Talking and understanding are not mutally exculsive

                        Lets  say  a genius  who  spoke  Latin  were to come to  the United States.  Now  lets   just say  for the sake of the argument that  there was  no one elese  who spoke  Latin.    Is the  genius  still a  genius.    Of  course  many  people would say   he just  needs    needs to  learn  English.       Well  what if there was  a  person  who  could not speak  at all  and  had  no device,  could he  be  a genius?
`  
It  angers  me as a person living with a speech  delay  when  I hear  someone  who has  no  speech  due to  disabilities,  especially  CP,  and do not have any  device  and  are  placed   as  limited  intellecual  ability.  It  really   angers me    because   the person does not have a  opportunity to  prove  there intellengence one way or the other.  Why am  I pissed  off  let   me  tell you  my story.

 bookgal  princess  and  az We were so cute 

          I was  born   September   1991   a month  prematurely   resulting in mild Cerebral Palsey.  As  a newborn  I could not suck  from a bottle  to well  a feeding tube was  placed  though my thoat so  I could  eat.   When  my parents  took me   home  I  had a  hard  time  breast feeding and my  mom had to pump her milk out  and put it in a bottle.  My  mussles  were soo  weak that   feeding took  forever.




 When  I was a  toddler   I had diffculty communicating. I leaned sign langue  to comincate. I  remeber saying and  signing  craker  in the kitchen.  Useing  signing  I was  able to  express  my wants  and  needs  until my speech   came  along.




 With me and  my  speech  imparment  repeating  words  is   frustrating  espacaly when  no one  understands  me.    I  hear myslef  specaking clearly, My  mind   makes  the ideas  and  the words   that come out   are   fuzzy.   I  rember  saying answers  in class being  told  I was  wrong and   someone said the  same thing  and got it right.      That means that I  got  the anser  right.  


  Now  for me  I have a voice . Its  not  the best  but its  a  voice. As  frustrated  as I must  feel  it must be  ten  times more frustrating  for  people  without a voice.  I feel for those  people  and   can not igmane  being inside  and  not having  a  way to  commicate  and   because of  not being able to comincate  getting  llabled as  worthless.    Having the school system  write  you  off being  isolated  from your peers.  Being  talked to in a high  pitch  voice  every day when  you  are not a  kid. Then  because of  your phiscal limitations  being  labled   as  being as  smart as a  toddler.  That is not  fair  nor is it  right.  I  know  all about  history   understand  spainsh and  english  have a  talent for writing   can  play chess    yet I can not  say the  L  R   K   G sound   esaly.  Does  that  me   not smart  no. Now  igmane   if  i could not talk or  had a device yes  I would not be able  to   write  read and play chess  not because  I   was  not smart  but because i  had  not had  the oppertunites  to  learn.     If  you are reading this and have a child  who can not communicate  my  advice  is   to  go to the ends of the  earth  for your kid, Buy the i pads   the dynvoxs help your  child  find their voice.   If your  the  parent   or  know  someone  whoes  older  who can not commmicate   do the same thing.  The sonner  you  get it the better but do not give up on an older   person in fact you need to get  the information them faster to make up for loss time. In the  meantime  contiue talking to   the person   as  would with   a person as  there  cronolical  age. ( So obsouly  talk  to a baby  like  a baby
 All pepole deves  a chance to connect with others.  It  does not  matter how smart they are everyone  wants  to connect  with  others.    Think about  it  this way   if the person  is  said  to have an intellecual disablity  and you  talk to them about  stuff that  is  to hard for them  then  they it will be  to hard, but if   the child is smart  but has not fond their  voice they will  obseve  it like a sponge.  Please  remeber  speech  is  very  conplex  and hard but   the   spoken word  is   the end result.   The  process  may still be in place.








 

My sister is going here

  Congrats   princess  of the ducks 

an essay I wrote for class on my mom

 Shortly after Rosa Parks gave up her seat,  a vice chancellor was  born; however,  when she was younger   no one could have  imagined it because   they were female, African American  and lived in  the same state that the Boycott took place in, Alabama.  This is my own mother who  had  to overcome insurmountable odds to get to where she is today  and this is her story.
            My mom was born on a June day.  She is  daughter of  .   My  grandmother was a country girl  who was the daughter of sharecroppers,  a system   developed by former slave owners  in which black people who   got  very little money for the crops they  produced and  were trapped on the land.    My grandma  was born  in the 30’s  during the  depression which made it  especially hard for her  family to get ahead.  My Grandfather lived  on the farm in Alabama which  his  grandfather, who was freed by the slaves as a  had bought.
              My  mom was brown in  a time period where  her mom was inevitably  referred to as a girl and her dad was  always a boy. Because of the color of their skin, my  grandparents endured   segregation.   In  my mom’s neighborhood was all black  and whenever  my mom went to town with  her mom she was  exposed to the bomb mine  of the ways of white people.  My mom remembers   asking  my grandmother  why she had to cross the street for white people. My mom remembers   hearing my grandmother  telling her about  that at work, as a cook she  was forced to go through the back door.  her job as a cook for white people, yet home was   still  home for  my mother.    When she was born  she already had four siblings, that all attended segregated schools, to look out for her.  My mom also grew up with both set of grandparents to look out for her.
            The  pivotal movement that would allow my mom and her siblings to reach their fullest potential came when my grandpa   moved the family to California.   It came shortly after  my mom  turned  five.  My  grandpa moved the family because he was  in the military and  had  to pick between Texas  and California.  He chose California because he had already had relatives  there.  I am  forever grateful that my grandpa chose California because without that choice I would not be here.
            One day when my grandma  was helping my mom study she  told her that she could be a doctor because she was so smart. My mom did not  actually believe her.  Even though my mom could attend the public school in California she had never thought  that she could be a doctor because   there were no African American doctors in Sacramento.  Still life was good in the state capital.  My grandma and grandpa became  really busy when they  moved to California.  Grandpa continued to work at McClellan Air Force Base in  North Highlands. My grandmother, who  knew that education was the key to a better future,  got her teaching credential  while raising her five kids  and working.  By the  time  my mom  graduated from high school after three years she  already had  siblings that had been in the college system.  My mom decided to go to  University of the Pacific in Stockton which was  close to her  parents and little brother,  who is  a decade younger than she.

            The future vice chancellor of diversity  for UCSF graduated  from UOP she went to medical  school  at UCSF.  She  spent a year in Los Angles, yet  she would return to UCSF for her residency. In residency one of  her black professors encourage her to go into academic medicine.  This choice would  ground her for  a very long time.
            In residency my mom met a handsome   half white half Mexican  man who was the eldest of  six children.  He also had an interesting story. This man, my father, was a wise  soul who loved to read.  He was  from a poor family and was born in Oregon. He was the only person to graduate from high school.  He  also came with a little  boy, from his first marriage, who was cute funny and enjoyed Ninja Turtles and baseball. Although    my father was a different race   and had a kid, she  fell in love  and the couple soon got married.
            Shortly after my parents  married. The best thing that happened to them was born.  I was born a few months shy of their one year anniversary.  I was  the first child that my mother had actually carried around  for  eight months, I was born  prematurely.  When I was born    Natalie Cole’s “Unforgettable”  was playing in the delivery room. My mom had thought that that song was  predicting the unforgettable stuff that I would do. It  turned out that it was the song  both mother and daughter  would live up to.
            A year after  I was born  doctors  told my parents that I had Cerebral Palsy. My mom  got me all the help I needed, yet  she never gave up her work.   I was joined by two little sisters that would serve as  good teachers  for me as I got older,  but until then  that meant she had three little kids at home the eldest had disabilities. Most people would have given up their jobs to care for their disabled   toddler, but my mom never  did  take off more than she had . During this time my mom  worked  at two sites, taking care of patients and  doing research,  Mymom and  dad found the best nanny’s to care for us  and they would assume all parental duties during the day.  Growing up  I wished that my mom had  been a Stay at home mom, yet  I am  glad she did not because  America needed her to work.
              When I was  seven years old  it was the down of a new  millennium and  the first time  that my mother would become  a leader who championed the  rights of minorities, That year she would become chief of staff  at UCSF.   Soon after that she was promoted to associate dean of the medical  school.  She would be a there   for a while. She also became  involved  in her community outside the hospital.  She joined  the Commission on disabilities and  the compassion  on the status of women.  She also started began to travel a lot.   When I was in middle school my mom began traveling to Washington DC to be on the board  on women in medicine and science, The  national board challenges the  fact that  not a lot of women are in leadership roles  yet they were more women in medicine.  All of this meant travelling  advocating and doing countless  hours  of writing  and practicing  long into the night.
             In  the fall of  2010 my mom  interviewed  for the vice chancellor of diversity. She  got the position. My family and I were so excited.  Last  January we went to  a ceremony honoring her work.  Going to the event made me realize her impact  that she had  in her  professional life. She became the  first female  African American vice chancellor  in the University of California system.     During that time my mom has  implemented  programs that improve the diversity at UCSF .
             Mom  is a hard worker, She began working at the age of 16  and has not looked back since. Renee is so  wonderful and amazing.  She has won numerous of awards and recognition .  My mom  has shown me that   with hard work anything is possible.  She has shown me the  racism  can be overcome and   we must keep fighting until everyone has a fair shot at life.  She is my mom  and  I am  so honored that  her blood   runs through my veins.   When  I think  of  her accomplishments I   feel  proud to call her my  mom.    She has showed me    through her actions, those  are  bigger than words,  anyone can make a  difference in the lives of others.




Happy mothers day to al the mom's out there

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com

Able to Go to college Episode one : AZ's new backpack

 

  So  this  is the  first episode of Able to go to college.    The video says week  two  because I did not film the  first week of school :(.   Now  on with the post.    



                Now these days  there are a lot of different  types of backpacks.  Some  are  rolling  while   some are a shoulder bag Some   ladies  carry there stuff in a  purse.  For me  I need a backpack  because  due to  NLD  I am  vary  disorganized  in  fact some people have   called  me. 

A Tornado

  And  people  have also  called  my backpack a  

A BLACK HOLE

                                                                       

   the  day I got my  orange  backpack summer 2010 

         Since I  am  hard on my stuff  my  back packs do not last  long.    I  got the  orange  backpack   summer 2010.    I  took  it with  me to   my summer school  program  for students  with  disabilities.  I   also took  it  when i started regular college  classes, but    Fall 2011  it began to show  me  signs that  it needed to go into  retirement.  The  front  two  zippers did not  work  anymore  and there were  holes in it.    The  orange  back pack  was  with me   as  I entered college  but     now    I needed a  new one .



   So earlier in the week  my  dad and I   went on a mad backpack hunt.   We went all over    but   no such  luck  because I am   picky .     I   went looking  at my book store in my college.  I  found  two  backpacks of the same modal  but  different colors.  I  ended up  picking the blue one.     I got on  the bus thinking that   I was   going  home .but   I  got on the wrong  bus.    The bus went  near by    my old   school so I  was not worried.  I  called my dad  because  he was    home  but the plumber was   at our  house  so  he sent Princess  and she came to  get me.

Got  images from

    Tornado

http://dir.coolclips.com/Nature/Natural_Disaster/Tornadoes/cartoon_tornado_CoolClips_natu0206.jpg

  Black hole

http://www.dailygalaxy.com/.a/6a00d8341bf7f753ef0168e55ba4a3970c-800wi

 Captions were  done with help from Carolyn Fiory

girls with autism

     

Hay  guys  missed  me    I   was   on  spring break  more on this latter   but anyway  I  saw this interesting video   what are  your thoughts

CP Awarness Month Highlights

             Another   month has come and  gone.     This  has been a fun  month  with me blogging weekly. I like it and  it has not hurt my  academics at all. I  took a bio  test  today and got a  96%, and no I did not  pay the professor.     
                
 I told you about  Able to go to college. The series is coming soon.   Maybe  next week.


  Connotation and  Denotation faced off   in this  post .


 I  got some  news    about  my   grades.


   I  re posted  about  LM  for Down Syndrome day 




 IT was CP Awareness  Day  and I   thought of some ways  that  having a disabled child  was easier than   a  average one 




 Guest  Posts 


  Laura  sharing Seth's story


  Stacey Menz  talking about  PT and CP  




 What  were some of your  favorite  post  from this  month.

A message from a PT

       I have had the pleasure  of  knowing Stacey Menz since  fall  2011.    For those of  you who do not know  Stacey is a PT  based   in the same town  that I   grew up  in.  I  wish I had her for  PT when I was younger  because she is really good.  Stacey works  at  Starfish Therapies. I asked her  to  write a post about  CP  and she did  so without further ado here  is the post on  CP

 this  little  guy  will be  the star of a video at the end of the post 

Every person with cerebral palsy looks differently not just in terms of their physical appearance (just like any other person) but also in terms of what they can do really easily and what they have a really hard time doing. This is because it depends on the area of the brain that was affected. Each area controls different parts of the body so it would make sense that an injury in one area of the brain will have a different affect than an injury in a different area of the brain. Despite these differences there are similarities that are important to consider when assisting a person with cerebral palsy to achieve their goals in life, whatever those goals may be.

 Me as a middle schooler with   book gal in   the backround

The similarity I am going to chat about is that for a person with cerebral palsy to learn a new skill whether it is how to walk, how to talk, how to write, etc, it takes a lot of practice. In this way it is no different than someone who is learning how to play the piano or to shoot a basketball or write cursive. All new skills take practice and repetition until they become more second nature. With new skills, each piece of the skill requires conscious thought. Remember the first time you learned to drive a car. You had two hands on the steering wheel, you were sitting upright and barely dared to breath. The radio wasn’t on because it might distract you, and the person who was in the passenger seat wasn’t allowed to so much as whisper. It took all your thought and concentration to move the car out of the driveway and down the road. Now, after countless hours and miles of practice think about all the things you do in the car. I’m sure all of us have at some point and time driven somewhere, parked and thought ‘how did I get here.’ Driving has become automatic and we don’t have to think about every little nuance anymore, unless the conditions change and then we are on higher alert.

 My  mom  me and book gal I did PT when I was this small

This is how learning every movement is for a person with cerebral palsy. Each motion or activity requires constant thought. Nothing is automatic. So not only is going about the day physically exhausting for a person with cerebral palsy because of the extra energy they have to expend to create movement or speech, it can also be mentally exhausting if they have to consciously tell their brain to tell their body each motion and movement.


This is where the practice comes in. The more a person practices an activity the easier it has the potential to become. And, the more the activity is broken down into small pieces and each piece is mastered and then put back together as a whole, the easier the activity has the potential to become. I have seen this in many cases. I have a kiddo where we are working on walking without assistive devices. He is able to do it for short periods but he needs to think about each step and think about his balance after each step. He has a hard time shifting his weight onto one foot so he can lift the other and will often lean out to the side to make this easier, but that then makes keeping his balance harder. So we will take lots of time to practice shifting his weight to one side and then the other while keeping his head and trunk up straight. After we practice that piece he gets to practice walking a short distance and he finds it just a little bit easier to shift his weight, take a step and keep his head and trunk up so that he has an easier time keeping his balance.
Every time a skill is practiced it is reinforcing the pathway that sends the message from the brain to the muscles. The more this road is used, the more efficient it becomes which also helps skills to become more automatic.

I inspire greatness

The take-away message is that practice and repetition are good. But I also hope you understand how much effort goes into a person with cerebral palsy learning each new skill and movement. Not just the physical effort, but the mental effort. I am amazed every day by the determination and will of the people I work with. They inspire me to work harder. I hope they inspire you.