But are you disabled *enough*?
Every few weeks or so, I get asked why I’m on the “Jobseeker” benefit instead of the Supported Living Payment. I reply that my application for the SLP was denied. Continue Reading →
Category Archives: WINZ/IRD
A sea change – or just more weasel words?
Way back when I was fighting Paula Bennett, the then Social Development Minister, in the media, Labour made a lot of noise about trying to effect a cultural change at Continue Reading →
WINZ: criminal til proven otherwise
I’ve been the lucky recipient of not one, not two, but four letters from WINZ this week, each one requiring different things of me. I want people to understand how Continue Reading →
Thank you, Metiria
I’m exhausted. I’m exhausted because I’m sick, because I did too much today, because the last two weeks have all caught up with me. And I have done nothing, nothing, Continue Reading →
I deserve to exist
I’ve been struggling to deal with the public debate around beneficiary rights that’s continued since Metiria Turei’s game-changing speech last week.
Benefit fraud: it isn’t what you think it is
The word ‘fraud’ calls to mind, for me, a nefarious character who is willingly and maliciously ripping off a system to the tune of thousands of dollars.
Don’t tell me to smile
Part of the idea of disability porn – aka inspiration porn – is the concept for ABS: Always Be Smiling. That the person with a disability is not only there Continue Reading →
WINZ + moving house
This week, I moved house. I wrote a bit about what it means to try and relocate when you’re disabled or chronically ill. I wanted to expand on some of Continue Reading →
How to self-advocate
After my post about chronic illness being a fulltime job, and how hard and exhausting it can be, a few people asked me – how do I manage to self-advocate? Continue Reading →
Being sick is a fulltime job
So you’ve got a chronic illness? Shit’s about to get real. Here’s something I can say with completely certainty: the “system” (multiple systems) can, and will, let you down. You Continue Reading →