulated nervous system, feeling informed about your surroundings can be part of feeling safe. So being excluded, especially after being made to feel like I “don’t belong” because I’m not on his tenancy, and being compared to his ex partner, as though she was somehow more acceptable, hit hard...

Chronic pain warriors will understand this one. When pain hits hard, you’ll search everywhere for the one thing that helps take the edge off. For some of us, medical vapes or prescribed treatments are part of how we manage symptoms and get through the day. Living with chronic illness often means constantly adapting — finding tools, treatments, and coping strategies that help us function in a world not built for bodies like ours. Humour is sometimes how we survive it. Because if we didn’t laugh about the chaos of pain, brain fog, and losing things when we need them most… we’d cry. To anyone else navigating chronic pain, invisible illness, or disability: you’re not weak, you’re resourceful. Every day you adapt, survive, and keep going — and that takes real strength. 💗 Sarah Wingfield  Independent Disability Advocate  KawaiiDollDecora.uk #ChronicPain #DisabilityAwareness #InvisibleIllness #ChronicIllness #DisabledAndProud Alt text: A humorous meme-style image shows a fashion dol...

Seeking Compassion - Humour helps: One of my strongest memories from Ayclive is also one of the hardest. I was shaking, in pain, and sat on the floor at the entrance — overwhelmed, ignored, and treated with hostility. In the middle of all that, someone asked me for my ticket QR code. I said, “I’ll see if I can find that for you… and while I’m at it, maybe I’ll try and find some compassion too — it seems to be in short supply.” One of the few kind staff nearby chuckled, and so did I. I was having a PTSD flashback, completely caught up in a wave of panic and helplessness — but that moment of humour, my own defiance in the face of it all, snapped me out of it. Even as I relived the trauma, the memory of that small spark made me giggle again. And reminded me: humour is a valid coping strategy. Whoever said it isn’t clearly hasn’t needed it like we have. — Sarah Independent Disability Advocate #Disability #DisabilityInclusion #PTSDRecovery #DisabledAndProud #StrongerTogether #ChronicIllness...