Helen Rottier
@helenrottier.bsky.social
PhD in Disability Studies. Disabled Dis-Epistemologies and Knowledge Production. Opinions are my own. she/her
Reposted by Helen Rottier
Grateful for the phone call I had today about Alice, community, & other crip things.
It was perfect. Just the right dose of joy & real needed at this time.
It was perfect. Just the right dose of joy & real needed at this time.
November 15, 2025 at 11:49 PM
Grateful for the phone call I had today about Alice, community, & other crip things.
It was perfect. Just the right dose of joy & real needed at this time.
It was perfect. Just the right dose of joy & real needed at this time.
Reposted by Helen Rottier
my mom (once told me “every woman goes through a transgnder phase”, practiced what I can only describe as defensive interior design) said my dad (instinctively afraid of motorcycles, sunglasses indoors, subscription to Canadian Mining magazine) couldn’t be autistic because “he’s not even a genius”
May 20, 2025 at 6:32 PM
my mom (once told me “every woman goes through a transgnder phase”, practiced what I can only describe as defensive interior design) said my dad (instinctively afraid of motorcycles, sunglasses indoors, subscription to Canadian Mining magazine) couldn’t be autistic because “he’s not even a genius”
Reposted by Helen Rottier
It's a great cosmic joke that neurodivergence both runs in families and gets diagnosed based on parent reports. I was diagnosed at 30 because a man who has eaten potatoes every day for 57 years and a woman who collects loose buttons decided I was a perfectly normal child.
November 15, 2025 at 5:10 AM
It's a great cosmic joke that neurodivergence both runs in families and gets diagnosed based on parent reports. I was diagnosed at 30 because a man who has eaten potatoes every day for 57 years and a woman who collects loose buttons decided I was a perfectly normal child.
Reposted by Helen Rottier
This was a genuine roadblock for us when getting our youngest diagnosed; they live in a house with 3 other ND people. A lot of the friction they WOULD experience doesn’t exist in our house, and realizing your kid maybe won’t get diagnosed because you’re not torturing them sufficiently is a WILD time
It's a great cosmic joke that neurodivergence both runs in families and gets diagnosed based on parent reports. I was diagnosed at 30 because a man who has eaten potatoes every day for 57 years and a woman who collects loose buttons decided I was a perfectly normal child.
November 15, 2025 at 10:34 PM
This was a genuine roadblock for us when getting our youngest diagnosed; they live in a house with 3 other ND people. A lot of the friction they WOULD experience doesn’t exist in our house, and realizing your kid maybe won’t get diagnosed because you’re not torturing them sufficiently is a WILD time
Reposted by Helen Rottier
Chat is it good or bad for their coalition that republicans are polarizing the US Conference of Catholic Bishops specifically against them?
US Bishops have responded to attacks by Border Czar Tom Homan: “The bishops of the United States have spoken together and in unity with Pope Leo XIV.”
November 15, 2025 at 10:32 PM
Chat is it good or bad for their coalition that republicans are polarizing the US Conference of Catholic Bishops specifically against them?
Reposted by Helen Rottier
Megillat Alice
I met Alice through #Disbility twitter when it was completely new to me but our communities were still together there.
Alice had zero ego. She is friendly, compassionate, a force of nature.
We had fun convos, hard convos. She was really good at giving advice, listening.
cont
I met Alice through #Disbility twitter when it was completely new to me but our communities were still together there.
Alice had zero ego. She is friendly, compassionate, a force of nature.
We had fun convos, hard convos. She was really good at giving advice, listening.
cont
November 15, 2025 at 6:28 PM
Megillat Alice
I met Alice through #Disbility twitter when it was completely new to me but our communities were still together there.
Alice had zero ego. She is friendly, compassionate, a force of nature.
We had fun convos, hard convos. She was really good at giving advice, listening.
cont
I met Alice through #Disbility twitter when it was completely new to me but our communities were still together there.
Alice had zero ego. She is friendly, compassionate, a force of nature.
We had fun convos, hard convos. She was really good at giving advice, listening.
cont
Reposted by Helen Rottier
Y’all need to learn how to 'yes AND'. There’s a lot of rejecting or dismissing facts because the framing is incorrect/immoral/trite, etc. but that’s doesn’t change the FACT. You can still use and share the FACT while altering or arguing against the framing in which said information was shared.
November 15, 2025 at 9:25 PM
Y’all need to learn how to 'yes AND'. There’s a lot of rejecting or dismissing facts because the framing is incorrect/immoral/trite, etc. but that’s doesn’t change the FACT. You can still use and share the FACT while altering or arguing against the framing in which said information was shared.
Reposted by Helen Rottier
Alice Wong, a writer and activist who was born with muscular dystrophy and who fought relentlessly for equal rights and access for people with disabilities, died on Friday. She was 51. nyti.ms/4r9WqEr
November 15, 2025 at 9:33 PM
Alice Wong, a writer and activist who was born with muscular dystrophy and who fought relentlessly for equal rights and access for people with disabilities, died on Friday. She was 51. nyti.ms/4r9WqEr
Reposted by Helen Rottier
Thank you, @sfdirewolf.bsky.social, for your work and for sharing yourself.
You were one of the best of us.
You are, and will be, missed.
You were one of the best of us.
You are, and will be, missed.
November 15, 2025 at 3:44 PM
Thank you, @sfdirewolf.bsky.social, for your work and for sharing yourself.
You were one of the best of us.
You are, and will be, missed.
You were one of the best of us.
You are, and will be, missed.
Reposted by Helen Rottier
My favorite part of being a scholar is talking cool people into doing cool projects with me. 🥰
November 15, 2025 at 11:03 PM
My favorite part of being a scholar is talking cool people into doing cool projects with me. 🥰
Reposted by Helen Rottier
Rudy Bridges is younger than the Sitting President of the United States and 29 sitting United States Senators
It’s useful for people of my generation to be reminded that this wasn’t that long ago. Ruby Bridges isn’t just still alive—she’s only 71, not ancient!
65 years ago on Nov. 14, little Ruby Bridges was escorted into an all-white elementary school in New Orleans. Norman Rockwell, renowned for blissful depictions of Americana, did this remarkable painting for Look magazine. Printed as a double page, over-size spread, it's his masterpiece.
November 15, 2025 at 3:44 PM
Rudy Bridges is younger than the Sitting President of the United States and 29 sitting United States Senators
Reposted by Helen Rottier
The irony here is painful.
Alice Wong wrote a column for Vogue called Disability Visibility. You can still find all her writing for Vogue under her author name.
But *Disability Visibility* - also the name of the advocacy group she launched - has been erased.
Exactly how disabled people often are.
Alice Wong wrote a column for Vogue called Disability Visibility. You can still find all her writing for Vogue under her author name.
But *Disability Visibility* - also the name of the advocacy group she launched - has been erased.
Exactly how disabled people often are.
The new owners of Teen Vogue have already erased her column.
www.teenvogue.com/tag/disabili...
www.teenvogue.com/tag/disabili...
November 15, 2025 at 11:07 PM
The irony here is painful.
Alice Wong wrote a column for Vogue called Disability Visibility. You can still find all her writing for Vogue under her author name.
But *Disability Visibility* - also the name of the advocacy group she launched - has been erased.
Exactly how disabled people often are.
Alice Wong wrote a column for Vogue called Disability Visibility. You can still find all her writing for Vogue under her author name.
But *Disability Visibility* - also the name of the advocacy group she launched - has been erased.
Exactly how disabled people often are.
Reposted by Helen Rottier
As a long-time admirer of Alice Wong, I’m heartbroken and a bit shaken by her passing. 😢💔
You never think your heroes are going to die, and she was truly a Wonder Woman here on Earth. Alice, you will forever be missed and loved by me and countless others.
Rest in power!
You never think your heroes are going to die, and she was truly a Wonder Woman here on Earth. Alice, you will forever be missed and loved by me and countless others.
Rest in power!
November 15, 2025 at 7:55 PM
As a long-time admirer of Alice Wong, I’m heartbroken and a bit shaken by her passing. 😢💔
You never think your heroes are going to die, and she was truly a Wonder Woman here on Earth. Alice, you will forever be missed and loved by me and countless others.
Rest in power!
You never think your heroes are going to die, and she was truly a Wonder Woman here on Earth. Alice, you will forever be missed and loved by me and countless others.
Rest in power!
Reposted by Helen Rottier
Please stop using language that suggests that people with criminal records are appropriate targets for this administration's violence. One in three adults has a criminal record. Stop playing sacrifice games with fascists. Stop surrendering entire categories of people in your own mind.
November 15, 2025 at 11:09 PM
Please stop using language that suggests that people with criminal records are appropriate targets for this administration's violence. One in three adults has a criminal record. Stop playing sacrifice games with fascists. Stop surrendering entire categories of people in your own mind.
Reposted by Helen Rottier
I usually don’t like linking to the NYT, but I think it’s important to know that they wrote and published an obituary immediately for Alice Wong. (It selectively left out parts of her disability activism that they didn’t like, of course.)
“One of the things that really gives me joy is the fact that there are so many amazing, brilliant, creative disabled people out there. But part of my rage — and it’s a very real rage — is that most people don’t really know about them.”
Obit:
Obit:
Alice Wong, Writer and Relentless Advocate for Disability Rights, Dies at 51
www.nytimes.com
November 15, 2025 at 10:46 PM
I usually don’t like linking to the NYT, but I think it’s important to know that they wrote and published an obituary immediately for Alice Wong. (It selectively left out parts of her disability activism that they didn’t like, of course.)
Reposted by Helen Rottier
Alice leaves behind a body of work that will continue to shape movements for decades. But more importantly, she leaves behind communities and relationships she helped build and nurture—relations that will carry her clarity, her defiance, and her tenderness forward.
November 15, 2025 at 4:16 PM
Alice leaves behind a body of work that will continue to shape movements for decades. But more importantly, she leaves behind communities and relationships she helped build and nurture—relations that will carry her clarity, her defiance, and her tenderness forward.
Reposted by Helen Rottier
I generally treat land acknowledgements like I do corporate DEI trainings: I may inwardly roll my eyes on occasion, but I'm instantly suspicious of people who become outwardly aggrieved by them. For that reason alone I think they actually provide some value.
my wokest opinion is that land acknowledgements are fine. people knowing a little bit about the land you're on, even if one isn't invested in a land back project, is not particularly worse than the status quo, even if one comes by this info in a way that is somewhat cringe and forced
"my least woke opinion is---"
That's enough. We've had enough people indulging in the "thrill of a little conservatism", as a treat. Of considering reactionary thought to be a salacious and taboo in a world descending into reactionary mania.
Give me your MOST woke opinions. We're bringing it back.
That's enough. We've had enough people indulging in the "thrill of a little conservatism", as a treat. Of considering reactionary thought to be a salacious and taboo in a world descending into reactionary mania.
Give me your MOST woke opinions. We're bringing it back.
November 15, 2025 at 5:34 PM
I generally treat land acknowledgements like I do corporate DEI trainings: I may inwardly roll my eyes on occasion, but I'm instantly suspicious of people who become outwardly aggrieved by them. For that reason alone I think they actually provide some value.
Reposted by Helen Rottier
Honoring Alice Wong's life and legacy with gratitude, in solidarity and sorrow, this morning. I was a fan; thinking of all who loved and knew her personally.
Alice's words speak to us still. As a chronically ill person, I will keep listening. What a beautiful, bold, *brilliant* life well lived.
Alice's words speak to us still. As a chronically ill person, I will keep listening. What a beautiful, bold, *brilliant* life well lived.
November 15, 2025 at 4:23 PM
Honoring Alice Wong's life and legacy with gratitude, in solidarity and sorrow, this morning. I was a fan; thinking of all who loved and knew her personally.
Alice's words speak to us still. As a chronically ill person, I will keep listening. What a beautiful, bold, *brilliant* life well lived.
Alice's words speak to us still. As a chronically ill person, I will keep listening. What a beautiful, bold, *brilliant* life well lived.
Reposted by Helen Rottier
You know who would have published a good obit of Alice Wong? Teen Vogue.
But they closed it, just a week before Alice died, screwing her out of her columnist gig a week before her death and making sure TV didn’t cover her death, Dick Cheney’s death or Mamdani’s win.
Thanks, Anna Wintour!!!
But they closed it, just a week before Alice died, screwing her out of her columnist gig a week before her death and making sure TV didn’t cover her death, Dick Cheney’s death or Mamdani’s win.
Thanks, Anna Wintour!!!
November 15, 2025 at 4:03 PM
You know who would have published a good obit of Alice Wong? Teen Vogue.
But they closed it, just a week before Alice died, screwing her out of her columnist gig a week before her death and making sure TV didn’t cover her death, Dick Cheney’s death or Mamdani’s win.
Thanks, Anna Wintour!!!
But they closed it, just a week before Alice died, screwing her out of her columnist gig a week before her death and making sure TV didn’t cover her death, Dick Cheney’s death or Mamdani’s win.
Thanks, Anna Wintour!!!
Reposted by Helen Rottier
great idea! It’s why I’d advise freshmen in groups. They end up advising each other. Similar issues arise for them. How to log on to X? or pay Y? etc. One on one seems* bespoke/better but it makes me repeat the same things all day & they miss the chance to share knowledge/make friends/ be of use.
props to WSJ for once on a useful notion, ADMIN PARTY for everybody
November 15, 2025 at 7:06 PM
great idea! It’s why I’d advise freshmen in groups. They end up advising each other. Similar issues arise for them. How to log on to X? or pay Y? etc. One on one seems* bespoke/better but it makes me repeat the same things all day & they miss the chance to share knowledge/make friends/ be of use.
Reposted by Helen Rottier
Rest in power, Alice Wong.
A fierce disability justice oracle, storyteller, and now ancestor.
She taught us that disabled wisdom lights the future, and that our stories must never be erased.
We mourn. We fight. We carry her work forward.
Thank you, Alice. For everything you gave us.
A fierce disability justice oracle, storyteller, and now ancestor.
She taught us that disabled wisdom lights the future, and that our stories must never be erased.
We mourn. We fight. We carry her work forward.
Thank you, Alice. For everything you gave us.
“With so many marginalized communities, we’re basically the oracles…we’re the ones who see shit before it happens.” In June 2020, I interviewed Alice Wong for TVU before she lost her ability to speak. I asked her how she’d first learned of SARS-CoV-2. She began with the 2016 election of Trump:
November 15, 2025 at 7:05 PM
Rest in power, Alice Wong.
A fierce disability justice oracle, storyteller, and now ancestor.
She taught us that disabled wisdom lights the future, and that our stories must never be erased.
We mourn. We fight. We carry her work forward.
Thank you, Alice. For everything you gave us.
A fierce disability justice oracle, storyteller, and now ancestor.
She taught us that disabled wisdom lights the future, and that our stories must never be erased.
We mourn. We fight. We carry her work forward.
Thank you, Alice. For everything you gave us.
Reposted by Helen Rottier
My statement from @americanprogress.bsky.social on disability justice activist, author, MacArthur fellow, and cyborg oracle Alice Wong.
November 15, 2025 at 5:54 PM
My statement from @americanprogress.bsky.social on disability justice activist, author, MacArthur fellow, and cyborg oracle Alice Wong.
Reposted by Helen Rottier
Alice Wong’s legacy is the political horizon she helped articulate. A horizon where disabled knowledge is central, and care is a shared commitment. She taught us to name grief & rage without collapsing under them, to celebrate disabled brilliance without ignoring the material conditions shaping life
November 15, 2025 at 4:16 PM
Alice Wong’s legacy is the political horizon she helped articulate. A horizon where disabled knowledge is central, and care is a shared commitment. She taught us to name grief & rage without collapsing under them, to celebrate disabled brilliance without ignoring the material conditions shaping life
Reposted by Helen Rottier
Losing Alice feels like being hit with a phaser. I will be offline doing Klingon death screams in her honor until I can process this horrible blow to the space-time and disability and community and geekdom and comraderie and cat lover continuums. -SR
November 15, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Losing Alice feels like being hit with a phaser. I will be offline doing Klingon death screams in her honor until I can process this horrible blow to the space-time and disability and community and geekdom and comraderie and cat lover continuums. -SR
Reposted by Helen Rottier
It feels desperately painful to see some of the most morally consistent, fierce, clear-eyed, & principled teachers leave us as f@scism continues to balloon—the same f@scism committed to debility & the abandonment of disabled people.
Elders, oracles, ancestors.
RIP @sfdirewolf.bsky.social.
Elders, oracles, ancestors.
RIP @sfdirewolf.bsky.social.
November 15, 2025 at 7:27 PM
It feels desperately painful to see some of the most morally consistent, fierce, clear-eyed, & principled teachers leave us as f@scism continues to balloon—the same f@scism committed to debility & the abandonment of disabled people.
Elders, oracles, ancestors.
RIP @sfdirewolf.bsky.social.
Elders, oracles, ancestors.
RIP @sfdirewolf.bsky.social.