Martha Cunningham

Baby freelance journo and disability activist. She/they

[Martha Cunningham @CunningMartha]

I was scared to write this piece, because I'm still in the waiting phase, I'm still in the vulnerable phase. But if anyone from the DWP has googled my name and found this piece - fuck you, you work for a traumatising system!

[The Unwritten @TheUnwrittenPub]

"Applying for benefits is so traumatic that you should qualify for additional money just for having to go through it in the first place." - @CuntMartha writes about how awful the UK disability benefits process is
https://t.co/3Ywn4hHZNv

[Martha Cunningham @CunningMartha]

Fully understand @arrivanorthwest that there's only space for one wheelchair on your buses, but it'd be nice if the driver actually opened the door to tell me that instead of just making vague gestures from inside closed doors and his cab. Beyond rude

[Martha Cunningham @CunningMartha]

@arrivanorthwest and another just came past saying Sorry Not In Service. Cannot rely on your buses AT ALL

[Martha Cunningham @CunningMartha]

@arrivanorthwest trying to come from Old Skelmersdale to Digmoor and Wigan 375 and 385 showing as cancelled, only information references the closure in Up Holland which is further down the route and a diversion is in place

[Martha Cunningham @CunningMartha]

And the 310 to Skelmersdale Concourse that just arrived (would get me half way and taxi the rest) couldn't take me due to another wheelchair already on board

[Martha Cunningham @CunningMartha]

How do I get my mum's tea home to her then, I'm disabled, they're wrapped, and she stinks of smoke

[Martha Cunningham @CunningMartha]

Bus driver said I'm not really supposed to bring my chippy food on the bus (wrapped up, not eating it) "because of the smell" and she's just sparked up a fag while at the bus station @arrivanorthwest

[Martha Cunningham @CunningMartha]

(According to my bloods. Nobody asked my connective tissue)

[Martha Cunningham @CunningMartha]

Tw: medical fatphobia

My bloods came back from the doctor who insisted on a diabetes test because I'm fat and my parents have diabetes, and guess what?

Healthy as a horse, motherfuckers

[Martha Cunningham @CunningMartha]

I want to eat food that gives me more nutrition and fuels my body and it isn't so stressful I break down at just the thought of having to eat! Weight loss may or may not be a side effect of that... same as I get dry mouth from antidepressants but nobody cares about that

[Martha Cunningham @CunningMartha]

Tw: ED When you finally speak to a medical professional about your bad relationship with food and tendency to stop eating, and then find out you're being referred to "Aintree Loss - Weight Management" because you're fat and that's the only way to get proper eating disorder care

[Martha Cunningham @CunningMartha]

Tw: medical fatphobia. A doctor told me I might have diabetes. He said this because both my parents do, and also I'm fat, no other reasons. He also gave me a lecture about calories and eating less and being more active (even as a disabled person) and I've been triggered af since

[Martha Cunningham @CunningMartha]

@SamWhyte @hurricane_ros Is this guy for real? I'm waiting on a pip appeal and although my mental health is the main reason I can't work, it forms almost no part of my appeal because there's no point... We're focusing on the physical

[Martha Cunningham @CunningMartha]

She just did it again!

[Martha Cunningham @CunningMartha]

A woman was just sat in the doctors waiting room clicking all of her knuckles in turn and honestly like ugh

[Martha Cunningham @CunningMartha]

Unless that person is from the DWP, in which case I now appear to be the kind of person who passes out at random so stop asking like I'm not disabled

[Martha Cunningham @CunningMartha]

This morning I stood up out of bed, felt a little dizzy, and the next minute I was suddenly on the floor.

If anyone asks, I was doing something REALLY COOL

[Martha Cunningham @CunningMartha]

Where does washing my hair go, silly CBT worksheet? It should be routine but I've not been doing it, so now it's pretty necessary, and also I'll feel a sense of achievement if I do it (and I shouldn't be 'connected' to anyone if I don't do it!) #ActuallyAutistic

[Martha Cunningham @CunningMartha]

Already having a predictably #ActuallyAutistic response to CBT - I can't decide what is a necessary, routine and enjoyable activity because of the slightly poorly defined categories

Like, where does "attend a protest" go?

[Martha Cunningham @CunningMartha]

Oh no, I am mistaken, it's "pleasurable" rather than enjoyable, and that includes "activities that give a sense of achievement or connectedness to others"... Not usually what I wouldn't say were "pleasurable", and they're also pretty "routine" and "necessary" #ActuallyAutistic