Fwd: The Normal Girl in a Not-So-Normal Chair

[Guest guest]

Just sharing a meaningful story.... Kind of humbles me, at least... Cautions me that when we have a really bad day, take heed that there is often someone in a worse situation than us, but yet is making every min worth n still feel that life is great too...Thanks & regards,LingBegin forwarded message:Date: August 1, 2012 1:16:00 AM GMT+08:00To: nic0206@...Subject: The Normal Girl in a Not-So-Normal ChairReply-To: Chicken Soup for the Soul

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The Normal Girl in a Not-So-Normal Chair

From Chicken Soup for the Soul: Just for Preteens

By Dani P. d'Spirit

As a twelve-and-a-half-year-old American girl, I like doing girly things. But many people aren't aware of that because they only see a twelve-and-a-half-year-old disabled girl who sits in a wheelchair. When I was in second grade, I was a speaker at an after-school program for children my age. In the beginning, the children were curious about my tubing and alarms. By the end of the program, when it was time for questions, they didn't know what to say to me. I guess they felt embarrassed. Instead of trying to talk to me, they ended up walking away and ignoring me. Unfortunately, this is a typical occurrence. Often, people would rather act like I am not there.

I use a wheelchair that has tubing to control my breathing and alarms to signal for assistance. To explain why I use this chair, with all of these devices, I need to explain my diagnosis. Before I was born, I had a stroke that affected my brain stem. It's as if my brain is a computer, and the circuit board shorted out. My muscles don't always do what I want them to, and most definitely not in a timely manner. I can breathe but not enough to stay alive, so I use a ventilator. I can stand, but I cannot control my muscles so I would wobble around or fall over. With a ventilator I am unable to use my voice to speak, so instead I blink yes or no with my eyes. To say yes, I blink twice, and once to say no. My mom also helps me by holding my hand while I type, which takes a very long time. My alarms notify my moms that my devices are having a problem. There are different sounds for different alarms, and sometimes they can be noisy. Now you understand what it is like to be in my chair.

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