{"id":465329,"date":"2020-03-18T06:13:26","date_gmt":"2020-03-18T13:13:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/disabilityvisibilityproject.com\/?p=465329"},"modified":"2026-02-12T17:19:35","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T01:19:35","slug":"coronavirus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/disabilityvisibilityproject.com\/2020\/03\/18\/coronavirus\/","title":{"rendered":"Disabled Oracles and the Coronavirus"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo of an Asian American woman in a power chair. She is wearing an orange-red jacket and black pants. She is wearing a mask over her nose attached to a gray tube and bright red lip color. Her hands are resting over her joystick. Photo credit: Eddie Hernandez Photography<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Disabled people know what it means to be vulnerable and interdependent. We are modern-day oracles. It’s time people listened to us.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Even before the coronavirus pandemic, systems have always tried to kill and oppress marginalized people. Attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Human gene editing.<\/a> Wildfires in California<\/a>. Voluntary power shutoffs by PG&E<\/a>. Medicaid work requirements. Public charge rule. These crises and assaults reconfirm who is considered disposable and unworthy of assistance, resources, attention, and treatment. This time feels different for me with the very real threats of health care rationing and shortage of ventilators<\/a> for critically ill patients in the United States.<\/span><\/p>\n

I use a non-invasive form of ventilation called a Bi-Pap. My vent is part of my body–I cannot be without it for an hour at the most due to my neuromuscular disability. I have sleep apnea and cannot properly remove carbon dioxide from my body without the Bi-Pap which can lead to respiratory failure. I am so dependent on my ventilator that it is attached to my wheelchair where it draws continuous power from my chair’s battery–it is part of my cyborg being.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So many people see me and presume that I have a poor quality of life because I have a tube attached to my face and that I sound different. I refuse to allow the medical industrial complex reduce me to my comorbidities, risk factors, and inability to perform X number of activities of daily living.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I find strength and hope from communities organizing mutual aid and providing care for one another. I call upon the power and wisdom of my disabled ancestors such as Carrie Ann Lucas, Stella Young, <\/span>Ki‘<\/span>tay Davidson, Laura Hershey, Ing Wong-Ward, and Harriet McBryde Johnson. I think about them often and know their light will show me the way forward.<\/p>\n

For more<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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\u201cWere I to contract coronavirus, I imagine a doctor might read my chart, look at me, and think I\u2019m a waste of their efforts and precious resources,\u201d writes @SFdirewolf<\/a>. https:\/\/t.co\/FzdYmQTEqQ<\/a><\/p>\n

— Vox (@voxdotcom) April 4, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n