In April, I was a keynote speaker at the 2024 International Forum on COVID Rehabilitation Research, presenting an N=1 case study of myself as scientific subject and object, to an audience of faculty and students in the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine, and clinicians and patients around the world. I am cognizant always, in these spaces, that I am treated differently than other patients, because I can pass for having fully recovered cognitive function, without measurable impairment in word recall or working memory; waive credentials adjacent to and legible in the health sciences; rifle through a closet of conference attire from pre-pandemic and dress to carry a room. Different doors open, different opportunities present themselves, and I try to speak carefully about the luck and privilege that have afforded me this trajectory, while taking advantage of invitations in which patient narrative might meaningfully be shared in venues other patients might not have access to or be respected in, to keep the doors open behind me and widen them as I go. My talk pulled heavily from essays published here, so this content will not be unfamiliar to regular readers and you may wish to skip this edition, but at the request of patients who attended the conference, I am publishing my speaking notes in full, as a resource and accessibility addendum to the videos available on conference website.
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In April, I was a keynote speaker at the 2024 International Forum on COVID Rehabilitation Research, presenting an N=1 case study of myself as scientific subject and object, to an audience of faculty and students in the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine, and clinicians and patients around the world. I am cognizant always, in these spaces, that I am treated differently than other patients, because I can pass for having fully recovered cognitive function, without measurable impairment in word recall or working memory; waive credentials adjacent to and legible in the health sciences; rifle through a closet of conference attire from pre-pandemic and dress to carry a room. Different doors open, different opportunities present themselves, and I try to speak carefully about the luck and privilege that have afforded me this trajectory, while taking advantage of invitations in which patient narrative might meaningfully be shared in venues other patients might not have access to or be respected in, to keep the doors open behind me and widen them as I go. My talk pulled heavily from essays published here, so this content will not be unfamiliar to regular readers and you may wish to skip this edition, but at the request of patients who attended the conference, I am publishing my speaking notes in full, as a resource and accessibility addendum to the videos available on conference website.