Sign in

Debbie Downer

@debbiedown.bsky.social
529 followers 1.4K following 201 posts

Recovering academic, late discovered AuDHD cat person, just trying to survive in this dystopia

PostsRepliesMedia
Debbie Downer @debbiedown.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
This line from this song always makes me cry, because it speaks to something I can’t articulate myself. Sending you care and 🫂
010 1
Debbie Downer @debbiedown.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
May we continue to strive for - and create - a better, more humane way of delivering care as our existing systems crumble.
001 1
Debbie Downer @debbiedown.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Watching a neurodivergent loved one whose unmet needs and fear are driving their “behaviors” being met with punitive responses is so hard. All I can do is try to hold space and offer comfort, because I know how the system works. The system grinds us all eventually.
100 1
Debbie Downer @debbiedown.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Centering the real human needs and emotions underneath behaviors can be a subversive act is our care system. So many people who provide care do this subversive work, but the system as a whole does not reward it.
100 1
Debbie Downer @debbiedown.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Punitive systems designed to “extinguish behaviors” only exacerbate the feeling of being cornered, which exacerbates the “behavior”. When I worked as a caregiver, I focused on trying to understand the unmet need underneath the “behavior”, because there always is one.
100 1
Debbie Downer @debbiedown.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
When a vulnerable person in a care setting lashes out because they feel cornered and afraid, it’s how they have learned to protect themself over a lifetime of trauma. The U.S. health and care systems treat this as a “behavior” that must be extinguished rather than an indicator of internal distress.
100 1
Reposted by Debbie Downer
Melody Schreiber @melodyschreiber.com · 08/09/2026
A bizarre moment in reporting on this story: One of the authors of this study disputed my summary of it: “...gender ideology is associated with LWA [left-wing authoritarianism] and willingness to justify political violence.” I was quoting from the study itself. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
theguardian.com
‘Nakedly political’: US attempts to link trans support to authoritarianism in new health department report
HHS releases report linking ‘gender ideology’ to political violence – a study scientists say was poorly conducted
135693 356
Reposted by Debbie Downer
Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
pay living wages for all workers. tax the shit out of billionaires. happy labor day.
3545781156 4.6K
Debbie Downer @debbiedown.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
2026 is being parked next to this car, while a white woman in an American flag t-shirt yells “DERANGEMENT SYNDROME” loudly beside it. I told her they had it right as I loaded my car, so she started yelling at me. Wish I’d told her how much more my groceries cost because of her orange overlord…
A beat up, small, black car with two handmade posters taped to the side that say “HEY TRUMP” and “GET LOST”
010 1
Debbie Downer @debbiedown.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Thank you 🫂
110 1
Reposted by Debbie Downer
Leah McElrath @leahmcelrath.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
“The old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born: now is the time of monsters.”
29613 96
Debbie Downer @debbiedown.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Thank you. These are such unbelievably hard times for so many folks. I try to hold on to hope that even though there is so much destruction and suffering happening, in the wake of it there is a potential for something beautiful to grow
110 1
Debbie Downer @debbiedown.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
This is really beautiful and moving. Sending care and comfort in the wake of such a profound loss 🫂
110 1
Debbie Downer @debbiedown.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
👋 I relate to all of this! My childhood yearbooks were filled with notes from other kids commenting on the constant singing and talking. I learned how to channel the love of words into teaching, research, and writing until I burned out completely. I’m just starting to find my words again years later
020 2
Debbie Downer @debbiedown.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Bearing witness to a multifaceted societal and environmental collapse, the erosion of social norms, and the dissolution of the social compact at the same time as I’m losing nearly all of the people and places I care about is so unbelievably overwhelming. Feels like being in free fall all the time…
110 1
Reposted by Debbie Downer
Karen Attiah @karenattiah.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Getting my job back at the Washington Post would not have been possible if it wasn’t for me belonging to a union. @postguild.bsky.social and @wbng.org are the unions I belong to. I was able to challenge my wrongful termination because of the collective bargaining agreement / union contract!
884589900 4.6K
Debbie Downer @debbiedown.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Stranger on the Internet, I am so sorry that you are going through so many hard things. I am sending some good energy into the universe and hoping it somehow reaches you 🫂
100 1
Reposted by Debbie Downer
Sarah J. Jackson @sjjphd.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
I always liked that she chose to be her unapologetic self in the face of a classist, sexist culture that pathologizes and humiliates women who look like her
102397398 2.4K
Reposted by Debbie Downer
Wagatwe Wanjuki @wagatwe.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
"Jason was not just hounded out of Cambridge or academia; he was hounded out of the workforce, hounded out of existence."
118145 181
Debbie Downer @debbiedown.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
I am rooting so hard for you, Mychal! 🫂❤️
020 2
Debbie Downer @debbiedown.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Your library joy brought me library joy today. Thank you!
030 3
Debbie Downer @debbiedown.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Anyone else notice that the shelves at the grocery store seem really sparse these days? I’ve noticed it now at two different stores over the past few weeks…
000 0
Reposted by Debbie Downer
ProPublica @propublica.org · 13/08/2026
Use our Nursing Home Inspect tool to search over 90,000 nursing home inspection reports and look for trends or patterns, evaluate nursing homes near you and compare nursing homes by state.
projects.propublica.org
Nursing Home Inspect
Search inspection reports and find problems at over 14,000 nursing homes across the country.
8320144 320
Reposted by Debbie Downer
Eric Michael Garcia @ericmgarcia.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
What happened and "changed our children?" The reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act in 1990s that and included autism as a covered disabilities. Schools had to report how many autistic students they served. Who was a cosponsor of that bill? RFK Jr.'s uncle Ted Kennedy.
1173174925 3.2K
Debbie Downer @debbiedown.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Maybe the concurrent effort in the press to invalidate late diagnosis of autism, calling it “trendy” and harmful, is an effort to disappear elder autistics because we are inconvenient for their argument.
010 1
Debbie Downer @debbiedown.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
This is an excellent article on the rise of autism and ADHD diagnoses. It beautifully and neatly weaves all the threads of argument together, explaining how changes in labor standards and technology have shifted how humans are judged and measured. So worth a read!
020 2
Reposted by Debbie Downer
Greg Pak @gregpak.net · 07/08/2026
Hey, I made a video for @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social! Please, @mayor.nyc.gov, don't let the billionaires get their hands on our kids! Give us a full 2 year "A.i." moratorium for the schools - for students and teachers, 2K-12! (PLEASE share - and tell the mayor what YOU think at HeyMamdani.fyi !)
101047390 1K
Debbie Downer @debbiedown.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
I found that from all carriers started getting misdelivered to a neighboring address a little over a month ago. And many other neighbors are having the same issue. My theory is that big tech has embedded AI into GPS maps in a way that has screwed everything up. I’ve basically given up on delivery…
020 2
Debbie Downer @debbiedown.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
I’m so sorry you are going through this. After a lifetime of having my own bodily needs and experiences dismissed, I am just coming to understand how this manifests in the body. Wishing you lots of time and space and energy to heal. I appreciate the things you share!
030 3
Reposted by Debbie Downer
Rebecca Solnit @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
It's demoralizing living in a nonstop Abuse-a-thon: we've had to learn the sordid details of so many men's abhorrent behavior; I mean this summer has been Graham Platner, Andrew Tate, Jared Leto, Max Miller, plus the horrific L.A. rape-murder of the child by the rapper, to name a few lowlights.
532065343 2.1K
Reposted by Debbie Downer
Senator Ron Wyden @wyden.senate.gov · 04/08/2026
Bombshell new report out from my investigators this morning spanning our four year investigation into Jeffrey Epstein’s financial records. This report shows exactly how Wall Street protected Epstein and enabled his sex trafficking for decades. Mega thread following with some key points:
bloomberg.com
Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan, BofA Enabled Epstein, Wyden Report Says
Democrat Ron Wyden cited nonpublic documents held by the US Treasury in a report that says banks delayed reporting suspicious financial transactions and calls for tougher anti-money-laundering rules, ...
8637141861 3.7K
Reposted by Debbie Downer
Princess Vimentin PhD | Cancer Biologist @princess-vimentin.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
The COVID brain fog explained. The COVID-19 virus binds to the ACE2 receptor to enter cells. Dopamine producing neurons are rich in the ACE2 receptor. The virus causes disruption in the dopamine network in the brain. 🧪 tech-paper.com/scientists-f...
tech-paper.com
Scientists finally have a biological explanation for why long COVID patients lose motivation and can't think clearly. They scanned their brains and found the dopamine system was physically damaged - T...
Millions of people with long COVID report the same cluster of symptoms: a crushing lack of motivation, an inability to think clearly, memory that slips, movements that feel slower than they should. Fo...
7820671178 2.1K
Debbie Downer @debbiedown.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
Thank you. It’s incredibly sad. And another thread of inter-generational trauma to untangle…
020 2
Debbie Downer @debbiedown.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
Today I read something my paternal aunt wrote some years before she died about her family. In it, she wrote that she had discovered that she had an aunt (my great aunt) who died by suicide after word of her attraction to women got out. Nobody ever spoke of it.That’s a lot to process right there…
120 2
Reposted by Debbie Downer
Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 31/07/2026
And the reason people socially construct brute facts is that those constructions allow us to coordinate action. If we don't have units of measure, we can't easily give each other directions. If we don't have labels for symptom clusters like ADHD, we can't easily develop treatments or policies.
315326 153
Debbie Downer @debbiedown.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Sending 🫂
110 1
Reposted by Debbie Downer
Stimpunks Foundation @stimpunks.org · 28/07/2026
Inclusion is architecture, not goodwill. Lower the sensory load. Make routines legible. Drop the performance pressure. Then more people take part — not because they changed, but because the space did. stimpunks.org/design/creat...
stimpunks.org
Create a Neurodiversity Inclusive Environment
Collected herein are ways of creating neurodiversity inclusive environments in education, healthcare, and everywhere based on research and lived experience.
0127 12
Reposted by Debbie Downer
Isaiah D. Colbert @shineyezehuhh.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
Leading with empathy is a lost art.
0295 29
Reposted by Debbie Downer
Tiricohairline @trejames.blacksky.app · 27/07/2026
This old...
3193 19
Debbie Downer @debbiedown.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
In this time when hate, fear, and judgement bloom all around me, it is hard to keep turning toward love and compassion. But it also feels like the only way to stay free - to continue to choose my own mindset even when those who wish to destroy everyone and everything that I love have so much power.
011 1
Reposted by Debbie Downer
Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
As good as many of you said. I really appreciate the unambiguous point that this primarily a racist moral panic before unpacking the nuanced second-order explanations. dannykatch.substack.com/p/we-used-to...
dannykatch.substack.com
We used to be able to buy things in this country
Locking up toothpaste was a warning sign that our executive class was crazy
213026713 3K
Reposted by Debbie Downer
Charlotte Clymer @charlotteclymer.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
This story is crazy. It would appear Trump admin officials rigged their nationally televised high school civics contest to keep a young man from a Sikh family out of the finalists. www.notus.org/national/ame...
notus.org
Suspicion and Doubt at the National Civics Contest
America’s finest young scholars competed to mark their country's birthday. It led to a disputed finish in the age of mistrust.
10558902288 5.9K
Reposted by Debbie Downer
Rewire News Group @rewirenewsgroup.com · 22/07/2026
July is Disability Pride Month. We're resurfacing this 2019 story because parenting is already hard—and for parents with disabilities, the challenges can feel insurmountable because they're raising kids in a society not built for them. rewirenews.link/4gL6n8v
rewirenews.link
What It’s Like to Be a Disabled Parent in an Inaccessible World – Rewire News Group
Parenting is hard work. But for parents with disabilities, the challenges can feel insurmountable—because they are raising children in a society not built for t
0266 26
Reposted by Debbie Downer
WIRED @wired.com · 17/07/2026
Yesterday, WIRED learned that Madison Square Garden was suing us for our accurate reporting. We stand by our work. That’s why we’re removing the paywall from two of the MSG stories they don’t want you to read, making them free for everyone.
9399122986 9.9K
Debbie Downer @debbiedown.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
Song for today youtu.be/NDVOzW4dXL0?...
youtu.be
Please Forgive Us
YouTube video by 10000 Maniacs - Topic
000 0
Reposted by Debbie Downer
Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
All of the branding finally got me to talk about menopause. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/13/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | Welcome to the Golden Age of the Crone (Gift Article)
A new generation is not willing to settle for being invisible.
25691200 691
Debbie Downer @debbiedown.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
It is so hard to lose a friend and companion. Sending you care and comfort 🫂
010 1
Reposted by Debbie Downer
Gwen Snyder is undead @gwensnyder.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
I don't think these times have been a solvent for decency at all. This has been a precipitation process. It has made decent people coalesce & show themselves. We're also seeing how many people had just been superficially feigning decency, because that used to be a social/professional expectation.
271037197 1K
Reposted by Debbie Downer
ALOK @alokvmenon.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
we need education of the heart, not just the mind
0164 16
Reposted by Debbie Downer
Maria Popova @mariapopova.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
"We can change, evolve, and transform our own conditioning. We can choose to move like water rather than be molded like clay." The bird in the heart – Terry Tempest Williams on the paradox of transformation and how to live with uncertainty
themarginalian.org
The Bird in the Heart: Terry Tempest Williams on the Paradox of Transformation and How to Live with Uncertainty
“We can change, evolve, and transform our own conditioning. We can choose to move like water rather than be molded like clay.”
0278 27