Disability

• My husband is 100% disabled, but we are still in the process of fighting for Social Security benefits for him and they are not guaranteed. In addition, it's possible that we'll have to move to a different country for me to attend the program I want with adequate funding (Plant Bioinformatics). I've yet to apply to any programs because I've yet to identify any that would provide me with enough funding that I could support both myself and my husband. If anyone else has experience with this (or similar cases such as a person with a disabled adult child, etc) I would very much appreciate their insight and I imagine I'm not the only one facing this issue. Thank you for making this project, I'll be referring to it a lot in the coming weeks.
• if you have a disability that affects your functioning in school, be sure to talk to your school's disability office. Schools vary in how accommodations are provided, but the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) means they have to accommodate reasonable requests. These accommodations are available for any campus activity. So if you need sign language interpreters for your classes you can also have them for one-time workshops, friends' thesis defenses, or campus rallies. The people in the disability office are your allies, so get to know them!
• At my school funding for accommodations comes from different buckets for student activities than for teaching activities, so if that's the case for you it's important to specify what role the accommodation plays in your career (i.e., are you attending this lecture on citations because it's part of your TA responsibility or because you want to know what the rules are for your thesis or dissertation?).
• For graduate students with disabilities: http://www.apa.org/pi/disability/resources/publications/resource-guide.aspx