Living with Chronic Illness and/or Disability - How to survive (and thrive) when you have limitations

Amanda Elsts leads a workshop on living with chronic illness and disability at Pike Branch on Thursday, November 12, from 3 PM to 4:30 PM. It's part of the library's adult programming, and it's geared toward adults who navigate the world with chronic illness or disability.

Elsts describes herself as a 'spoonie' and runs The Copperless Chick, and she's built her work around Spoon Theory—the idea that people with chronic illness have a limited number of 'spoons' of energy each day to spend on basic tasks. She also created the planner Scheduling Your Spoons & Post-it Notes, which is designed to help people track and manage their energy and capacity. The session starts by asking what it means to live with different levels of energy or ability, introduces the concept of the 'spoonie,' and offers practical ways to plan your day around your energy rather than the other way around. There's also time to brainstorm with the facilitator and other attendees about how to assist and overcome limitations.

On the accessibility side, live captions are available, and the branch has a Loop system for those who are hard of hearing. If you need an ASL interpreter, just let the staff know at least two weeks in advance. The library also points to Bibliocommons lists on disability representation if you're looking for more to read on the subject.

The workshop is at Pike Branch, the Indianapolis Public Library branch at 6525 Zionsville Road, Indianapolis, IN 46268. It runs from 3 PM to 4:30 PM on Thursday, November 12.