“Disability Burn-Out”: Internalized Ableism and its consequences! By Raul Krauthausen, disability activist with OI A disability can be stressful and sometimes trigger burnout. Often, one’s own internalized ableism plays a major role – in other words, the pressure of having to gain a raison d’être through performance and functionality. This can rule a lifetime. It…
On June 27 OIFE volunteer Rebecca Tvedt Skarberg represented EURORDIS at the EU Meeting “A Union of Equality: Disability Rights and Strategies”, which was a seminar on examples of how to reach equality by using strategies to realize the rights of persons with disabilities. In order to highlight and raise awareness of the EU strategy…
Written by Malene Sillas, OIFE Board Member. Growing up from childhood, becoming a young adult, I’ve always felt that whatever I do, it feels like I’m the first person to do it. I remember that the first time I felt that way, I was in my second year of high school. The whole class was…
The European Parliament of Persons with Disabilities (EPPD) was a one-day event on May 23, 2023 that reunited over 600 disability advocates, policymakers and other stakeholders. It was hosted at the hemicycle of the European Parliament in Brussels. The theme of the 5th edition was “Building an inclusive future for persons with disabilities in the…
Interview with Lea Jebali, intern at Rare Diseases International (RDI) Who are you and what is your relationship to OI? My name is Léa, I am 22 years old and I have OI. As a child and teenager, my family and I went to many OI events at the regional association in Germany. When I…
Ableism turns disabled people into “others” – and helps non-disabled people stay “normal”. Through the hashtag #AbleismTellsMe different disabled people told their stories about discrimination. What exactly is Ableism? And what is the difference between that and hostility to disabled people? This is what Rebecca Maskos, from Germany, tries to explain in this article. It…
Unsolicited advice for non-disabled parents of disabled children By Haley Brown, artist from the US Unsolicited parenting advice from someone who isn’t even a parent is…everyone’s favourite thing, right? I know, I know, it can be really rude and annoying. But I wrote this from a place of deep love – for disabled kids AND…
Claudia Finis is a member of the German OI-association DOIG and a volunteer for the OIFE. With the input from two other parents (Janina and Sven) who have OI themselves, she wrote an article about parenting a child when you have OI. The article was first published in the German magazine “Durchbruch” (Breakthrough). It has…
Erwin Aljukic is an actor, dancer, speaker and fashion journalist. Since 1998 he can be seen on TV, in the cinema and at the theater. In addition to acting, he studied fashion journalism and has been working as a freelancer ever since. In 2014 he devoted himself to contemporary dance. Aljukic has been a permanent…
![[Image shows a gouache/ink/pencil cartoon illustration I made in my sketchbook. Against a black background, a yellow orb frames an illustration of me sitting on the floor, crooked white femme with glasses and hair in a messy bun. I look down lovingly at the ghost of kid-me sitting in my lap, and hold the back of her head gently. She looks back at me and holds juniper (fluffy black cat) in her lap. Around the orb is abstract decorative designs of yellow vines, sparkles, and dots.]](https://oife.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Haley-Brown-illustration-877x470.png)
