Disability Corner

[Beebers]

You are all very brave. The issues in my family, and with myself, have not been birth issues but accidents and ilnesses. I have a sister who, many years ago in an accident, was TBI (traumatic brain injury). She was 16, a brilliant artist, and survived but not to the life she'd known. She has no short-term memory at all. You will talk to her and have the same conversation 5 minutes later. From that day she always had her pictures in her head, but never again could she put them to paper or canvas, that brain-action which allows you to convey your pictures from your mind to your hand is gone forever. She has been epileptic ever since. And many other issues.

I got myself a traumatic bunch of brain/bodily injuries one day, 3 1/2 years ago. I had no health insurance at that time and did all my own invented rehab. I had to teach myself how to do art again, something which had always come naturally to me, and I'm an entirely different artist now. To look at my art before and after is to look at the art of two different people in style and content. It took months to recover it, and I had paralysis in my arms and hands as well so the paintbrush would just drop out of my hands a hundred times a day. I started squeezing tubes of toothpaste to make my hands work. No longer would they just work, I had to tell them to. Sometimes I still have to do that, but not too often. I worked my way up to unopened soup cans, and after several months when I could do five-pound bags of flour I knew I was getting somewhere. I didn't speak or think properly for quite some time. (Though some might say I still don't and never did lol.

It was all kitchen-item therapy. There are leftovers, sometimes the paralysis which I can kill with mind-over- matter strategy, and I'm 80% deaf in my right ear now as that was detroyed. My jaw is no longer aligned so I'm always biting the inside of my mouth, OW. And my balance is shot. However, I'm as lucky as I can be and have no complaints, having been briefly expired in zee ambulance. So life is good.

Just keep on keepin' on, all you brave souls, 'cause it's worth it.

 

[ssetta]

Well, see, Asperger's and autism are different kinds of disabilities. Only in a different way. But Boober's right, that is why I sometimes have trouble with life.

 

[ohdarling]

i really like this thread. i think that its nice to know i'm not completly alone out there.

i was born with mild cerebral palsey on my right side. the doctors said i wouldnt walk but i did. haha on them. in fact it really doesnt have that much affect on me, sometimes i'll get nervous and my hand will tense up o r shake. when im comfortable i have no probs. but because of it my left side is stronger. anyways, kids have always been so mean to me. it isnt that noticeable at first but once they found out, it was what i was teased about. because kids always look for whatever will hurt you.

anyways, because of people always saying i cant do things, i prove it. telling me i can't do something is a sure fire way of getting me to do it.


i also have ADD but that I was never teased for. it definetly caused probs though. meh!

 

[Whatever]

anyways, because of people always saying i cant do things, i prove it. telling me i can't do something is a sure fire way of getting me to do it.

Boy can I sympathize. Why do you think a shy, near-deaf 17 year old suddenly decided to spend a year in Germany? Kidding, sort of. I went for other reasons too. But I was definately proving something to myself and to everyone who thought I couldn't do it.

 

[Aaron]

i really like this thread. i think that its nice to know i'm not completly alone out there.

i was born with mild cerebral palsey on my right side. the doctors said i wouldnt walk but i did. haha on them. in fact it really doesnt have that much affect on me, sometimes i'll get nervous and my hand will tense up o r shake. when im comfortable i have no probs. but because of it my left side is stronger. anyways, kids have always been so mean to me. it isnt that noticeable at first but once they found out, it was what i was teased about. because kids always look for whatever will hurt you.

anyways, because of people always saying i cant do things, i prove it. telling me i can't do something is a sure fire way of getting me to do it.


i also have ADD but that I was never teased for. it definetly caused probs though. meh!

i have cp too

 

[ohdarling]

Boy can I sympathize. Why do you think a shy, near-deaf 17 year old suddenly decided to spend a year in Germany? Kidding, sort of. I went for other reasons too. But I was definately proving something to myself and to everyone who thought I couldn't do it.

yeah it feels good though. Because you knew you could do it.
And that was what counted.


Aaron where does yours effect you? sorry if im nosey. im just curious.. one thing i found was that everyone i knew that had cp seemed to be really smart. although i wouldnt consider myself a genious. and i had to deal with teachers treating me like i had a very low IQ . i had a pe teacher that talked to me like i couldn't understand what they were saying. GRrrrr. so silly!

 

[sarah_yzma]

I was blessed in the health dept, except for one spot.....uncontrollable bladder.....I'm the absolute WORST person to take a car trip with! (and I'm going on a ski trip with my youth group in a week, and as much as I tell them, they don't believe me) It's not a horrible problem, it's just irritating. When I was at Walt Disneyworld, I went to the bathroom in EVERY country in Epcot. (if you want to know, Morocco has the best one) To prevent my problem, I just can't have anything to drink when I'm not home (especially at school) and before flying, I can't have anything for hours and hours and hours before.

All your stories show amazing strength...ROCK ON!

 

[Super Scooter]

Well, my problems seem so unimportant.

But, if you really want to hear...

About 3 years ago, I had a cist removed from my neck, near my thyroid. After that, and after a year of trying to lose weight, I began to experience rapid weight gain. So, about 6 months ago, I went to have it checked out and was diagnosed with hypothyroidism. It effects the metabolism, and a side effect of it causes a type of depression. I have medication for it which helps stop the rapid weight gain, but not the depression. Of course, it's one of those medications where you "cannot take with any other medications," so the whole depression thing's kinda hopeless.

That's that!

 

[Super Scooter]

I was blessed in the health dept, except for one spot.....uncontrollable bladder.....I'm the absolute WORST person to take a car trip with! (and I'm going on a ski trip with my youth group in a week, and as much as I tell them, they don't believe me) It's not a horrible problem, it's just irritating. When I was at Walt Disneyworld, I went to the bathroom in EVERY country in Epcot. (if you want to know, Morocco has the best one) To prevent my problem, I just can't have anything to drink when I'm not home (especially at school) and before flying, I can't have anything for hours and hours and hours before.

All your stories show amazing strength...ROCK ON!

Heh. I remember you telling me that once. That must be awful.

 

[Aaron]

yeah it feels good though. Because you knew you could do it.
And that was what counted.


Aaron where does yours effect you? sorry if im nosey. im just curious.. one thing i found was that everyone i knew that had cp seemed to be really smart. although i wouldnt consider myself a genious. and i had to deal with teachers treating me like i had a very low IQ . i had a pe teacher that talked to me like i couldn't understand what they were saying. GRrrrr. so silly!

im guessing the right side