What I Can Do On My Own
Here is what it said on the Health Talk™ card that I picked during a session with my tutor: “An amazing characteristic of the brain is its ability to change and adapt. If someone is born blind or deaf, the brain structures usually intended for these senses can be redirected toward other functions. This ability is called plasticity, and is also essential for everyday learning.”
The question on the card was: “In what ways are you adaptive? What has this allowed you to accomplish?”
First of all, I am adaptive through hand and leg control. I am able to handle the remote control of the TV. I can handle certain foods like snacks, but in general I still need help with feeding. I also need assistance when I drink water or my favorite juice drinks. I also need help with removing my jacket during 80-degree weather at the CP* Center. *{Cerebral Palsy} Furthermore, with my strong leg control, I can use a stander so that at home, I can help my caregiver transfer me from the wheelchair to the bed.
What have these adaptive skills allowed me to accomplish? With my hand control, I can type emails to my family and friends. My Dad and I email each other about sports and health. I also have a former tutor, Karen, with whom I exchange emails about sports and that one time when she went skiing. Paul mostly emails me to ask, “How’s everything in the program?” since he had to move away. Thomas Choi, my best friend in the CP Center, emails me whenever I can’t make it to the program due to illness. He emailed me when the San Francisco Giants won the World Series in 2014 and I was sick.
With my strong arm and leg control, I can drive a motor chair. I don’t want to be pushed around during the program. I get frustrated because that means I can’t go on my own. I want some independence. I’m doing yoga at the CP Center right now which is very quiet and very good for me. I like it.
However, loud noises still bother and startle me.
Eugene. "What I can Do On My Own" Our Words, Our Voices. Vol. 3. Hayward: Literacy Plus Council, 2015. 47-48. Print.
