My first Summer Games

   So you guys know how I didn't post last  summer , so  I decided to post about  my first Summer Games.  My first games  were back in June.  I have been in Special Olympics for more than ten years and I have not had an opportunity to go to summer games until this year.  I actually got chosen for both swimming and track, but you can not do both so  I participated in my local track  delegation.  The games were held at UC Davis.    On Friday morning we took a bus to  UC Davis.  It left around noon.   There was a lot of traffic so we arrived in Davis around dinner time.  Once  we got off the bus, we were handed name badges and  wristbands. We dropped off our bags and went to dinner. The dining  hall food was amazing. There were so many good choices.  Below is a picture of my dinner  Friday night.

 After dinner, it was time for the Opening Ceremonies.  I got to hold the banner for my county.  Our coaches gave us matching  Blue shirts for the Opening Ceremonies. The opening ceremonies were lots of fun I just wished that they didn't use the word inspiring so much.

  Our dorm room was located on the top floor of the building.  There were two people in a room. My roommate was very clean, me  not so much.   I actually was kinda nervous  about sleeping because  this was the first time that I had slept away from home.   I thought I would melt down.   Turned out I was fine.  I just played iPad games and read the  book the  T and  D  gave me as my college graduation gift. I went to bed around one am which is my usual bedtime.


 My coached woke me up early on Saturday. I was very excited because  I had slept through the night without incident.   After getting ready and having breakfast  it was time to do  what I had come here for. I was going to run track.   My first race was the 100-meter dash. I  got bronze in that.  I did way better  in the shot putt.   I got gold  in that.

 Lunch was a bento box. The food  was really good.

 There was a dance  Saturday night. I  wore a dress and danced the night away.

 On Sunday. I threw  the turbo javelin for first place and had an  IRL  with    Beth, Patrick, and  Rene.  Later we had  the four by hundred relay. Our team got silver.

 Left  to right   Renee of Paraeducate,  Beth of National Catholic Board of Full Inclusion,  Patrick and  AZ 

I also got a temporary  tattoo.

 Me with my temporary Tatto a few days later. 

  I melded in all of my events.  Not bad for  my first Summer Games.

Year in Review

  Hay  guys  it seems like the year  was  just started  yesterday but as I  write this its the day before  New Years eve. 2014 has  flown by  and it was a  great  year . I hope that I can  have   a  great  year   in 2015.  

  Now there is  a lot of  great stuff that happened in 2014  here are the monthly  highlights  complete with pictures.

 Let's Go  Niners

 January 2014 :  Took  my  mom out to dinner and  paid for it making me the first child to do that. I got a new basketball and a nice 49 sweatshirt and hat,
 February 2014 :   Watched   the  Superbowl  with  Mexican  Food .   My  old b ball coach came to see me  play in a tournament.








 March 2014:    Had the  best weekend ever at the  TASH  Conference a
nd  got a   cool t shirt to celebrate  World  CP  Day.

March 2014 

April 2014 : Celebrated  Easter by   going to Cream. Competed in Shot Put for the  first time  ever with the special olympics.  I also  went to the beach,

May 2014:  Celebrated  my sister's  b day  by  hanging in  SF

June 2014: Started summer  school and  learned  that "Individual differences  reign
 supreme.  Saw the para olympics at my  jc.

July2014:     I cut my  hair on the fourth of July.  Celebrated my  Dad's b day by  going out  for  lunch and  feeding  the ducks.  Watched the World Cup  and  chugged a shot of  alcohol before  throwing it up.  I also  went to the movies with  LM

August 2014 :    Went to a giants  game.  Took a final   while my mom was away and aced it. I  attended  Motown the musical with my sister and  my mother.   I     also  played in my first Unified  golf  game hosted  by Special Olympics. My  team mate and I  got  sliver

Halloween 2014

September  2014:   I turned 23   and took the  ALS  Ice bucket challenge.


October 2014:      I had a blast at  Big  Wave  and helped make the day  fun.  I  was  paid in two  free spray painted  pumpkins .  I  won the JC  costume contest as an orange crayon and  went to two special needs Halloween Parties. The  Giants won the World Series

 November  2014: I got my first  job at the bookstore.  Had a wonderful Thanksgiving  at  my house My   Aunt L  Uncle M  C and R  came down.

 I beat  C in a game of Parcheesi 

December2014:   My  grandma comes to visit.  I get  my first pay check and use it to buy a golf  bag  and I gave my mom 200 dollars for being my mother.I MET TIM SHRIVER.  I had an awesome christmas  week with my grandma and cousins and had a X - Men Movie Marathon . .


Over all its  been a great  year.

 Here are some  post that are worth looking  at  from  2014



  The  Solution is Inclusion
 The  Power of Choice
 Inclusion Matters because

Music Within

  Last night   I  asked chose  that we end   World  CP  Day with  Music Within. Its a great movie with  even  better   quotes.  My  family ( my  parents and  my brother)    watched it.  I  highly  recommend seeing it.

  Here is the  trailler

World Cerebral Palsy Day 2014

 The Video 

  More Info about CP   

plus tune in this month as I take the 31 for 21 challenge.

 PS  I had to update the video the other one will be  deleted but this one will stay up  for ever

Dear University : An Open to letter to all institutions of higher education regarding the inclusion of students with disabilities

   Dear  University,

  I want to tell you a story  about   a once highly motivated student  who is now the poller opposite.
   This student  grew up in a family that valued higher education.  The student was from a home where bed time stories were  a natural occurrence and  the path to college was  discussed at length    The parents paid students grades in junior high  and high school.  During  a middle school graduation the student friends parent  told   the student that  they only had four years of college left.  Without  missing a beat the student said. " No. I have  eight more  years, the student was  graduati
ng from 8th grade,  I am  going to college.   The  student's  path was set. They wanted to get a BA.

    The spring  of the students freshman  year, they  developed OCD.  It was  really  hard and made the student  regress. Also with the demands on social  in high school  the student was  behind and had trouble making friends due to  Non verbal  learning disorder.  In her junior year of  high school a  job coach told the student and their mother that  the student would probably work in the back room of Safeway. This and  OCD  made the student fear  high school graduation.  Nonetheless she  graduated.  Although the student had a rough start, they ended up excelling  in school.  Th
ey   graduated with an AA in social scince   with honors.  But they  were not done. They wanted  to get a BA and  go into the education field.

    Last year they went to a University  highly motivated to  finish.  But then  they  ran up against ableism.  The campus  was complete  inaccessible     There was no way for the student to   self serve in the lunch room.  The  room that housed  classes  lacked an elevator.

   One Professor  told the class " That all students   lean language  without ever being taught."   The  student  held their tongue at  first but was visibility upset because she  a speech impairment due to Cerebral  Palsy and had a  hard time learning to speak.   When they the student did say something  the professor  replied , " Well all  normal children do. "  That really  hurt the student.   What was  worse  is that the  professor  overly  praised the student when they  got the seconded highest grade then  admitted to the student that they  " were surprised that [the student]  did so well."    When an able bodied  student who got higher then said student was given the  test.  The student received no fan faire despite getting a hundred percent.

 Another teacher tesed a student's hat.   When the student had long hair and due to Cerebral  Palsy could not  do  their  hair  so they needed a  hat.  The same history  professor asked the  class " If  anyone had a rope." when said student had too many questions.  The student was   part African American  and the teacher  taught United States history.   They  could have  ment  lynching.
  This  remark was complete out of line.

    The last teacher  compared  student  to a  child  in front of the class.  The  teacher later apologized for this  remark.   Making her the only teacher to apologize 


  The administration  refused to let  the  student return  to school  for personal reasons    The  student   returned to school Fall 2014 under a contract.     The contract  stated  among other  things that   the student could only  take  two classes and  had to behave.  In the event that she  did not  behave, she was blamed for reacting to teachers   remarks, she  was to see  the  Disability  person, how  can  one person be in charge of all students with disabilities on a college campus.   On thursday  the student got  a message from a conduct  person.     Which violated the contract.     What made it worse  was that the student  went to advisor asking what the meeting was about. The consular said "  I do not want to speculate.    The student  then met with the conduct person  who said the consular  was    the one to report the incident.   The  student had  went into  a class  asking  to  switch the classes that she    wanted  because everyone   who  took it was fun.    The    advisor  said the student broke the conduct code.   Another student said the  student  had   followed  procedure and  had not broken the conduct  code.

 The student  is already  behind because they  do not feel wanted.    They do not  trust  anyone at  the university.   They feel betrayed  by the consular.  They  had  problems   committing to two  classes.  Although the professors were decent this  semester  the administration  has  been  hard to deal   with.


   So what  happend  to the student.  Well,  they  are currently recovering  l  from a major  bout of depression  brought on by this  stressed.  They  recovered not by  the  promise of  a college education but   with   I  pad  games, The  now   scan   the community for  entry  level  jobs and  are having a hard  time focusing on  education.  They   are   hesitant  to   try another  school.   The  student is  writing  this  to  teach you a few things.

 1 Make   campuses  accessible.   Every  lecture hall  should have  an  elevator.
2  Treat every student like a person  not a trained seal.  Not  a   half  person  not   a miracle.     
3   Dont  joke  about disabled students.    Make  them  feel  included.
4     Follow the  Golden  Rule.

5   If the  student  is on contract  follow  it. 


6   If the student  has   social  problems  do not criminalize them.   Use it a  teachable  moment .   Be  patient  everyone  make  mistakes.
7  Honesty
 8   Admit that you do not know everything.  Ask the student  to  teach you  about their  background.  Be willing to listen  about  what it is like  to be them.
9  Be  Patient
 10   Have training  for all  staff  on  ability  awareness.  Take  the   R  word  pledge.   Learn what Ableism  is.  

 ***  You  may not be able to do all of these  things  due to lack of  funding, yet  all  staff can  have  heart and show a little loving kindness  for all  students.  Especailly   minority  students.


    
   All the students  that  I have  met in  university  have  rallied around me.   I  have  enjoyed   talking to you guys. Thanks  for treating me  kindly   when  the  staff  has  not.  The   Center  for spirituality and the  director  of student  retention  have  been awesome  too.  You  guys   rock.

A Midsummer nightmare

       So today  I  had class at my  beloved  jr college.   I  needed a text book  for philosophy which  my  dad  came  to the bookstore to get,but  we  ended up not  getting the book.  " Why  did  we not get  the book?"


   When  my  dad came to bookstore  he traded places with me so I could  rest my feet and look on my iphone.  I looked on Facebook that was fine, but then I  got an email from  my old university  The  plan was I  would  take classes at both  the jr college and the university  since  I can only take two classes at the  university.     The same university  that I   talked about here.

   Apparently not  much has changed in terms of inclusiveness  towards   those  with disabilities. Ableism  rules  supreme  and  the term  has not began.  How  do  I know this.

  The  email I  got  was play invite  to all the students   to try out for  Shakespeare's  A  mid summer nights  dream.   I  kinda  like  that play and  have always wanted  to be in at least one play  my school career so  I  was interested  in  trying out .  Until  I  read the following,

"This play requires clarity of speech and a passionate desire to communicate one’s point of view."


   This is clear ableism. Why  I  have  speech issues.  I  can  barely  say my own name.  I have  been in  speech  therapy   since I was   three.  The  speech  issues are  due to CP. Futhermore   this  was sent out  to all  the students.   This  was not broadway its a school play,  something that I  always wanted  to do.   Did  they  think about this?No.    


  I am  leaning  towards not going back to school and  school starts a  week from now. 

This could change my life

 
      ***** Authors note :  I  do not mean  in any  way shape or form to  be disrespectful  to  people with intellectual disabilities or  those that love them.  If I  did  I  apologize.  I am  just  sharing my  story. 



   So yesterday at around  5:00  I was talking to my psychology   teacher.   We  were   talking about my  inability  to communicate clearly and how  people  often assume that I am  intellectually  disabled.   It happens   right away.    The movement I open my  mouth  to a new person   bam   they assume that I  do not comprehend anything  which is   untrue.    It has  happend to me when  I attend university . Lets  think about this for a second.    I had to apply   and  got in but still a professor was  really  surprised  when I aced  a test.

  How I felt when the professor  was surprised about my  A . 

         Not even 24 hours  later I am  reading Love that  Max  that mentions Talkitt.         Its an app that translates  unclear speech into  speech  that others can understand.  This  has  to be the greatest thing ever invented.    Now this does not change ignorant minds,but   it allows for my message  to be expressed in  real time which   takes off the frustration from me and  the listeners.  And perhaps if they do not have to disappear what I am saying  just  maybe   they will be able to  see my  cognitive ability.


 Talkit  needs your help  it is  seeking funding to  make  this into a reality.  If  I could  I would donate all the money but I  can not but if any of my readers  would  I'd appreciate it.     This has the potentialr  to  change the world for  people with speech  impairments.  It would  make my life a little easier.   Go here  to donate and  watch a video of it in action.



Got image of  elsa  from 
 http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/2a/e1/e4/2ae1e45ff8e863aabc312bfe8212fd85.jpg

I am not sorry because I am not broken

           Hay  guys   sorry its  been a while things  are  good  here just been  busy  with summer school  at my   old  jc.   I am  breaking the silence  because     something has been on my mind  that I want to  talk about.

            Back when  I started   my  jc  one of  my first college  professors   apologized  when I  told her that I  had Cerebral  Palsy.

               When  I  introduced  myslef   to  my  Psychology   teacher this  summer and told him  I have  CP,  He did  the same thing

            Now  before  I  move on  I want to say that  both
of these  people were  well intentioned. The first professor and I are now  friends   on  fb and she  has helped me out a lot     this  past year.     I  also  am  enjoying my    summer  class and the professor  is  very nice and understanding of my  recent  history.

        But to get back to    my topic.  When  people   apologize  for   my disability  it  does not  feel good.   Imagine    if   someone  said  sorry    for   a characteristic  about  you.    Having Cerebral Palsy  is a part of me.  Its  been around  for    long as I can  remember.  It  has been  with me  and has  given  me  more  reasons  to  celebrate.    Because  some things  come harder then the average person,   I  get   to have more celebration  when  I achieve  them.     I  do not  mourn  CP  because  its a part of  me.   Does  CP   make  my life hard at times  yeah.  Are there  times  I  desire  normalcy?   Yeah  but  happly   the feeling  does not   last  long .   I am  not  broken.  I  do not think  that we  need to invest money  in trying to  prevent  others  like  me.  I  am  amazing.   I  bring   joy   and laughter   to   those  around  me.   I have a  unique  perspective  of the world because  of  my disabilities  and  experiences. note the  quote  below  is   my own  about disabilities particulary    CP and  NVLD.   *****OCD  is    different   as the  condition  itself  causes   me  unwanted  stress.  *****

I have  hope   but am  not  mourning   CP.

=

   The   hardest part about being disabled  is not the disability itself.   It   is much  harder  to live in a world  that   does not see  your life as  having  value.  It is much harder to deal with ableism   and  discrimination that  comes  with  disabilities.    AZ 

Once upon a time

Hay guys this is a good post , but spelling may b bad as I typed on my iPhone, internet is down at my place school starts tomorrow . I still need photo for the CP montage.

Once upon a time in the fall of1997 a little black and hispanch girl started kindergarten.Not only was this girl a  minority  she also had CerebralPalsy    She hated phonics because she did not havethe ability    to make the sounds, yet she loved words and was reading by the end of the year.

By first grade this girl had really bad behavior she was diagnosed with  nld . But that spring she participated in field day and got awards 

  

In second grade she attended a new school  they were able to help her and she got an   Award   for a nature project.  

 

Throughout her elementary school career she won 

 

 Life skills  awards 

 Bike rider award in third grade for particpating in sunday bike rides  with her teacher, dad, and siblings. 

a science fair ribbon in 5th  grade 

Along with trophiesand awards    for neighborhood kids sports one year she won a good  award from her local ayso 

In middle school the student still had behavior problems but still managed to get on honor  role.

 She joined special olympics and began to win lots of medals over the l next  eight years .

In high school she got awards as well but also developed OCD  she did not want to leave high school and acted out so bad that many people did not  not want her to visit she accepts full responsibility for this by the way.

 She missed a lot of class her first semester of college but when she   Started going to school she improved her behavior and  picked up a medal that said that she graduated with honors. Out of all the awards she has received this one means the most to her.

Finding a balance: Friendships among abilities

             Friendship  is a   long word- a  wooping ten letters. For some  friendships come easy.  Two  kids   meet t
hey  like  Angry  Birds and   Mario and  Legos and  bam they  become  friends its that easy. For others  it is  really hard they  might  be shy  interverted or a little  nerdy,




  Enter a child with a pretty sigficant disabilities




           I should propise by saying that  I do have special needs and sigficant social issues and  do not have a lot  of friends, nor have I  ever had solid firendships.  I have tried   befriending those with special needs and adverage  people with some success, not much but some aquences and some  firendships past.  In  lainmans terms, I may not be the best person to  give advice here  but this is  just  my  own   oppion,  which.


     I think kids with special needs need to have a mixture of firneds.     They should have  peers  that also have disabilities  if possable  with the same dignoses.  I have seen the  special  connection that others have made   with those with disabilties. For example,   I have witnessed   two  young people with  the same disabilities as  "brothers"  even though they are not related, good luck convinceing them  though.  I have witnessed a group of young kids rally  together to support another  kid  when they  had a  meltdown and  all three kids  shared the same  disability. As for me  I do  feel a special connection to others with CP. Which is why  I  love doing the World  CP montage,  and online  I  read stuff by fellow  CPers and  I  think,  "Man  I could have   written that."   But  I do not have a close  friend   with CP   but I  think  I  would enjoy that.  In the meantime I have friends with  disablties   over the past 21 years of my life.

      I also believe  that kids with special needs need to have  average  (ie  people without disabilities ).   I  am not going to lie  I had a lot of help  from my mom and book gal  on this subject

  I  think  my mom put it best in that    interacting with different types of people allows you to  break down stereotypes of that person and  allows  people to see  that when the day is done   we are all just people.  Book gal  agrees ,her best friend is different  from her but  what makes them  best friends  is knowing that they  have each others back.  

   Another reason that  interacting among abilities is  that  those with special needs will need to interact with the general population  for the rest of their lives.  99 percent of the time   I need to  interact with the people   at the store in  restaurants and  college.    Most of these people  do not have disabilties therefore  those with disabilities need to learn how to   behave  with average people.  The social skills  I do  have I had to learn  in the world. I could not have learned them in  amongst my peers with disabilities because  some of them   are trying to learn  them  themselves.  In  first grade I had  to learn about personal space  because  when  I  got too close to my classmates  they did not like  it.

 It a nut shell  those with  special needs  need a balance of  friendships.   It is nice to be amongst people that understand what you are going through, yet   by isolating one self   people with special needs  do not get a chance to  bridge the gap  and gain the social skills needed for  success.  What are your thoughts.


  If you  know  someone with Cerebral Palsy  click here to learn more about a photo montage  that
AZ is hosting for World CP Day.








Got image from http://theadaptables.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Children-with-disabilities.jpg

   

Invasion of the Super heroes: A call for pictures for World CP Day to honor Gavin

                       So  remember how I said last year that  the World CP  day   montage will be something  I will do   next year Well

 Its  back and  this year its bigger then ever.  Now self advocates, parents  will be able to join in the fun for World  CP  day which  is  on October 2  this year.  Its  going to be twice as fun because now  people  can submit two photos  and they will both be in the montage. but  before I tell you  the details  its  time for a story,


       Meet  Gavin 

 He was a five and half  little boy who  had CP and a unknown  genetic condition. I  say was because  last April, on his  mother's birthday, Gavin  left the earth.   His family misses him very much.

Gavin's family with their supper G  t shirts on the fire truck that was named after him,
 Proof that Gavin is  a supper hero

 Gavin loved the water and charmed everyone he met.  He was  a supper hero  to his mom  dad and little brother  Brain.

 Gavin was supper happy in water 

 So  a few weeks ago I was thinking about  having a world CP  video that would  honor Gavin   I talked to his mom  Kate  via  Facebook and  she  thought that  having a supper hero photo would be good.   So that is exactly  how  you can  enter  two photos,
  One   can be of anything  like  last year while  another  is a   photo  that has words on it  that say 


 Supper   (       )

 or  

 ( Name) is a  supper  blank.   

  EX :                                    Do not put a copy wright symbol  on your photograph

  You  do not need  a copyright symbol  

      If you have  fb   Pic monkey  is  an easy app for this.   Let me know if you need help with this and I will try to  walk  you through it; however  I  will not have time to  put words on the pictures so you need  to do it 

 Once you have  done this  email me  at azchapman1991@gmail.com  and  check back  October second for the  video montage featueing   Supper amazing  people  with Cerebral Palsy 




     Updated  August first 

   I have only  gotten two pics  so   I am  going to make it easy on you  guys  Here are your instructions

1 Send me  two different pics 


2Tell me what the text should say   and what picture it goes with 
3Make  sure the text is spelled correctly

No one would have predicted : three years later

  I had  the worst start to college.  I  felt that I did not belong there.  I  was severely depressed. My  first semester  I missed  two to three weeks of school. I wanted nothing to do with college I wanted to go back to high school.  I was afraid of the world, which  sounds   bad, but its true.  I did not want to go up  I thought I would not be able to succeed.

   I  do not blame myself because I  had  been brainwashed into thinking I was not college material. I knew  I was smart  and could comprehend, yet my teachers in high school  did not see potential in me  and I had no  friends who could relate to going to college with significant disabilities.  All  the kids my age with with disabilities were  in the Adult transition program.  I did not qualify for the program, yet junior year  the schools workability  school representative   told my mom that I  should find a job at Safeway.  I was hurt.  So you see  how scared I was  to leave  high school.

 Too make matters worse  due to my terrible monstrous behavior,  most teachers in high school did not allow me to contact them. I  have tried to befriend so many  of my former teachers who have befriended other students , yet most ignore me  including my special education teacher.  I think they did not want to hear  my tdradigies that were going to happend or so they thought,


    I  finally got the college thing down and I made the dean's list. I  developed close bonds with professors and staff.  My behavior improved a ton to the point where  teachers LIKE me.  I have asked them if they are sure that they are not confusing me with Princess,  yeah  I know  she is not at the same school. 


 Just today this  conversation took place between  Professor D and  me,

 AZ: Thanks for tolerating me this semester

 ProfD: No  problem its been my pleasure,

AZ: What? 

 a student: Its been his pleasure.


ProfD:  Keep in touch I  will fallow your blog.


 For ProfD: Thanks for  being supper nice to me and helping me out. I hope  we keep in touch if you  do not mind. I may be visiting  in the fall.  Your words mean a lot to me and show me how far I have come. Thanks for  leading  me to believe that I am a decent person. I love  comments on the blog btw

  


 Now  do not get me wrong I  still have hard  behaviors  at home and in DSPS, yet I  am
  

learning  how to  deal with them in a mature mannor.   Part of it is habit. I have  to retrain my reactions which is not easy but  I am  going to be graduating  JC and Transferring  to University. Right now my Major is Liberal Studies but I am thinking of  switching it to English  with my end goal being a Special Education teacher. I am not  going  to a day program, I am not going  to a shelter workshop. I  am going to University.

  Too be honest I have been afraid  yet  I  feel like this time thing will be different. I  will stay  in contact with many professors at  the  JC and support Staff  at DSPS.  I hope  to  take  some more classes their if time permits   I  have grown and I am  ready.  Transition will be hard,yet their are two major thing that will be different. I have a ton of people who support me now and most importantly, I  believe in myself now. 

March Palsy Party

  Hay guys so today is March First which means it is  CP Awareness month  2013. I have  so much to share with you guys  over the next four weeks.    For me I am  kicking off CP month by  going to visit my friend Steve Wampler he  is showing his movie  near by and  tonight he will be attending should be a fun night.  Tune  in Monday for pics from tonight.

 Here is the  trailer







 PS  if u want to be in on the action is is not to late to submit  a story  for the blog  see below  for more details.



got image from http://www.pagecovers.com/covers/causes/cerebral_palsy_awareness.jpg

Dentist tips for people with CP

                     So   I have  been  going to the dentist  for a while  now.  As of  right  now,  I go to a pediatric dentist.  Its  pretty cool   u  can  play  videogames or  watch movies   while getting your teeth cleaned.  Its  a  great place to go  however  CP  makes  it  a  little  bit hard.   So  I thought  I  give you  guys   an insiders view of going to the dentist  With  CP.

  Disclaimer:  CP  effects  every  kid  differently  so  while  going to the dentist is  hard for me   it may not be hard for someone  with  CP whose mouth  is  not  effected.

 Now  I am  pretty  mobile   so    getting into the chair is not a big  deal  for me  but  i think  someone who  has more  mobily    challenges with CP  may need  help  getting into the dentist chair.


    Open   up

  Ok so  opening  up is  really  hard  for me because of  CP.  My  mussels  are  really tight  so   its  easier for me to keep my  jaw closed. Which  means talking and   opening up wide is  a challenge.  I also have  a bite  reflex which means I  may  bite  down  if  someone  puts something near my  mouth.

  A  solution

  a bite block_ I do not like using this

    Not having me keep my mouth open for a long period of time.  So when it comes to flossing my  teeth which I do not  do a lot   more in another post   The dentist may  floss a couple of teeth then  let me close  my mouth before reaping it.  As  I have gotten  older I have tried  to  keep my mouth open for long periods of time I can do it  but  it  takes a lot of effort.

  X-rays

X-rays are  really hard for me to do  so  sometimes I need to   go under  ( if I have a cavity)  so they  take them then




  So   parents  self advocates  how is the dentist for you  or your child.  Do you have any tips to share?








 photos from

http://www.picturesof.net/_images_300/A_Woman_Dentist_Examining_a_Woman_Patient_Royalty_Free_Clipart_Picture_090819-002470-733053.jpg

http://classroomclipart.com/images/gallery/Clipart/Dental/patient-dental-xray-exam.jpg