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Inclusion for All! When I lost my leg seven years ago in a car accident, I didn't even know what a prosthetic leg looked like. Now, I create films starring actors with disabilities because I never want another person to feel the way I did in that hospital bed; alone, afraid, and angry. The latest film I created was a sci-fi thriller for the Easterseals Disability Film Challenge. 70% of roles with disabilities still go to men so we decided to have a cast of all women with disabilities. Our crew was also mostly women. I used to hide my prosthetic leg but now I love including it in every role I play on the screen and in real life.

Life Slows You Down For A Reason My name is Cloud and I am 35 years young to the naked eye. My bones tell a different story entirely, on the inside I look about 75. These diseases that I am blessed with are all internal, invisible on the outside. As a teenager, it was difficult to get people to take me seriously when I complained of something feeling wrong inside of me, so I learned to suffer in silence throughout my twenties as I battled chronic pain, uncontrollable sleepiness during the day, and insomnia during the evening. At 30 years old I was finally, after a decade of doctors tests, diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis and Narcolepsy with Cataplexy. Narcolepsy is a chronic neurological disorder of the sleep/wake cycle, and Cataplexy is a symptom of Narcolepsy where I get sudden muscle weakness triggered by strong emotions or exhilaration. Ankylosing Spondylitis is a form of arthritis that affects the spine and joints and leads to ankylosis -- new bone formation -- causing sections of the spine, and other joints to be fused in a fixed, immobile position. Upon diagnosis, I was prescribed a long list of self-injections, immune suppressors, anti-inflammatories, narcotic pain meds, and amphetamines to manage and slow down symptoms. At the time I was alone, uninformed, and scared for what a medicated future would look like, so I politely declined everything. Instead of succumbing to the pressure of my physicians, I opted for a holistic route. It was important to me to learn how to live with my diseases naturally before I began pumping my body with medications. I moved to an island so I could lead an active yet stress-free lifestyle and there Yogance (a blend of yoga and interpretive fee movement dancing), a clean diet, and a positive mindset became my salvation. I use a cane on days that I don’t have enough spoons and strength to support me and have gathered a tribe who loves unconditionally and helps with lots of little daily to-dos that are difficult for me. In addition to what I already deal with, a year ago I experienced a traumatic brain injury and concussion that has left me with more neurological and cognitive problems than I can recall. Memory loss and sensitivity to all stimulation have been some of the many symptoms I have been struggling to manage this year. The head injury has forced me to relearn lots of basic tasks and slow my life down even more than the conditions I already carry and it has been a great struggle to even leave the house or keep up with my peers. One beautiful side effect of the recent injury is I seem to process information differently and see things in ultra-vibrant technicolor and it has been having a beautiful impact on my creativity and art! I worked hard the past 5 years to create an easy-going lifestyle that better suited my simple needs and allowed me to live a minimalist lifestyle. By turning my hobby of crocheting into a small Crochet/Fiber Art business I gave myself even more freedom. @Gypsysugarcrochet & @CloudCrochet is where I design crochet couture for photoshoots, weightless statement earrings, and am currently working on a Coral Crochet Project to help promote ocean awareness and coral conservation efforts. My home is an Airbnb for all who want to visit me in Puerto Rico and experience adventure and island life (@cloud9casitas), and I have a small tribe of artistic friends who do collaborative photoshoots for a wide range of causes. No matter what hurdles life throws at my body I will always find a way to be a source of positivity. I utilize my different Instagram pages to connect with others and share my life of living with invisible diseases in hopes that by sharing my story I can inspire others that Yoo Can Do Anything!

Wheeled World in a few words Injured during the Paris terrorist attacks in 2015, I have been a paraplegic for three years and now use a manual wheelchair... But that does not stop me from traveling! I created Wheeled World, a non-profit organization, based on a simple observation: during my trips, I met very few - TOO FEW - people with reduced mobility... and now understand why! Beyond the obvious physical limits, there are many psychological limits to wheelchair travel (difficult projection due to lack of information on accessibility, fear of struggle or frustration while traveling in non-accessible places, lack of understanding of your real needs by tourism actors…). What I want is to fight these limits. Make you want to travel. And open the way, to allow everyone to do it serenely, whether they are valid or with reduced mobility. Our project In November 2018, we launched our travel blog that combines travelogues, videos, practical tips and information on the accessibility of the visited places. It is addressed to all, both valid and disabled! If it contains stories about our past adventures, we want to give it another dimension and prove that nothing is impossible... That's why we decided to go for a year around the world, starting September 2019... It won't be any World Tour ! Our journey will cover four continents : South America, Oceania, Africa and Asia! Destinations not necessarily identified as accessible, in which we can live adventures that will make our readers dream... And will make them want to follow us, figuratively and, we hope so, literally. Every three months, we’ll come back to France for a few weeks to step back and share our experience. We want to prove it, nothing is impossible. You just need : The right equipment : On our blog, we will display information on sport and mobility enhancement equipments that we will use during our journey Video demos, product guides, supplier presentations… The right team mates : According to destinations, we will ask some team mates to come with us in the least accessible activities to go further Relatives, partnerships with local non-profit, other travel bloggers… The right information : We will display as much information as possible on our blog… But how to make sure that it is stable over time? To ensure information update and dissemination, we developed partnerships with organization that work to improve mobility: Jaccede.com and Handiplanet Follow us if you want to know more: @wheeled_world

My Backbone's Been Screaming for Help Since childhood, I’ve always had spine issues. Somehow the ball was dropped in 2009 when I was 18 years old. I spoke up to providers about my back, and it wasn’t properly addressed. I have always advocated for myself, but it felt like I wasn’t being heard. ‘Lose weight, that will help’. – Okay, I can do that. I’ve lost over 120 pounds, and have kept the weight off for almost 4 years. The pain is still there. ‘Do physical therapy, and work with a personal trainer’. – No problem. I’ve been doing PT for many years to address my spine; the pain is still there, and continuing to get worse. “Try these medications, nerve blocks, epidurals, dietary changes, and other alternative treatment approaches. This should help.’ – Okay cool. I’ve done them all and I’m still in the same situation… “Go to counseling and learn how to cope with it.” – I completely agree counseling is a great resource, and I am currently working with a therapist. However, we are still dodging around the issue. I wonder if doctors believe patients don’t have backbones. I’m not talking about a literal backbone. The idiom definition of not having a backbone is someone who doesn’t stand up for themselves. They may be viewed as a pushover, and choose to not use their voice to speak up for themselves. When I looked up this idiom on urbandictionary.com, their top definition helped me understand the saying further. “A true example of a coward, who often backs out of things, and rarely shows they have any balls”. At times, I felt like doctors viewed me as immature and ignorant. My medical records label me as ‘disabled’ but that doesn’t take away my intelligence. I knew something was not right when I was not responding to treatments. I live by the motto “losing is not an option.” To me, this phrase means to keep going and don’t give up, even when it’s really hard. I don’t have a medical degree, but I know my body. If my gut is screaming that something isn’t right then I’m going to listen and speak up. Yes, I have physical disabilities, but my mind is still sharp. I have a college degree, and 90% of a masters degree. Not for nothing, you have to have some smarts to be accepted into graduate school. I may be unable to work, but I’m still educated in the field that I both worked in and went to school for: counseling, art therapy, case management, mental health, crisis management, disability advocacy, and working in hospital settings. These are some of the many areas I have both excelled in academically and in the field. For nine years, I continued to voice my concerns, but I still wasn’t heard. While there are countless images of my spine, the results were unfortunately never shown to me. I’ve read the reports, but NEVER saw what my spine looked like. The only way I got answers was if I hounded the doctors to speak to me. I am not someone who gives up easily. My gut kept telling me that something was not right. I’m grateful I listened to my instincts. IS THAT MY BACK?! I was horrified when I saw what my spine looked like on film. I couldn’t stop staring at the x-ray. ‘Holy shit that’s what my spine looks like?!’ The vertebrates in my lower back aren’t aligned. Two of my vertebrates look like they are rubbing and sitting on each other. One vertebrae looks like it’s forcing itself out of my spine. It’s crystal clear my spine is not stable. Moreover, there are nerves that are entrapped in the same area where the two vertebrae are piled onto each other. My lower back is a hot mess. I met with two spine surgeons, both who specialize in spine abnormalities; Each one helped me understand how the problem is structural. It’s not my fault that I learned at the age of 27 that I was born with a spine malformation. I was not educated properly about all the components affecting my spine, until I met with each spine specialist. I gained the proper knowledge I needed to understand the full situation with my spine. I was unaware of the severity of my spine’s instability and that there’s been a nerve root entrapment since childhood. A fusion is necessary; this will only enhance my strength further. Between a fusion, and fixing the nerve root entrapment, there are high hopes of improvement with leg pain, functioning, and quality of life. Someone Finally Listened When I met with the second surgeon, he made a statement that really struck me. “These are simple problems, and it is clear on imaging. If only they’d listened to you”. The satisfaction arising when I hear him say this reminds me that my hard work paid off; always speak up for yourself, and trust your gut. ‘Wait, wait wait… was I just validated?!?’ “IS THIS REAL LIFE?!, DID HE REALLY JUST SAY THAT?!?!!” My friend was in the room with me, and I asked her more than 15 times on our way home if he actually stated that; she confirmed he did. I made sure to treat her to a coffee for putting up with my non stop harassment! Overall, I deeply appreciated these surgeons taking the time to provide their clinical opinions regarding my case. I’m officially in good hands. So Much Beauty, in an Xray I felt inspired when I saw my X-ray. I wanted to bring this image to life. There were so many shapes and I was mesmerized by the colors in that picture. I could visualize how I would incorporate texture, depth, shadow. There was so much beauty in my spinal structure. Once the resident left the room to get the doctor, I grabbed my phone, and took multiple photos of my x-ray. This art piece was already coming together in my head, and I hadn’t even left the exam room. I can feel the pain of my spine just by looking at it; it’s screaming for help. It’s been screaming for assistance for so long, but no one was listening to what it had to say. There’s so much strength in the structure, but extra support is necessary. You can see how restricted the lumbar is in terms of movement. It doesn’t have the freedom to align the way it should. Most of my spine is holding strong, but you can see the wear and tear. The particular support my spine needs is something I can’t personally provide; I’m helpless, because the problem is structural. My spine has felt damaged and hurt; doctors whom were trusted had failed to do their jobs properly. These providers were putting bandages on the problems, rather than fixing the problem. I was so angry. ‘WHY DIDN’T ANYONE LISTEN?!?!’ The red shades in the background signify the red flags saying, ‘ STOP, AND LOOK! The problem is right in front of you. It symbolizes the hurtful, hateful, and hostile emotions. These emotions can be washed away. The past is in the past, and it’s time to move forward. I can look at my spine, and state that I feel fulfilled. I feel free; my voice was heard, and my back will get the proper help it needs. I’m a visual person, so not being able to see what my spine has looked like for years, had made me feel like I was left in the dark. Damn my spine is strong for all of the shenanigans it has had to put up with. I am relieved knowing there’s an explanation to why my spine is the way it is. It all makes sense now. Looking at my spine structure provided me reassurance. My gut was right this entire time; something really was wrong. Painting my spine, helped me understand my anatomy; I was born this way. Is my spine deformed? Technically yes, however I don’t see it like that. I view my spine as unique, just like my personality. It makes me who I am today. There is a lot more strength in me that I must recognize. My quirky spine has quite a powerful voice, and I wouldn’t be who I am without it. It’s quite clear I have a backbone, one that is quite loud and vibrant. My spine is one of a kind, and it has helped enhance my backbone; my backbone gave me the courage to use my voice, and speak up until I was heard.

Unknown Polymyositis 11 years ago I was diagnosed with a muscle disease called Polymyositis. This has been a long hard journey. I began being sick after giving birth to my daughter. For a year my doctors had no clue what was wrong with my body. I was introduced to a doctor 10 years later who was able to properly diagnose me. This muscle disease causes my core muscles to deteriorate. My upper arm and leg muscles are losing strength. I now have to use a mobile wheelchair to get around and require help with everything. With the help of my mother two children and God, I'm still here. It's not easy especially being a single mother. The reason why I titled this piece is that this disease has no cure. A lot of people have no clue of this disease and I just want a platform to share my story for someone that may be living with this unknown disease or for single disabled parents to let them know it may get hard but please don't give up.

Loving Yourself Inside & Outside My name is Melody (@melody.mccauley). I have a mild form of Autism ever since I was 2 years old. At that age I couldn’t speak, so my mom hired a speech therapist to help me speak again. I became verbal again when I was 7 years old. Now, I love talking to people now and I always try to spread Autism awareness so others like me can receive help just like I did. I love who I am and even though I’m Autistic, I’m a very strong woman inside and out. Love yourself and be proud of who your are. Always be yourself and be strong like me.

I CAN do everything that I want & more My name is Sara and I'm 24 years old. As I remember until I was 9 or 10, I didn't have any responsibilities like housework or outdoor work. As a result, I couldn't do anything without help. I felt like a parasite and so dependent on others. On the other hand, my family helped me as much as they could because I nagged a lot. When I grew up I realize that I couldn't continue living like that, So I started to stand on my own knees after elementary school. I tried to do everything that others told me "you CAN NOT." Even I hunkered for hours, but I never gave up, My mind defended against the word "CAN'T" and anything that anybody said you "can't" was just enough for me to start trying to do that. One of the annoying things to do for me was walking. I couldn't even walk short distances because my knees, waist, and kidney hurt so much. I couldn't sleep for many days after I tried walking. My main problem was my prosthesis. As I grew and became taller, my prosthesis grew bigger and it wasn't flexible enough. For example, when I wanted to get out of the car I had lots of difficulties. During my teenage years, I tried to conceal my disability from others. I didn't even go into cars. Although it was so hard for me, I tried to only walk. I walked more and more so, as a result, my body could accept my situation. Now I believe in myself and I know that it's hard situations which make success.

How I started using a freedom chair I heard about the Grit freedom chair which is basically the wheelchair version of a mountain bike back in June of 2017 through their ambassador program contest where I would've gotten to use the freedom chair for a full year for free and all I would've had to do was post pictures of me using it on social media. Unfortunately, I only made it to the finals so I got a discount which I wasn't able to use at the time due to my mom not having enough money to afford one for me. Back in November, the CEO of Grit emailed me wanting to know if I was still interested in wanting a freedom chair and my mom had enough money to afford one for me and so I said yes that I still wanted one. I've had my freedom chair since around Christmas and I love it. I'm still getting used to it, but so far I've taken it to the park, the lilburn park greenway walking trail with my dad and dog Ginger, and my great grandmother's house on Christmas Eve. Rider Rewards program The way the freedom chair rider rewards program works is you get a password to access the page, pick an activity from a list of six or seven activites and once you complete it and fill out a submisson form by following different instructions for each activity. Once you submit it, you'll get the amount of points associated with the activity that you submitted. You can buy certain accessories for your freedom chair using those points and Alex whose a grit team member explained to my mom and I that the way that it works is one rider reward point equals one dollar, the grit team will offer you a coupon that you can use towards anything on the website so if you have 10 or 20 maybe even 100 points, the coupon will be worth that much in actual money.

Newsha Tea We know the effects of food and beverage on our health conditions, so it is very important to choose proper food and drinks. Herbal tea is a choice that helps us improve our body's health. Whatever we eat and drink affect our body (and even our mind). We want to bring nature back to all families helping people everywhere enjoy a healthier and more delicious diet through our naturally based products. Helping individuals everywhere, especially women and young people‎, discover their potential and achieve their goals by offering a suitable, modern, efficient, legal and secure opportunity which fairly and morally provides time and financial freedom as well as personal growth. For more information about which herbals is useful for you, please send a message to sjahed@live.com.

FHL1 Help please I'm Thiago Felstinsky & I'm 15 years old from Buenos Aires, Argentina. At the age of 9 I was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy of the FHL1 gene. The truth is that for now there is no research for a treatment or a cure for the disease, as well as a decision to change my life and so that it can be a life, so that we can create social networks to find people with the same disease, and when we have, also, the doctors, that interest us more than in a project for the cure if they can share my profile. Following me @fhl1Internacional on Instagram would be helpful. "Just because things are a certain way does not mean you can't change them."

Overcoming challenges and obstacles When you first hear the word Cerebral Palsy, you automatically think people are limited to doing what they put their mind to since that's the way society makes it seem towards people with disabilities , which makes me sad because as a young woman with Cerebral Palsy who has overcome many challenges (ie: only weighing 2 pounds 3 ounces fighting for my life in the incubator because I came out a few months early to getting diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy at the age of two years old learning how to adapt to my situation). Living in a society where things aren't always perfect, I faced many challenges and obstacles in my life such as getting bullied and being told that I was never going to amount to anything or able to communicate with society since doctors didn't expect me to be able to communicate or to sit up & walk on my own. All the things the doctors said I couldn't do, I've done. Here I am, 23 years old advocating for Cerebral Palsy and a self-published author I'm also a college student who's studying creative writing for entertainment in the hopes that one day I'll be able to write movies that Hollywood could enjoy and that the world can be inspired by. I hope that with my journey will inspire others to have the mindset of YOCAN DO ANYTHING YOU SET YOUR MIND TO no matter how long it takes you to overcome the little things that come in your way in life. I always say to myself that no obstacle is too small for me to overcome because I CAN AND I will- just like you can and you will. You just have to take it day by day no matter what it is your trying to accomplish in life. It all takes time and dedication. If I learned one thing for the obstacles and challenges faced is that you have to take every obstacle that you have in your life as a life lesson and not let it bring you down because yoocan overcome the obstacles that come your way if you believe you could achieve anything in life. What I have been able to achieve while overcoming obstacles Now that I'm a young adult with Cerebral Palsy, I am continuing to overcome obstacles but what I have been able to do is share my experiences as a child and teenager. I publish many articles on amazing platforms such as Yocan and it has changed my life to be able to do that and to be able to have a platform where I'm able to share my story. I'm able to share my stories in my experiences with the world in hopes that I can inspire another young woman with Cerebral Palsy to overcome the obstacles in life because no obstacle is too small to overcome and you can do anything you set your mind to.

10 tips: to improving your self-esteem and life with a disability I am 18 years old Dominika with Asperger's syndrome. Sometimes we want to improve our self-esteem or self-acceptance. Tip #1: Always stay true to yourself. Don't try to pretend to be someone else. Believe in yourself and trust yourself. Tip #2: Share kindness with others and yourself. Tip #3: Find your passion and be creative. Express yourself and your feelings with art. It can be drawing, poetry, music or cooking. Tip #4: Think about self-care and your lifestyle. Say something positive to yourself. Drink more water. Eat healthily. Excercise. Go to the gym, swim, horseback ride, etc. Tip #5: Don't be a prisoner of your past or other people's opinions. Tip #6: Don't compare yourself to others. Just feel comfortable in your own skin. Tip #7: Don't be worried about things you can't control. Tip #8: Always try to stay with smile and cheerful attitude. Enjoy little things. Be grateful. Tip #9: Try to accept yourself and your disability. Accept your mind and body the way it is. Don't be ashamed of your disability. You are able to reach your goals and dreams if you have courage. Tip #10: Remember that you are worthy of love and acceptance. You are unique. Nobody can change that.