Getting Out of Bed in the Morning
Yesterday was a good day, and it was a long time coming. I got a new bed. Sounds simple, right? Sounds like an ordinary, no big deal thing. The process was anything but. I had been sleeping on the same mattress for fifteen years or so, and have many a doctor and...
Because of My Disability, Not In Spite of It
The following is my first (sort of autobiographical) guest blog post for United Cerebral Palsy's national website. It was originally published on January 12th, 2015. I feel honored to have been asked to write for such a great organization! Lorraine Cannistra is an...
Great Expectations
I have heard of great expectations before, but when I listened to an interview on NPR recently, it gave the whole concept a new twist for me. Bob Rosenthal is a research psychologist. Early in his career, he went into his lab and put signs on his rat cages. Some of...
Taking the Stares
It was a summer evening a few years back. The days were long and green outside and a new caregiver was still green around the ears. He had just started the process of learning the ropes. The sun was setting and we had just finished making dinner on that particular...
Just A Touch
I know the story only in the retelling. In the predawn hours of an early fall day, the chill in the air was both outside and inside the walls of that stark, barren hospital. The medical team had been assembled unexpectedly. This wasn't part of the plan. I had let my...
They Took My Picture
In 1974, at six years old, I saw myself as pretty typical. However, much of the world saw me as "Tiny Tim." I was a scrawny kid with skinny arms and legs, pigtails in my hair and a smile that was waiting for the tooth fairy. Because of the cerebral palsy that had...
Pure Magic
I can do something most people can’t. I can be part of a magic trick. Many might think that is kind of cool, but I hate it. Well, that isn't exactly accurate. I will paint a clearer picture. If Take my aversion to lima beans and black olives. and then throw in...
I Have A Dream!
Martin Luther King Day is still a few months away, but if you will indulge me for a minute I would like to tell you about a dream I have. I want to perform my favorite dance routine on the Ellen Degeneres show. In late in November of 2006, I got a letter in the mail...
Thanks Coach!
After I graduated from high school in the summer of 1986, I got ready to move across the country for college. The move was difficult for me in many ways. Not only was I transitioning to a new phase of my life, but my dad had recently been transferred in his job, which...
Nobody Has a Disability by Choice
I have to admit I did a double-take. When I heard the story a few weeks ago on my news feed on Facebook, I thought somebody was kidding. Kanye West stopped his concert because two of the fans there would not stand up during part of the performance What? That is...