Photo © ILO | Flickr/Creative Commons [image: Doctor giving a heart exam to a patient on a hospital bed. Both people are East Asian.] Kate Ryan Why I am Writing This I am a professional disability advocate in my mid thirties. I am also autistic and have various learning disabilities/mental health diagnoses. I have always been very lucky in that I live in Massachusetts and so have been able to access healthcare despite the fact that I am very low income. I was a personal care aide for many years and due to this I developed back problems. In the spring of 2016, they became significantly worse. I tried many, many therapies and medications, including alternative ones. I was eventually diagnosed with an extruded disc and had surgery in January, 2017. Although my surgery was supposed to be a routine day surgery, and all of my health care practitioners knew…
