Acceptance

Acceptance—everybody wants to be accepted no matter what they do.  As individual people, we can be our worst critic.  Some people think that they can’t do something because of some label that they might have, such as “handicapped.”  For the person who does not have any physical challenges at all, it would be harder for them to do things one-handed then the ten different ways that you as a person have had to learn.  You will do almost anything to show that nothing is going to stop you from proving those people wrong.

Sometimes it takes a long time to accept things.  I mean no one wants to be told they will never be able to do something.  If I had a dollar for everything that someone told me that I will never do …. I would be rich!  Things that you want come from working hard and never accepting defeat.  As you have heard, where there is a will, there is a way.  No one does things the same way or lives the same lifestyle.  Everyone’s life is different.  Some will never have the opportunities as others do, some people let their fears hold them back and do not take as many chances.  It is all about accepting your best way of how to live life to the best of your ability and to live as independently as possible.

The world was not always like how we know it today—group homes, supported living and being involved in the community.  The system still has a lot of work to do but there have been many positive changes from where we have come.

If you did not have some form of disability, you were okay to be see out in the world.  However, if you had any sense of being or looking different where you might do harm to something or someone else, you were put away and never seen.  You were never spoken of other than among close family members.  They were not treated like people but more like just objects and look down on.  What kind of world is that?!  I would never want to live that way.  It sounds like a nightmare.  Hearing about all the things that went on and thinking that it was once legal to do such things its mind blowing, it leaves you speechless.  To think that could have been me if I was born 25 years before!

why friends are important

Some friends will be by your side forever while others will come and go like the weather.  True friends are there for you no matter the weather or how bad a storm gets.  The people who are true to you embrace the qualities that make you different, that make you stand out in a positive way.  Because you are not the same as everyone else, something about you just might stand out like a sore thumb!  But like everything, you learn how to work around things to get your way.  You might have to take a longer road than everyone else and make sacrifices to get there, but in the end it does not matter as long as you get there with the people who truly have your support every step of the way.  You do not have to see your friends every day.  Some you might talk to on the phone or email more than those who you run into every day.  The one who you would think that you might run into every day because they live right around the corner, you might barely get to see.  Life is funny that way but the reality is that life can keep you busy with everything that you are responsible to do as an adult.

As a kid we can do anything and have no responsibility.  The only responsibilities we have are to have fun, stay out of trouble and learn as we grow.  As we grow up, we see the changes and start to really see how we have to count on ourselves and no one else.  It is always important to have friends there for you as long as they are supportive of you.  Most of the time your job does not define your friendships, it is usually your common interests or experiences that define your friendships.  It is also ok to have different friends who may not have the same interests as you.  You all might have a ton in common but not always see things from the same point of view.

It is very important to keep an open mind about topics, especially when you have a wide variety of friends.  The important thing is to think and look at all the things that made you friends to begin with.  And the reason for that is because they will always have your back like family does, and will never turn away from you at the the time when you need them by your side the most.

Mrs Russo

                                                          

THIS LETTER CHANGED MY LIFE

ON JUNE 5,1990

 I was in kindergarten at Holy Cross Elementary School in 1990 and a lot of things happened that year. I had no clue back then what they where or what they meant or even how they would effect me later on in life. Mrs. Russo was the first person who spoke up for me as an educator. Now some might say what could possibly go wrong when you are 6 years old? Little did I know that this was going to impact my life forever. My mom tells me the story all the time, that there was a time when all the kids where asked to hold hands and to make a circle and there was one student that did but another that did not, because they thought my hand was different.

That then gave Mrs. Russo the idea to bring in someone from the local Shriners Children’s Hospital and speak about all the different types of weaknesses. They also showed the students all the cool things about being different. At the same time, there is nothing to be afraid of and no one is the same if you look around the room. There was not anyone in the room who is the same. We all come from different backgrounds; look and you will see there are people with blond hair, brown hair, black hair, red hair, along with different color eyes some blue, green, brown, hazel.

Mrs. Russo was an awesome person, she always made sure that the children in her classroom felt at home. There was a number of times that she helped others. She would never let anyone feel like they were different and that was one of the things that made her stand out the most for me. There was a bunch of instances where I have had to speak up and times that I have felt self-confident about how I am.


Later when I was in high school, I heard that Mrs. Russo was diagnosed with tongue cancer and she had a percentage of her tongue removed. She had to stop teaching full time but she went back to work part-time. Because of the surgery that she had she was not able to talk clearly but she loved teaching and making a difference in peoples lives. So when my mom told me about the kids laughing at her when she went to read a book to the students, it broke my heart. I know when kids are young they don’t know better, however, it still hurts because she made a huge difference to everyone, especially me. Thank you Mrs. Russo for showing people that being different can be a good thing.

1000 words

My story 

Sometimes a picture can tell a thousand works but can the picture tell the whole story?  What’s the story behind the picture?  Things look pretty normal but are they really?  Do you think there is anything wrong with the girl in the picture, she looks pretty normal; she must be someone who works really hard and is well educated.  This is kind of true for the most part.  What if someone told you that yes she has lots of friends that care about her and a family that loves her?  Would you think that she struggles like people with a disability?  Can you tell by the picture at all?  Can you put the pieces of the puzzle together?

You will not be able to find the pieces by just looking at the picture.  If you look beyond the picture you will see that this girl has a very mild form of Cerebral Palsy and ADD along with a reading disability that affects her spelling.  So now you know she must have had trouble in school but she looks pretty happy, right?  She had a lot of struggles but overcame them in the long run as most of us do.  It started in Middle School, the other kids made fun of her to the point where it was very hard to figure out who her true friends were.  There was a lot of whispering and pointing and laughing that caused her to become very shy and scared.  She was different yes but there was nothing wrong with that.

 I’d like to know what the definition of “normal” is.  Are people normal because there is nothing wrong with them?  That is not what the real world is like.  Everyone is different in the sense that no one looks or acts the same.  What makes the world perfect is that everyone is different and the diversity that allows us all to do our own thing.

She beat a lot of odds that were stacked against her.  Some of those accomplishments have been learning to walk, making decisions, advocating for herself with doctors, teachers and at work.  By accomplishing these things it allowed her to learn to drive and live by herself 2 hours from her family.

This girl now teaches other people with special needs.  She teaches them that it is possible to accomplish anything if you try and want it bad enough.  She teaches them to learn to advocate for themselves.  You might not become as famous as J.K Rollings, John Cena or Ryan Seacrest, but you can still reach your dreams by taking small steps and still be successful.   

Do you still think that you can tell the story by simply looking at the picture?  Most of the time there is a lot more to the story than meets the eye.

Bill porter

                                                           Bill Porter a true inspiration

He was born at 2:20 am on September 9,1932 to Ernest and Irene Porter.  Irene ’s pregnancy was a very hard one. Now, every parent would like to believe that their child is perfect and there is nothing wrong. Unfortunately that was not the case with Bill Porter. Mrs. Porter started to notice that Bill’s left had was not normal, his left hand would be clinched up where his right would be relaxed. At six months he was barley crawling and holding himself up like most children would. So Mr. and Mrs. Porter took their son to see a specialist to find out what was going on with him. As test were run and the results came in Bill would be diagnosed with Cerebral palsy.

 In the 1930s there was very little knowledge about Cerebral Palsy and what it was. So that would lead the doctors to believe that Bill would have vary little chances to lead a normal life and that he would be retarded and not amount to much of anything at all. As the Porters where told this it would naturally discussed then and they where in disbelief. Irene believed that her son was vary smart and could do just about anything. 

As a result to the diagnosis of Bills disability Earnest  Porter  would quit his job as a salesmen to make more time with his family and took a job at the intuition of handicapped children . As usual as every parent makes for there children so be successful the Porters  would never regret any choses they made to support there son . 

Bill went on to do great things like his mother believed he would and fallowed in his fathers footsteps. Bill had a vary hard time finding work because of his disability. so he thought that he would try going door to door as a salesmen like his father once did .However bill did one better then his father did he started his own  sales online . Until his passing on December 3, 2013 at the age of 81 years old . If you ask me thats not a bad life to have lived  and that his story shows how good hard work  and determination can pay off . 

JOSH BLUE

       

    

  Josh Blue is a comic with cerebral palsy.  If you ever watched the show Last Comic Standing, you may know about him.  When I started hearing about him, it was kind of a wake-up call for me after graduating college.  It happened to be a time when the economy was bad and there wasn’t a very good network to find a job.  During my last year of college, I was assigned to write a paper on a person who we could relate to.  The teacher assigned me Josh Blue.  

       As I did the research and watched his comedy, I thought, “Oh my God, this is so cool!”  He makes his living off of everything that people would hold against people with disabilities.  Most people with disabilities almost never get the opportunity to work full-time.  And it was not in such a traditional way but still he was someone who was making a difference and someone to look up to.  The summer of 2008 I had the opportunity to go see his show and it was amazing.  I was in the front row and I laughed so much that there were tears coming out of my eyes.  That was not the best part of the night though.  After the show, I got to meet the man of the hour and tell him I was like a little kid in a candy store, I was so excited.   

It’s not easy to put your life out there for everyone to see . I'm not a comic but in a lot of ways we share a lot in common. We both have mild Cerebral Palsy We ended up having vary similar careers depending how you look at it . Even thou are careers might me totally different the connection is the same.  In a lot of ways just vary different styles as well . But its all connected to making awareness that make us the same .