Capacity in Disability

When I think capacity, I think the maximum something can take. 40 seater bus, 3L bucket, 400 seat theatre. Ironically when it comes to people, capacity is used to describe what we cannot do.

Something I have had to make peace with in the last 10 years, is the dwindling capacity that comes with chronic illness. To be fair, my capacity was never great, I had hypermobility issues from a young age, as well as frequent illnesses (foreshadowing), but after what I now understand to be autistic burnout in 2019, my health, and my ability to function, dramatically fell off.

One of the hardest things for me to explain, is how one day I can do a thing, and the next day I can’t. On paper, it sounds like I just don’t do things I don’t feel like doing. In reality, a have dynamic disability, meaning my capacity changes, and often over the space of a day.

I put together a (rambly) video on this, hopefully it helps you better understand dynamic disability, and if you are disabled yourself, know that I see you x