Jen
@stardustrohrig.com
Hard of Hearing
AroAce
Agender (she/they)
(probably) Autistic
Avid reader of science fiction/fantasy, memoirs & other non fiction
Book Reviews & Disability Commentary: https://madeofstardustandstubbornness.com/
Additional Links: https://jenrweb.com
AroAce
Agender (she/they)
(probably) Autistic
Avid reader of science fiction/fantasy, memoirs & other non fiction
Book Reviews & Disability Commentary: https://madeofstardustandstubbornness.com/
Additional Links: https://jenrweb.com
Reposted by Jen
Sure, counterpoint: I require extremely thick lenses because I have exceedingly bad vision and the only frames that work with them are very similar to Meta glasses. I am literally blind without my glasses, they take 6 weeks to replace and are painfully expensive.
December 6, 2025 at 12:59 AM
Sure, counterpoint: I require extremely thick lenses because I have exceedingly bad vision and the only frames that work with them are very similar to Meta glasses. I am literally blind without my glasses, they take 6 weeks to replace and are painfully expensive.
Reposted by Jen
It's critical that there is differentiation between e-bikes and e-motos in conversations about regulation. They are not the same and should not be treated the same. This article provides a fantastic overview of the differences: archive.ph/paiO8
December 5, 2025 at 1:15 PM
It's critical that there is differentiation between e-bikes and e-motos in conversations about regulation. They are not the same and should not be treated the same. This article provides a fantastic overview of the differences: archive.ph/paiO8
Reposted by Jen
Since becoming a parent I have not, in fact, understood the parents who say “if you were a parent you’d understand” about vaccine hesitancy. Being in charge of this fragile little miracle has me saying things like “give her all the vaccines. Turn this baby into a pincushion” to doctors
December 5, 2025 at 2:44 PM
Since becoming a parent I have not, in fact, understood the parents who say “if you were a parent you’d understand” about vaccine hesitancy. Being in charge of this fragile little miracle has me saying things like “give her all the vaccines. Turn this baby into a pincushion” to doctors
Reposted by Jen
Ten years ago yesterday, I published my first piece about autism. It sent me on the trajectory to write about autism as my second job, write my first book and now my second book. I still have the emails people sent to me. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.
www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
I’m Not Broken
What this Washington reporter with autism wants you to understand.
www.theatlantic.com
December 5, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Ten years ago yesterday, I published my first piece about autism. It sent me on the trajectory to write about autism as my second job, write my first book and now my second book. I still have the emails people sent to me. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.
www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
Reposted by Jen
Deaf and signing friends. I’d love to get your take. We know that there’s a significant shortage of certified ASL interpreters and that not interpreters are great. This company is creating an AI avatar interpreter. It is a Deaf-led company. Here’s a sample video.
1/
1/
Sign AI on Instagram: "Our ASL avatar has an important message today: We are proud of you.
Welcome home to the Deaf athletes who represented the United States at the Deaflympics in Tokyo. Your streng...
US Deaf athletes have proven themselves to be exceptional role models in the sports world. By pushing boundaries and overcoming challenges, they are inspiring a new generation of Deaf athletes to purs...
www.instagram.com
December 5, 2025 at 7:47 PM
Deaf and signing friends. I’d love to get your take. We know that there’s a significant shortage of certified ASL interpreters and that not interpreters are great. This company is creating an AI avatar interpreter. It is a Deaf-led company. Here’s a sample video.
1/
1/
Reposted by Jen
Forever and continually this.
We will outlast the bastards, and they'll go down in history for *exactly* what they are. Hells, it's already happening to some of them - they've burned their reputations on the altar of their bigotry, and decent folk want nothing to do with them.
We will outlast the bastards, and they'll go down in history for *exactly* what they are. Hells, it's already happening to some of them - they've burned their reputations on the altar of their bigotry, and decent folk want nothing to do with them.
Gods, I am so fucking sick of the 'ideology' and 'contested' argument. Trans people aren't an ideology, we're a natural human variation, which means we've been around a fuck of a lot longer than every extant religion and form of government. The only 'contesting' happening here is by bigoted asshats.
September 5, 2025 at 8:30 AM
Forever and continually this.
We will outlast the bastards, and they'll go down in history for *exactly* what they are. Hells, it's already happening to some of them - they've burned their reputations on the altar of their bigotry, and decent folk want nothing to do with them.
We will outlast the bastards, and they'll go down in history for *exactly* what they are. Hells, it's already happening to some of them - they've burned their reputations on the altar of their bigotry, and decent folk want nothing to do with them.
Reposted by Jen
Another enormous loss occurred in the #LongCOVID community last month.
Rest in peace Leslie Lee III 🕊️
thesicktimes.org/2025/12/04/l...
Rest in peace Leslie Lee III 🕊️
thesicktimes.org/2025/12/04/l...
Leslie Lee III, culture critic and Long COVID advocate, dies at 43 - The Sick Times
Leslie Lee III, an educator, critic, and Long COVID advocate, died on November 10. He was 43.
thesicktimes.org
December 4, 2025 at 7:38 PM
Another enormous loss occurred in the #LongCOVID community last month.
Rest in peace Leslie Lee III 🕊️
thesicktimes.org/2025/12/04/l...
Rest in peace Leslie Lee III 🕊️
thesicktimes.org/2025/12/04/l...
Reposted by Jen
The RFK, Jr. piece I really want to read from a legacy outlet is about how journalists normalized en masse the views of a guy who has been a public crackpot about vaccines and public health issues for 20 years
December 4, 2025 at 8:31 PM
The RFK, Jr. piece I really want to read from a legacy outlet is about how journalists normalized en masse the views of a guy who has been a public crackpot about vaccines and public health issues for 20 years
Reposted by Jen
Massachusetts Renters, stay warm this winter. It's your right.
December 3, 2025 at 4:54 PM
Massachusetts Renters, stay warm this winter. It's your right.
Reposted by Jen
It's really not great that your access to vaccines and accurate public health information now varies depending on where you live
‘In Massachusetts, we follow the science’: Healey promises to protect vaccine access ahead of CDC committee vote - The Boston Globe
Governor Maura Healey warned of misinformation about the childhood vaccine schedule, especially the infant hepatitis B vaccine, ahead of a meeting of the CDC's vaccine advisory panel.
www.bostonglobe.com
December 4, 2025 at 12:53 AM
It's really not great that your access to vaccines and accurate public health information now varies depending on where you live
Reposted by Jen
Disabled isn't a dirty word, and it's fine to work through internalized ableism if you were raised thinking so. We live in an ableist world.
December 4, 2025 at 12:06 AM
Disabled isn't a dirty word, and it's fine to work through internalized ableism if you were raised thinking so. We live in an ableist world.
Reposted by Jen
🚨 Emergency help needed!!!
Wylder’s ceiling is collapsing, and landlords are evil.
Please help with anything at all you can, and repost whether you can chip in financially or not— every repost can make a difference!!!
Wylder’s ceiling is collapsing, and landlords are evil.
Please help with anything at all you can, and repost whether you can chip in financially or not— every repost can make a difference!!!
Trying to get ANYONE on the phone before everyone goe home.
ceiling is continuing to come down. We have most of our things that didnt get ruined in the initial collapse out of the bedroom...
Help us have funda to not rely on uncaring landlords? linktr.ee/wylder
ceiling is continuing to come down. We have most of our things that didnt get ruined in the initial collapse out of the bedroom...
Help us have funda to not rely on uncaring landlords? linktr.ee/wylder
December 3, 2025 at 10:12 PM
🚨 Emergency help needed!!!
Wylder’s ceiling is collapsing, and landlords are evil.
Please help with anything at all you can, and repost whether you can chip in financially or not— every repost can make a difference!!!
Wylder’s ceiling is collapsing, and landlords are evil.
Please help with anything at all you can, and repost whether you can chip in financially or not— every repost can make a difference!!!
Reposted by Jen
It's also interesting to see people newly experiencing adversity saying this when there are people, for example, in entrenched poverty who have never experienced "Christmas magic" & likely never will through no fault of their own. They're so close to getting the point but never make it all the way.
99% of complaints about things being better in the past boil down to "you miss not having adult responsibilities". The other 1% is that everything is manufactured to break after two years now.
Because you're an adult you fucking muppet. You gotta pay the magic forward.
December 3, 2025 at 7:11 PM
It's also interesting to see people newly experiencing adversity saying this when there are people, for example, in entrenched poverty who have never experienced "Christmas magic" & likely never will through no fault of their own. They're so close to getting the point but never make it all the way.
Reposted by Jen
Also, if you (not OP) do not see this as part of a systematic attack on disability protections in the US, please go away, read some books and come back better informed
The NYTimes, The Atlantic, and the WSJ have piled on in the past week. Time for WaPo to get on the too-many-kids-have-diagnoses beat.
Opinion | ADHD Is Exploding. Are the Kids All Right?
‘It’s impossible to ignore the school system’s role in overdiagnosis and prescription.’
www.wsj.com
December 3, 2025 at 7:44 PM
Also, if you (not OP) do not see this as part of a systematic attack on disability protections in the US, please go away, read some books and come back better informed
Reposted by Jen
"legacy" = affirmative action for rich/white/privileged people
"do you know who my father/mother/grandparent is" = accommodations for r/w/p
they use different terminology so they can keep theirs when they take it away from others
"do you know who my father/mother/grandparent is" = accommodations for r/w/p
they use different terminology so they can keep theirs when they take it away from others
December 3, 2025 at 1:10 PM
"legacy" = affirmative action for rich/white/privileged people
"do you know who my father/mother/grandparent is" = accommodations for r/w/p
they use different terminology so they can keep theirs when they take it away from others
"do you know who my father/mother/grandparent is" = accommodations for r/w/p
they use different terminology so they can keep theirs when they take it away from others
Reposted by Jen
This is the thing; we should be able to analyze accommodations as threatening not only established and well defended hierarchies of ability but also race, gender and class.
What people allegedly worried about ‘too many accommodations’ are really concerned about is the dilution of their privilege
What people allegedly worried about ‘too many accommodations’ are really concerned about is the dilution of their privilege
they got there by using a system intended to help able bodied and wealthy white men
they've been getting a lot of accommodations for a very long time
they've been getting a lot of accommodations for a very long time
December 3, 2025 at 1:04 PM
This is the thing; we should be able to analyze accommodations as threatening not only established and well defended hierarchies of ability but also race, gender and class.
What people allegedly worried about ‘too many accommodations’ are really concerned about is the dilution of their privilege
What people allegedly worried about ‘too many accommodations’ are really concerned about is the dilution of their privilege
The idea that people use AI because they hate their jobs, the ease in which people use intelligence based insults from the r-word to stupid & the idea that too many people are getting accommodations are all signs of bad systems that punish people for struggling and being disabled. It's all ableism
December 3, 2025 at 1:02 PM
The idea that people use AI because they hate their jobs, the ease in which people use intelligence based insults from the r-word to stupid & the idea that too many people are getting accommodations are all signs of bad systems that punish people for struggling and being disabled. It's all ableism
Reposted by Jen
I really think not enough people understand how routinely disabled people have to state, communicate, and negotiate their disabilities to physicians, families, friends, schools, courts, the state, the police and more.
It never ends.
It never ends.
I do think the only workable solution is occasionally making a high profile, dramatic example of people who get caught flagrantly abusing the system which helps generate social opprobrium for rule breakers.
December 3, 2025 at 12:26 PM
I really think not enough people understand how routinely disabled people have to state, communicate, and negotiate their disabilities to physicians, families, friends, schools, courts, the state, the police and more.
It never ends.
It never ends.
Reposted by Jen
I’ve never paywalled my articles because I know many of my readers are on disability & can’t afford it.
I’m in a terrible situation with my housing and may need to ask for help.
What’s the best way to do this? Paywall? Wish list? Go fund me?
Would folks be bothered by a GFM in lieu of a paywall?
I’m in a terrible situation with my housing and may need to ask for help.
What’s the best way to do this? Paywall? Wish list? Go fund me?
Would folks be bothered by a GFM in lieu of a paywall?
December 3, 2025 at 6:05 AM
I’ve never paywalled my articles because I know many of my readers are on disability & can’t afford it.
I’m in a terrible situation with my housing and may need to ask for help.
What’s the best way to do this? Paywall? Wish list? Go fund me?
Would folks be bothered by a GFM in lieu of a paywall?
I’m in a terrible situation with my housing and may need to ask for help.
What’s the best way to do this? Paywall? Wish list? Go fund me?
Would folks be bothered by a GFM in lieu of a paywall?
Reposted by Jen
No-strings-attached, zero-means-testing, no-questions-asked cash payouts have been proven, over and over again, to be the most effective form of charity/aid going.
It gets people in housing, and it saves the state money. We know this. It's fact, not theory.
It gets people in housing, and it saves the state money. We know this. It's fact, not theory.
An Oregon pilot program giving cash to homeless youths sees a staggering reduction in homelessness. The program gave participants $1,000 cash payments each month for two years, and at the end of the project's first phase, 91% of participants reported being in stable housing.
Oregon pilot program giving cash to homeless youths sees staggering reduction in homelessness
The state program gave participants $1,000 cash payments each month for two years. At the end of the project's first phase, 91% of participants reported being in stable housing.
www.streetroots.org
December 3, 2025 at 7:12 AM
No-strings-attached, zero-means-testing, no-questions-asked cash payouts have been proven, over and over again, to be the most effective form of charity/aid going.
It gets people in housing, and it saves the state money. We know this. It's fact, not theory.
It gets people in housing, and it saves the state money. We know this. It's fact, not theory.
Reposted by Jen
Here's a thought: if people pretending to be disabled to get accommodations is really such a big issue (it's not, but work with me here) maybe the real problem is that society pushes us ALL too hard and we should be giving EVERYONE more grace & accommodations
December 3, 2025 at 12:50 AM
Here's a thought: if people pretending to be disabled to get accommodations is really such a big issue (it's not, but work with me here) maybe the real problem is that society pushes us ALL too hard and we should be giving EVERYONE more grace & accommodations
Reposted by Jen
It's not difficult at all. Every single aspect of the academic system which requires accommodations for students with disability is something that needs to be changed, because the purpose of the academy cannot be restriction and pressure. It's not the military, it's not bomb diffuser school.
Balancing "no person with a disability should be denied accommodations" with "it's important to discourage non-disabled people from pretending to be disabled to take advantage of these accommodations" is really difficult and I don't have a great answer for what anyone should do about it.
December 2, 2025 at 11:45 PM
It's not difficult at all. Every single aspect of the academic system which requires accommodations for students with disability is something that needs to be changed, because the purpose of the academy cannot be restriction and pressure. It's not the military, it's not bomb diffuser school.
Nope this is just ableism. Talking about SHAMING people for supposedly lying about needing accommodations is bullshit. I guarantee you more disabled people have been SHAMED for even asking to be accommodated than anyone who actually might be lying about needing accommodations. This person as an ass.
December 2, 2025 at 11:35 PM
Nope this is just ableism. Talking about SHAMING people for supposedly lying about needing accommodations is bullshit. I guarantee you more disabled people have been SHAMED for even asking to be accommodated than anyone who actually might be lying about needing accommodations. This person as an ass.
Reposted by Jen
It's also hilarious that there's this belief that people who qualify for accommodations automatically pursue them. There's a lot of stigma behind asking for one + figuring out the process for requesting one.
We need to be able to see that the line "accommodations have gone too far" is an expression of the ableist notion that disabled students do not belong in higher ed. Its fundamentally an anxiety about the fact that disabled students get an "advantage" over abled students.
December 2, 2025 at 11:19 PM
It's also hilarious that there's this belief that people who qualify for accommodations automatically pursue them. There's a lot of stigma behind asking for one + figuring out the process for requesting one.