Episode 81: Hidden Disability
About the Podcast
Who knew Type 1 Diabetes was considered a disability? Speak up out there. In this episode, Clancy interviews her intern and registered-dietitian-to-be, Skye Barnette. She shares her experience as a Type 1 diabetic and how she wants to use her personal experience to change others’ perception around disability and food insecurity.
About Skye Barnette
Skye Barnett is a dietitian-to-be who gives insight into her life as a Type 1 Diabetic to educate others on the unseen and typically unknown experiences of having an invisible disability.
Discussion Takeaways
- Clancy is running in the NYC marathon to raise awareness on the intersection of food insecurity and disability.
- Just because someone looks able-bodied, doesn’t mean they are. Invisible disorders, like diabetes, are considered a disability.
- At age 21, Skye became a Type 1 Diabetic. She went from hardly caring about food to having it be central to her survival.
- The legal definition of “disability” is an impairment that limits you in one or more major activities. The medical definition looks at it an impairment of the body or mind which includes your hearing, headspace, eye sight, mental health, physical limitations, etc. But, there are also invisible disabilities as well – like diabetes or other illnesses like Crohn’s Disease.
- Those with disability could be standing right next to you without you even knowing it.
- Food insecurity can happen to anyone, it is not constrained to a certain type of person.
- Working with people in the community, food insecurity doesn’t just impact their access to food and hunger, it affects their outcomes. It’s important for those who work in the interdisciplinary setting, especially in the clinical arena, how can you work with people in the office and outside the office as well. It takes a team to create sustainable change.
- Before her time with Clancy, Skye - who wants to be a sports dietitian - never thought food access was an issue for her future clients. Now, she must consider if her athletes will have the ability to get the foods that she recommends. Hunger impacts everyone and all sectors.
#1 tip to improve access to healthy food
We must question our assumptions about others and talk to each person to understand what hunger means to them. It impacts everyone differently, and is way more than not being able to put food on the table.
Each week on the Food Dignity® Podcast, the Food Dignity® Movement's Clancy Harrison hosts a wide variety of hunger experts and other people making changes on the frontlines. Join us as we dive deep into conversations that will change the way you think about food insecurity.
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