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123. The Invisible Disability Episode: What Would You Do If You Could Only Be On Your Feet for 3-4 Hours A Day?
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Sara Alepin was really passionate about being a teacher - and still is! But one day she was forced to quit her job teaching when she became permanently disabled from breaking up a fight at her school where a student stomped on a foot and crushed one of her nerves, making it difficult for her to walk, especially on the linoleum floors that usually line the floors of classrooms. Ever since then, she has only been able to be on her feet for 3-4 hours a day.
What did the school do? Did it pay her medical bills and try to support her transition out of teaching? You guessed it: not it did not. Not only did they not do they, they actually hired a private investigator to follow her around to try to get out of paying the medical bills, who likely cost many times the amount they would have paid had they simply agreed to pay the medical bills. (The alternate title for this episode is Yet Again We Hear About Why the School System is Fucked.)
On top of hearing Sara's story, we hear about why it can be so difficult having an invisible disability: for one thing, when you are not obviously disabled, you can get some really dirty looks when you go to park in the handicapped spot, or try to get a wheelchair in the airport. For her, some of the most difficult aspects of her disability have not actually been as much around how the world is not designed to accommodate her needs (in fact, as many jobs ave become even more sedentary during Covid, one could argue that many people's lifestyles have been changing to become more like hers!) as much as it has been around the judgements and assumptions of other people.
Links:
Sara's podcast, The Wedding Dish: https://www.theweddingdishpodcast.com/
Sara's other podcast, Laughing with Gingers: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/laughing-with-gingers/id1524216963
Laughing with Gingers Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laughingwithgingers/?hl=en
Sara's wedding photography business, Photos from the Harty: https://www.photosfromtheharty.com/
Sara's other business, District Bliss Events: https://www.instagram.com/districtblissevents/?hl=en
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