"Doctors said Wong likely wouldn't live beyond the age of 18, which she said limited her early worldview in ways that ultimately pushed her toward justice work. 'Doctors told my parents I wouldn't live past 18, so I grew up never imagining what grownup old ass Alice would look like, and this is why visibility, being able to tell our stories and controlling our own narratives, is why I do what I do,' Wong said during a 2024 summit, per the Chronicle."
"She moved to San Francisco in 1997 to attend school at the University of California San Francisco where she received her master's degree in medical sociology, per the Chronicle. When Wong first attended UCSF, the school had to build a living space for her in a professor's garage, as there was no accessible housing at the university at the time."
Alice Wong died at 51 from an infection at a UCSF hospital. Born with muscular dystrophy, she used a powered wheelchair and breathing device and outlived early medical expectations. Early mortality predictions shaped her perspective and motivated lifelong disability justice work. She founded the Disability Visibility Project, served on the National Council on Disability under President Obama, and authored a bestselling memoir. She earned a master's in medical sociology at UCSF, faced inaccessible campus housing and classes that forced a leave, later advised UCSF on accessibility, and worked as a staff research associate for ten years while advocating for disability rights.
Read at sfist.com
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