A view from the back of the room

By Doll

When you’re more comfortable with a sketchbook and pens at home, being invited to attend a conference is daunting. Add a disability and the fact I’m not a scholar (or anywhere close to it); well you’ll end up with how I felt en route to the campus complex for the event.

I’m still new to being in these spaces, we the ill are rarely given an opportunity to redress the balance of clinical narratives in research - in fact the methodology nearly eradicates the patient experience altogether.

The conference was engaging and informative, the hybrid nature adding a richness to the number of speakers in a way that valued everyone, regardless of location. The clear highlight was the range of expertise featured; from role playing games, literature, vampires to a soprano - future conferences have a tall order to beat that level of creative diversity!

More than anything though, the conversations and allies found in moments like waiting for the tea to brew, are so important. Finding time to be human, to connect beyond the written, is where the real learning happens.

I may have been at the back of the room, but I never felt it; and for that I’m truly grateful.