"...our society is only pro-disability until you scratch the surface...[making] it inevitable that many people with disability become cornered and tired and silenced. From then on, it's a matter of applying common sense; people who are cornered and tired and silenced are often riddled with self doubt or self hatred. It takes time and a conscious effort of will to overcome those things...Without pride in ourselves we cannot create pride in those around us...Like becoming that person with multiple labels, goals and ambitions, becoming a better society for people with disability is not a one-shot process. It's going to take a long time and a lot of thought. The first step is to recognise all our contradictions, traumas and mistakes. The second step is to stop hating them."
- A Journey Towards Pride, Leah Hobson, Ramp Up, 11 June 2014
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Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
One of my other instructors emailed me about my mental illness wanting to work out accommodations for next semester. Which is super duper nice of them, but it also means that my mental illness is now public knowledge.
This is the opposite of what I wanted. The professor told other people too, or the people in class told people who then told the instructors who now know. Aaaaaaaaaaaaa. I'm gonna log off for a couple days and dig myself down a hole.
That feels like a major invasion of privacy, and no amount of good intentions makes that okay. I'm so sorry that happened the way it did, you deserve better than that. It should be your choice to make those decisions about sharing and asking for accommodations rather than basically having it done for you without your consent.
The worst part of it is that I told one professor who blurted it out in class, and now everyone, including unrelated teaching staff, seem to know.
That's such a fucked up thing to do. I'm sorry your professor is so insensitive. Do you have any plans on how to deal with it going forward?
My original plan was to just shut up and let it blow over, but since it's spread i'm gonna have to lodge a complaint. If not for myself, the cat is out on the bag there, then for the next student with an ailment they'd like to reveal on their own terms. I'm gonna talk to my disability support in a week and a half and there talk about getting her support for an official complaint, like she offered when the professor blurted it out in class. I'm also going to email the lecturer who asked me about potential accomodations for next semester asking them where they found out about my illness.
I really hate having to so this. I really didnt want to make this a big deal.
This is a good plan, but I understand you not wanting to do all of this. It shouldn't have to be a big deal, but if people can't keep things in confidence, they need to be held accountable in some sense. I wish you the best of luck with the complaint. We're here if you want to vent about it