Helen Rottier

@helenrottier

PhD in Disability Studies. Disabled Dis-Epistemologies and Knowledge Production. Opinions are my own. she/her

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Helen Rottier@helenrottier· 14d

Bad photo, peak interview. Hurrah hurrah for @friede.bsky.social!!

a television with Dr. Emily Friedman in the D20 dome on Adventuring Academy, surrounded by nerdy art, books, and plushies in Helen’s living room.

Helen Rottier@helenrottier· 18d

It’s virtual PowerPoint party night, and I am coming in with a banger! #PowerPointParty @lastweektonight.com @smartypants.dropout.tv #GeneralHospital

Helen Rottier@helenrottier· 19d

Rage Poem of the Day, 07.24.26

Another day
Just another day, they said.
But July 22 will be stamped on my soul. With March 6. And May 25. And August 30.
Another life lost. Another neighbor murdered. Another display of tremendous violence, so-called “power,” from people too afraid to dream of better worlds.
Another press conference.
Another opaque investigation.
Another platitude, and a reminder that this neighborhood is traumatized.
(They never mention who is doing the traumatizing.)

Another name.
Another cardboard sign.
Black Lives Matter. Everyday.
He should be alive.
Another supply drop off, a bag of electrolyte packets, Tylenol, and Tums. I’ll put my chronically ill supply skills to use. It feels inadequate, but it’s all I can think to do.
Foggy brain, dysregulated and dysfunctional. Trying.
Another chant. Another cry.
Another conversation with
another beloved neighbor
who is fed up with this shit.
Another prayer. Deliver us, Lord.
We will fight until there is never another.

Helen Rottier@helenrottier· 19d

What did you expect?

Helen Rottier@helenrottier· Jul 9

#DisabledRage is an assertion of our strength, our worth, our audacity, and our collective power. ✨🦾💪🏻💪🏾

Art print with handwritten letters that say, “Rage with us. #DisabledRage”.

Helen Rottier@helenrottier· Jul 8

12:00PM Disability Pride Flag Raising 🎉 12:11PM Medicaid Rejection for a Loved One 🤬 #DisabledRage #DisabilityPrideMonth #HealthcareIsAHumanRight

Art print with handwritten lettering, “We need you to rage w/ us. #DisabledRage”.

Helen Rottier@helenrottier· Jul 6

Love thy neighbor. Protect thy neighbor. Do not look away. #DisabledRage #DisabilityPrideMonth #ICEout

Art print with handwritten text that reads, “Undocumented people are being kidnapped without access to their medications or treatments. #DisabledRage.”

Helen Rottier@helenrottier· Jul 4

Nobody is free until everybody is free. #DisabledRage #FreeThemAll #CareNotCages #DisabilityPrideMonth

Handwritten art print that reads, “Unhoused people might be forced into treatment and institutionalization. #DisabledRage.

Helen Rottier@helenrottier· Jul 3

#DisabledRage is built on histories of asserting our power, on the shoulders of ancestors who fought and their allies and co-conspirators. #DisabilityPride #NoPity #SaveMedicaid

Art print with handwritten text that reads, “Disabled people face reductions in community-based services due to Medicaid cuts. #DisabledRage.”

Helen Rottier@helenrottier· Jul 2

#DisabledRage is a promise of what will come and what could be.

Art print with handwriting that says, “Medicaid cuts mean more people will delay or avoid needed care.”

Helen Rottier@helenrottier· Jul 2

I am trying to feel a celebratory kind of #DisabilityPride this month. Disabled ancestors, disabled futures, disabled communities and disability justice are all worth celebrating. Instead I feel #DisabledRage and the fire of disabled people throughout history insisting that our lives are worthy.

Art print with handwritten text that says, “Where is your disabled rage? #DisabledRage.

Helen Rottier@helenrottier· Jun 27

I’ve never been more aghast at incorrect answers from Jeopardy contestants, who guessed, “Meg” and “Jo” but not the tragically correct answer, “Beth.”

Jeopardy Clue, Fictional Characters, $400. In “Little Women”, in a chapter called “The Valley of the Shadow”, this March sister takes her last breath.

Helen Rottier@helenrottier· Jun 17

“I think based on the redness I might be allergic to getting stabbed by needles.” 💉🌳

Andy Dwyer in Park’s and Rec, wearing sunglasses and a wrist brace with hives from allergy testing on his arm.

Helen’s arm with hives from allergy testing.

Helen Rottier@helenrottier· Jun 1

It’s a real throwback to undergrad to bring a stack of printed articles to Nitty Gritty. My forever favorite place to read. #AcademicSky #UWMadison #MadisonWI

scuffed wooden pub tabletop with a printed articles on implementation leadership, a cocktail napkin, and a plastic mug of Diet Pepsi.

Helen Rottier@helenrottier· May 10

It only took an entire year for me to buy a frame. 😆🎓❤️ #PhDone #AcademicSky

black frame with gold border holding a diploma from the University of Illinois for Helen L. Rottier, Doctor of Philosophy in Disability Studies.

Helen Rottier@helenrottier· Apr 21

My most meaningful, energizing, and profound moments of existence are when I can connect what I know and what I've researched with the other questions swirling around us, when I can introduce people who will become collaborators and co-conspirators, when I can point us toward building the future.

"What’s also striking to me is that autodidacts often begin with some very tiny topic, and through researching that topic, they end up telescoping out into bigger-picture concerns. When research is your leisure activity, you’ll end up making connections between your existing interests and new ideas or topics." quote from Celine Nguyen, research as leisure activity, www.personalcanon.com.

Helen Rottier@helenrottier· Apr 18

Make time to dilly dally! ✨ Today’s junk journal page featuring the happiest happy mail from Jillian Kaye Art. 📬 This year I am embracing my silly goose, dilly dally self! 🪿

collage centered on an art print with lettering that reads, “Make time to dilly dally,” surrounded by scraps of pink paper, glitter, and stickers.

Helen Rottier@helenrottier· Apr 10

As a bonus event today, I attended the campus APIDA Heritage Month Festival. The theme this year is “Beauty in the Brokenness,” reflecting on the art of kintsugi. I added to the collective artwork to honor Alice Wong. It is always a joy to celebrate events with my colleagues in Student Affairs.

ceramic shard with painted pink and orange flowers and black text that reads, “disabled oracles light the way! - Alice Wong.”

Helen Rottier@helenrottier· Apr 2

my new favorite image: @dimension20.dropout.tv

screenshot shows Aabria Iyengar in the Dimension 20 dome covering her mouth and laughing while Brennan Lee Mulligan sits wearing a ribbon labeled “Mr. Questions.”

Helen Rottier@helenrottier· Mar 27

While I was in DC, I had a moment to read @ehlastigirl.bsky.social’s poetry collection, Your Body Should Be a Part of the World, while admiring the cherry blossoms. Poetry and flowers, to ease the ache of injustice, the hard fight of advocacy, for just a moment, to be. 🌸 📚

hand holding book at an outdoor table with flowering trees in the background. The book cover says, “Your Body Should Be a Part of the World. Ellen Samuels.” with a colorful collaged figure.

Helen Rottier@helenrottier· Mar 26

Yesterday was busy-full with Hill visits, cherry blossoms, and traveling home. I have never been in DC in springtime, and I truly delighted in seeing the blooming trees! #DPS2026

blooming cherry blossom flowers across branches with the blue sky in the background.

Helen Rottier@helenrottier· Mar 8

In 1996, Atlanta hosted the Olympics, and Helen was born! Our research retreat with partners at Emory was wonderful, and we also saw the World of Coca-Cola, ate at Waffle House, and bonded over long flight delays. 🍑✈️

statue of Olympic rings in a park plaza.

selfie of Helen, Sabrina, and Moira with the Coca-Cola Polar Bear.

pecan waffle with melty butter and syrup.

Helen Rottier@helenrottier· Feb 13

If you don’t understand why young adults are buying rotisserie chicken instead of houses and fighting for our neighbors instead bowing to fascism, may I offer you this poem? I wrote this TWO years ago, and it has been horribly relevant every day. #WeThePeople #BuildingKinderFutures

What did you expect-
when you poisoned our Earth?
when you raised rent?
when you called our groceries “luxury?”
when you held education and health care and existence behind walls of debt?
when you watched police kill our classmates, friends, and family?
when you paid for bombs to kill our fellow people?
What did you expect-
when you took everything,
gave us nothing to lose,
that we would stay silent?

Helen Rottier@helenrottier· Jan 31

Sofia Samatar’s The Practice, The Horizon, And The Chain is a brilliant provocation and intervention into the university as an institution of power, control, and meaning-making/-taking. #HelenReads

book cover The Practice, The Horizon, and The Chain by Sofia Samatar.

Helen Rottier@helenrottier· Jan 30

Remember O Most Gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored they help, or sought they intercession was left unaided. Love, defend, rejoice in thy neighbor. Welcome the traveler. Crush evil under your feet. Art: @kibbyer.bsky.social

linocut print of the Virgin Mary with a crown and star-covered veil stepping on a snake labeled ICE, reading “Hail Mary Full Of Grace, Kick ICE out of this place.”

Helen Rottier@helenrottier· Jan 14

On Sunday, we went to Jazz Brunch at Arnaud’s as a fancy honeymoon date. My brunch included a Belgian waffle, savory crabmeat cheesecake, and tableside crepes Suzette. They brought us a peppermint baked Alaska for our celebration too! #NOLA

Helen and Joseph dressed up and seated at a fancy dining table.

Belgian waffle with whipped cream and lemon crumble on a white plate with red script As around the rim.

slice of crab cheesecake and salad with white wine sauce.

Baked Alaska meringue and two dessert spoons.

Helen Rottier@helenrottier· Jan 13

The food was incredible, and this is a fraction of the spectacular cuisine we enjoyed. My overall beignet tally: 25! #NOLA

Beignets covered in powdered sugar at Cafe Du Monde.

King cake with green, yellow, and purple sprinkles and vanilla ice cream.

Helen Rottier@helenrottier· Jan 13

Over a year after getting married, Joseph and I finally took our honeymoon trip to New Orleans, and it was well worth the wait! It was sunny and warm, with tons of good music and great food. Laissez bon temps rouler! 💜 #NOLA

selfie of Helen and Joseph on the deck of a riverboat.

Helen Rottier@helenrottier· Dec 18

My phone autocorrected my name in an email and then I hit send too quickly. 🙃

email that says, “Received, this all looks good. I will be there by 11. Helena.”

Helen Rottier@helenrottier· Nov 30

Lovely sunny morning to sit at the kitchen table and make a double batch of krumkake, my favorite Christmas cookie to bake and to eat! God jul! ❤️ 🇳🇴 🇸🇪