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איך הכל התחיל עם זאבת אובחנתי לראשונה בשנת 2015 עם סימפטומים של זאבת שכללו עייפות, כאבי פרקים, כאבי ראש, נפיחות במפרקים, פריחות, נשירת שיער, התקפים ובעיות קרישת דם. הייתי אז בהריון וכמעט איבדתי את חיי ואת חיי התינוק. היה לי אובדן זיכרון ובלבול, לא זיהיתי בני משפחה, חברים או עמיתים לעבודה. לא יכולתי לקרוא, לכתוב, או אפילו לבטא מילים מסוימות. איבדתי 25 ק"ג כי כל מה שאכלתי עלה חזרה למעלה. בלילה לפני שלקחו ממני את התינוק כשהיה בן 7 חודשים, היו לי התקפים כל הלילה והיו צריכים להבהיל אותי לטיפול נמרץ. אני חיה וקיימת היום בזכות תפילות וסביבה תומכת חזקה! אני אסירת תודה לעד לבני משפחתי ולחבריי, ולאלוהים על הזדמנות שנייה בחיים. אני חיה עבור מטרה.מאז לא היו לי כאבי פרקים, אני לא מרגישה עייפה, לא סובלת מכאבי ראש, המפרקים שלי לא מתנפחים ואני לא מקבלת פריחות. כשאני אומרת שאלוהים היה טוב זה בלשון המעטה! אני מרגישה כמו האישה הכי ברת-מזל בחיים. שתי הבנות שלי לצידי ואני אסירת תודה לנצח. How it all started with Lupus I was first diagnosed in 2015 with systemic lupus erythematosus symptoms, which included fatigue, joint pains, swelling headaches, rashes, hair loss, seizures and blood-clotting problems. I was pregnant at the time and I almost lost my life and the life of my baby. I had memory loss and confusion, I couldn't remember family, friends or co-workers. I couldn't read, write, or even pronounce certain words. I lost 56 pounds because everything I ate came back up. The night before they took my baby at 7 months away from me. I was having seizures all night and they had to rush me to ICU. I'm alive and well today because of prayers and a strong support system! I'm forever grateful to my family and friends, and the almighty God for a second chance at life. I'm alive for a reason and a purpose. I haven't had a relapse since 2016, I don't get joint pains, I don't feel tired, I don't get headaches, my joints don't swell and I don't get rashes. When I say the Lord's been good, it's an understatement! I feel like the luckiest woman alive. I have my two daughters at my side and I'm forever grateful.

You've got this: Living Life with Spinal Muscular Atrophy Hi, I’m Jasmine and I am 26 years old from the UK. I suffer from a condition called Spinal Muscular Atrophy which is a muscle wasting condition that'll get worse over time. I thrive from supporting people and I can sometimes use my own experiences to do this. I drive a wheelchair adapted vehicle, which has been a life saviour with my job! I live with my fiance and our cat and our life is great! My disability hasn't stopped me doing a single thing & I believe if you want to do something, get up and do it. I haven't got time to feel sorry for myself, or to ask questions like "why me". I'm a very positive empowering person. Please message me if I can help you in any way at all, or if you'd like to chat. יש לך את זה: לחיות את החיים עם ניוון שרירי השדרה שמי ג'סמין, בת 24 מבריטניה. אני סובלת ממחלה הנקראת 'ניוון שרירי השדרה' שהולכת ומחמירה עם הזמן. אני עובדת במשרה מלאה וחיה עם ארוסי והחתול שלנו. אני חיה בזכות אנשים תומכים ואוהבת נצנצים! מאוד! אני מתניידת בכיסא גלגלים מותאם שנראה כמו חללית ואנשים כל הזמן בוהים בי! הנכות שלי לא מנעה ממני לעשות דבר ואני מאמינה שאם אתם רוצים לעשות משהו, קומו ועשו זאת. אין לי זמן לרחם על עצמי, אני אדם מאוד חיובי. אנא שלחו לי הודעה אם אוכל לעזור לכם בכל דרך שהיא או אם תרצו לדבר.

Face Luke The moment I saw Luke I knew that he had a little something extra. I also knew that my husband Kevin, nor anyone else in the room, saw what I saw. On the ward I mingled with the other mums, and our family visited. Midwives came and went and still no one mentioned Down Syndrome (DS). I stayed silent trying to figure out “am I going mad?”. As soon as the lights went out I studied my gorgeous little guy. I took pictures and studied them. “Maybe he doesn’t”. I googled…studied…took pictures…studied…googled... I even watched other people’s reactions when they looked at him. I was certain he had an extra chromosome. But what did it mean? The information I was reading was so negative. I was petrified of what this meant for Luke, for Julia and for us all. But something told me it was all ok. Luke’s reassuring little face, I think. The Down Syndrome Diagnosis The next day my thoughts were verified when a young consultant came to do the usual check over. She couldn’t look me in the eye and she told me that her senior consultant would be coming to see me later “something about Luke’s face when he was delivered”. What on earth did she mean? The senior consultant arrived shortly after with an entourage of students and pulled the curtains around us. She examined Luke and asked me if I had heard of Down syndrome, and I guess the rest is history. I only wish they had waited to discuss this when my husband Kevin arrived. Instead, they left that to me! Poor Kevin arrived to visit shortly after and was met with my life changing news. When our family visited again there was a very different atmosphere to the delightful energy the previous day, as the blood tests had verified that in fact he had Trisomy 21 ( the most common type of the 3 types of DS). Luke was in a room of his own in neonates in an incubator with UV light to keep him warm and tubes and drips that looked way more serious than they were. We were treated with kid gloves and staff tip toed around us. It appeared that Luke had something awful. Our families were just as confused as we were and we look back now with utter disbelief. Down Syndrome Never Scared Me Luke was a beautiful baby boy with no life threatening illness unlike some of the poor babies around him and yet here our family was …upset…in shock… at seeing Luke with tubes! There really was no need for such a dramatically low theme to these first couple of days of Luke's life. At this point there was no critical medical worry. In those first few days we got the sympathetic looks from staff. We even had “sorry's” and one consultant’s dreadful analogy involving The Maldives and Cornwall: Luke being Cornwall which is “nice” but “not the Maldives”, the Maldives being a child without Down Syndrome. I mean really? I know for a fact that some staff felt that I was too happy! How could I be positive about my baby having Down Syndrome? The truth is, if you had told me the day before Luke was born that he had Down Syndrome I’d have been shocked. I didn’t understand DS, I didn’t know anyone closely that had DS, I didn’t know what it meant to have DS. DS scared the hell out of me when I was pregnant. How mad and terribly unenlightened I was! Interestingly though, I never had any screening tests and I wonder: was I afraid of what my actions would be had I been faced with something pre natally? BUT the very moment that I saw Luke DS meant everything and more to me and I suddenly understood all that I needed to...despite the negativity that surrounded me everywhere. I can’t really explain it in words but I just knew everything was ok and I accepted that Luke had Down Syndrome. It is what makes him Luke! But I was scared too. I never grieved for the child that I thought I would have. I hear a lot of parents do this and I completely understand it. It absolutely makes sense! I just never felt this way. Luke wouldn’t be Luke if he didn’t have Down Syndrome Luke wouldn’t be Luke if he didn’t have Down Syndrome and so he IS the wee boy that we were meant to have. I understand that some may think well of course she would feel this way... it's her son! but it really really is more than that. My whole perception of DS completely changed that instant and I have continued to learn through the fascinating and totally inspirational people that I have met since, who have DS. It’s weird the shift in my thought process and yet Down Syndrome has hung around me since I was born. My mum was 44 years old when she had me in 1976 so you can imagine the enormous pressure she was under to have an amniocentesis. Her and dad refused and were ready to accept me and I will always be grateful for that. Luke was taken away from me at 2 days old to have blood tests to confirm Down syndrome and he was never given back as he remained in neonates and finally transferred to York Hill. It transpired he had Hirschsprung’s disease (a bowel condition which required treatment and surgery) and a small ventricular septal defect (VSD) (a small hole between the two ventricle chambers of his heart), which eventually closed on its own. We finally brought Luke home almost 3 months after he was born. Hallelujah! The moment we brought him home he thrived and thrived and has not stopped achieving every single day proving the experts wrong continually. “He will struggle with…”, “he most probably won’t…”, “he will find x,y and z very difficult” seemed to be the prognosis for Luke. Yet he does, does and DOES. One consultant told us to be prepared for a harsh chat when we were invited to our first specialist team meeting. She told us that parents often left her room crying. “So come without the kids and bring a tissue as I don’t tell it through rose tinted glasses” she said. Of course Kevin and I swore to each other that if one tear duct even felt like filling we’d need to crack a joke. We left happy and joking as she had told us nothing we hadn’t googled already. Yet, sadly, it’s not a laughing matter being hit with all this negativity. Yes, we are lucky Luke has had no serious health complications as some children with Down Syndrome do (we are still researching why that 3rd chromosome brings with it these challenges) and he seems to be developing amazingly so the information doesn’t need to be so bleak. Challenges come with every child The statistics are so blurred. Not to mention if such a high % of babies discovered to have Down syndrome are aborted just for having it, how can we possibly grasp a clear understanding of this communities capabilities? Lets get something clear you cannot have Down syndrome a lot or a little bit. If you have this type of genetic makeup you have it - like having blonde hair; and guess what? That chromosome was created at exactly the time the egg was fertilized. Your little being was meant to be and nothing you did during pregnancy made it so. However that tiny wee extra chromosome for some reason brings some challenges that differ from one person to the next. What people often fail to understand is that health, personal and social development and physical ability differ from one person with Down syndrome to another just as they differ between you and I. Of course there are challenges raising a child with Down syndrome I won’t lie, we have a lot of appointments to keep, extra effort to help Luke get to where he needs to be and his Hirschsprung’s disease and VSD have kept us on our toes. BUT GUESS WHAT? Challenges come with every child. If you are lucky enough to have kids they are going to challenge you in a world full of ways. (Julia starts primary 1 in August and boy the preparation for this is bloody challenging) We Accept Luke Just As He Is However, most of our challenges do not lie directly with Luke but more with how society see’s him. It is so exhausting at times trying to remind people that Luke is just a little boy. He is not always happy, he loves balls and blocks and pretending to be a monster to chase Julia. Yes he takes the scenic route to things like crawling, walking, talking but he always gets there. And we don’t know how he will continue to develop as he gets older, yes he will probably require a bit of support but he will live a valid life and he will most certainly contribute to society with an abundance of positivity, enthusiasm and be an effective valuable human being. He will make me happy, sad, drive me to frustration and most probably worry the hell out of me…just as his sister will. So, I say to anyone who feels sorry for us or Luke...please do not be sorry. To the midwives and health professionals that did not say sorry but who told us how gorgeous Luke was, how alike his big sister he was and how cool his hair was…thank you. To the health professionals that put boundaries on Luke’s potential…please stop doing this to people who happen to have Down Syndrome. To the nurses, the physiotherapists, his teachers and consultants that see Luke’s potential and help him so much to achieve…thank you we love you. To our family and friends who just see Luke as Luke…thank you we love you. To all of you out there desperate for a child…don’t be afraid of Down syndrome and don’t let it stop you becoming a parent. I have wasted so much energy on this. To the lovely lady in the park who, with good intention, declared to me “they’re always such happy wee things”...Luke is most certainly NOT always happy. Read our blog. And finally to Julia Luke's big sis... THANK YOU for being our biggest teacher of inclusion. You just see Luke your little bro... no different to you, and goodness you are fierce hearted at reminding us not to mess with either of you. I wonder when as a human race we decided that a person with Down Syndrome was less valued than the rest. Julia will never ever get this. Luke continues to achieve every day. He is at mainstream preschool with his big sister and is just a wee boy doing what wee boys do. We are just a regular family living our lives in a lovely community and Luke is a popular wee dude. What worries us is that Luke’s opportunities when he grows up will not be as vibrant as Julia’s. supporting young adults with Down syndrome So we have set up FACE. We want to support young adults with Down syndrome get into further education, employment or training programs and 2018 is going to be the year that we start to do this with an exciting enterprise project. We will blog soon about this 😉 I CAN… Fulfill Achieve Create Employ! For now here is Luke’s blog, a light hearted approach to raising awareness of Down syndrome. We post cool images or videos of Luke, his sister, his family/friends, his life, with the caption “I CAN ...” Hopefully we can demonstrate the joy, the fun, the tears, the tantrums, the regularity and the sometimes irregularity of our very regular life. Luke has heard the word ‘can’t’ often in his life, he wants to show that in fact he CAN do anything! Thank you for reading. Keep following Luke at faceluke.com and share to help us show the world that a person who has a different genetic makeup deserves to live and live well. Lisa xxx

אני והשוני שלי שמי הוא מואישה (מו). בגיל צעיר מאוד הבנתי שאני שונה מהילדים האחרים. לא אהבתי את תשומת הלב כפי שהיא ניתנה לי. התביישתי בזרועי, "זרועי הימנית". לאט לאט הבנתי שהתחלתי ללמד את עצמי איך להסתיר את זרועי בגיל צעיר. פחדתי מעצמי, כי לא הבנתי למה היד הייתה בצורה הזו. אני יודעת שאני עדיין צעירה, כלומר יש לי עוד הרבה זמן כדי להתחיל להרגיש בנוח עם מי שאני. עכשיו אני רק בת 16 ומבינה שאני שונה ושזה לא רע להיוולד כמו שנולדתי. יש לי ערוץ יוטיוב שפתחתיי שבו אני שואלת את עצמי שאלות על מה אני מקווה להשיג בעתיד ודברים נוספים. אני מקווה שבהווה ובעתיד אתן השראה לאנשים ואגרום להם לחייך. Tiny Me & having a Limb Difference My name is Moasiah AKA (Moe). At a very young age I understood I was different than the other kids. I didn't like the attention in the way that was given. I was ashamed of my arm ,"my right arm". I slowly realized I started teaching myself how to hide my arm at a young age. Tiny Me was afraid of herself because she didn't understand why she was the way she was. I know I'm still young, which means I have plenty of time to be comfortable with who I am and understand me. Right now I'm only 16 and I'm just now realizing I'm different, and it's not bad to be born the way I was. I have a YouTube channel I made for myself to look back on in the future. There is a video I made to my future self asking myself questions on what I hope I accomplish in the future and other things. I hope in the present and future I inspire people and make them smile.

החיים עם מחלת ניוון שרירים שדרתית של קוגלברג-וולנדר שמי אאידה, אני בת 31 מקירגיסטאן שבאסיה. יש לי את מחלת ניוון שרירים שדרתית של קוגלברג-וולנדר. אובחנתי עם מחלה נדירה זו בגיל 10. מאז 2015 אני משתמשת בכיסא גלגלים. אני מומחית במניקור ומאפרת. עכשיו לומדת לעשות הרחבת ריסים. מאוד אוהבת אופנה ודברים מגניבים. רוצה להיות דוגמנית. אוהבת לטייל, לשחק שחמט, היפ הופ, ריקוד ואינטרנט. "התקווה איתך. פעלי ותהני!" Living with Spinal Amyotrophy of Kugelberg Welander My name is Aida. I am 31 years old. I am from Kyrgyzstan in Asia. I have Spinal Amyotrophy of Kugelberg Welander. I was diagnosed with this rare disease at the age of 10. Since 2015 I have been using a wheelchair. I am a master at giving manicures and being a make-up artist. Now I'm learning to do eyelash extensions. I really love fashion and cool things. I want to become a model. I like to travel, play chess, hip-hop, dance, and the Internet. 😂 "Hope with you. "Act and Enjoy!" ✊

Ella-Marie's Life story Ella-Marie was born on February 16, 2017 with severe Microcephaly, Lissencephaly and Hypoplasia of the corpus collosum. We had her diagnosis, but we wanted answers. She has an older brother who was born without a disability. Ella went through genetic testing when she was 2 months old, and when she was 5 months old we had a lead as to why she was born this way. So she underwent a spinal tap, and we found out that our Ella-Marie was born with Phosphoserine Amniotransferase. It’s a very rare genetic disorder that causes no serine or glycine to her brain, as a result of that her brain never grew properly. She wasn’t ever expected to live past 6 months - 1 year. She’s the FIRST child to have PSAT1, get the symptoms from it and survive. Usually once symptoms are present, they pass a few months later. She cannot eat by mouth, so she has a G-Tube. Ella is expected to be non-verbal (she’s already learning to use her voice) and we know for a fact our Ella will never be able to walk. Ella-Marie is a miracle, and I love to share her journey! For a 17 month old baby, she’s kicking butt! Keep it up Ella. We love you❤️

The lunchroom where a special friendship began ‘Pizza AND noodles for lunch? That was an odd choice, but nonetheless she was still a person right? Should I go up to her? Say hi?... No, she’s eating. But she looks so... lonely.’ I thought. Leaning over the table, canes sprawled across the seat next to her, was Katie. I’d seen her in church but we had never talked, we weren’t even in the same grade. But just because she had a school aide with her didn’t mean she was different, right? Plus, she was eating alone, no one should eat alone on their very first day. It was my junior year in high school and I had this overwhelming feeling that this year... this year was going to be different. Better. When I saw Katie sitting alone at lunch I decided to invite her over to my lunch table full of friends, despite the fact she was a bit different. She agreed to sit with my table and cautiously came over with her tray of food and aide following behind. I asked her what her name was and what grade she was in, even though I knew very well she was a freshman (she had that deer-in-headlights look on her face). Cerebral Palsy & Anxiety Over the next few day she sat with us and we learned more about each other, our hobbies, interests... and diagnosis? Yeah not quite the usual introductory question you ask your new friend. But she was visibly different and we couldn’t deny that. Katie has a condition called Cerebral Palsy. Katie developed this condition due to lack of oxygenation while her mother was giving birth to her, which caused a portion of her brain to die. When we became better friend over the next few weeks, I let Katie in on a little secret of my own: I have anxiety. Not just a touch of anxiousness here and there, a full, life-changing diagnosis of anxiety. This seemed to only help our friendship. If we were going to live though this, we could at least do it together... right? Through Thick & Thin Over the next year we became very close, we even had surgery in the same week and recovered together! Before I met Katie, when she had different braces on her feet, she could take 98 independent steps. Now, after another surgery and two changes in braces for her legs (Afo to leaf spring carbon to smo and back to the old leaf spring braces) she could only take about 3-4 good even steps independently. With my help, we decided that this was not the life she had to stay in and we could improve on her walking, so we started to train. We did horseback riding, rollerskating, a 1 mike fun run, yoga, softball, miracle league baseball, swimming, biking, walking, and I attended physical therapy with her. We set a goal: Katie will walk independently across the graduation stage (approx. 24 steps) in 2020 if I can learn to walk that same distance on my HANDS! Even though we hit some bumps with depression and anxiety, we continue to train daily to learn our new skills. Through this all, Katie, her sister Emmy, and I have all become very close and treasure the time we spend together eating dinner with Katie’s amazingly supportive parents and the time we spend having fun learning new things. This is not the end to our story, though. Soon, Katie might qualify for SDR surgery, a spinal surgery that could improve her walking. Even if we hit more bumps, are denied the surgery, or can’t make our goal, I know for a fact we will maintain a strong friendship.

How Elias navigates life with a visual impairment Elias is 3 years old, and was born in Los Angeles, CA. He was diagnosed with Optic Nerve Hypoplasia at 6 months old. His condition came along with a few other diagnosis which were anticipated. Elias is severely visually impaired but has some light perception. He has such a big character and adventurous spirit! He absolutely loves music! Elias enjoys all things outdoors, rather it be walks around the block listening to any and everything around him, trips to the beach, and his favorite is swimming! Elias reminds those around him to appreciate the many things we take for granted. So young, but he already displays characters of courage and hope. We have such great support from our local programs. Elias has had the best experience with his past and current teachers, and absolutely wonderful services from the research team at Children's Hospital Los Angles. Of course we would love to thank @yoocandoanything for giving us the opportunity to share our story and be introduced to so many other beautiful stories and people, it's such an honor. Being blind does not change who you are, just changes how you live! For parents out there who may also have a child with a disability, do not be discouraged. Understand that it is an honor to be a parent of that child, being a parent can be difficult as is, but celebrating the little things everyday, and being aware that you were chosen to care for this special child with all the extra attention and love that they'll need gives you such perspective and pride- a true honor! Looking forward to see our Elias grow and see what he desires and accomplishes. As his parents, we will be sure to be cheer him on every step of the way! John 9:2-3

מדוע כלבי נחייה לא רק עוזרים לעיוורים שמי פרן לולהם. אני דוברת מוטיבציונית, סופרת, מגישת רדיו ויוטיוברית. אני מאמינה כי התקשורת היא חיונית ביצירת הבנה וכי כולנו יכולים להיקשר זה לזה באמצעות הרגשות המשותפים שלנו. כולנו יודעים איך זה מרגיש להרגיש לא בטוחים לגבי חלק מסוים בעצמנו. רציתי להכין וידאו בתקווה שכלבת הנחייה היפה שלי (ננסי) תיתן השראה לאחרים לחיות ללא בושה, בדיוק כפי שהם. אשמח אם תצפו ותשתפו כדי לעזור לאנשים רבים ככל האפשר במאבק שכולנו יכולים להזדהות איתו. Why Guide Dogs Don't Just Help The Blind My name is Fern Lulham. I am a Motivational Speaker, Writer, Radio Presenter and YouTuber. I believe that communication is essential in building understanding and that we can all relate to one another through the emotions we have in common. We all know how it feels to feel insecure about a particular part of ourselves. I wanted to make a video in the hope that my beautiful guide dog, (Nancy) might inspire others to be unashamedly, exactly who they are. I’d love it if you could give it a watch and share it to help as many people as possible with a struggle we can all identify with. Keep in touch with Nancy and I via my social media: 💙 Twitter: @missfernlulham 💚 Facebook: Fern Lulham 💜 Blog: withlovefromfern.tumblr.com 💙 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8k0yXRhqqMEC2FYK8lITfg

My story: "Katecantsee" but who cares My name is Kate. I am a twenty year old college student from Cork in Ireland. I was born with Nystagmus, which is a visual impairment in which the eye moves uncontrollably leaving me legally blind. Doctors have told me I will never drive and school was an absolute nightmare. School was always difficult, especially when I was a child because I didn't understand why the other kids didn't have to walk up to the board to see what the teacher had written. As a result of my doing this I was teased quite a bit at school and was called things like "google" because of the eye movement. When I went on to further education the thought of having to use equipment at school was terrifying to me and I refused to use it for the first four years of my six year education. I have always been a very independant person and I believe that people with disabilities are helped the most by allowing them to choose when they are helped. Despite my disability my results in secondary school were the second highest in my year. My Visual Impairment Doesn't Stop Me Now, I am going into my third year at college and I am still stubbornly independent. I pride myself most on my independence as well as on my style despite being severely visually impaired. The only thing I will accept a great deal of help with is walking on uneven surfaces. Its a very scary thought to me to walk on uneven ground or to hike anywhere, it sends me into an irrational panic. This June myself, my boyfriend and friends went traveling around Europe (which as you can imagine is scary enough for the girl who trips up stairs that aren't there!) and we went to Zurich in Switzerland as one of our destinations. When we were in Zurich we decided to get a cable car up one of the mountains. The whole time I was telling myself we would get the cable car back down too and I would not have to do the hike. That is not what happened when we got up!! I somehow decided that if I didn't do the hike now I would regret it for the rest of my life so, we hiked back down! It was probably one of the proudest moments of my life when I ran down the bottom of the hill having only tripped around four or five times (which is really good for the blind kid who can't walk through a normal field!). I now hope to do many more things like this in the future!

What happened to your hand? In being an individual with a physical difference, there always seems to be the encounter with people of daily life with the recognition and request for explanation as to why this “non-normal” aspect of my body exists. Almost every day of my life (and yours too I am sure!) there will be or has been this transaction. It used to generate so much anxiety that I would go to great lengths to avoid people in public, attempts to hide it and as Goffman (who developed a Social Stigma Theory) states in my attempt to “pass as normal.” There's Always a first This past week as I was getting ready for work, I was painting my nails, reflecting on the first time I had a professional manicure. I believe it was for my 8th grade graduation. I got square French tip acrylic nails with a little pink flower rhinestone on my ring finger (can you tell this was 2004???) I walked into the salon and sat at the counter and was incredibly shy. The shy part being a pretty common aspect of my younger years. The nail artist asked me to bring my hands up onto the table, so I brought up my right hand. She cleaned off my cracked obnoxious colored nail polish. She said ‘next’ prompting me to bring up my left hand to do the same. At I just sat there keeping it hidden in my oversized sweatshirt. She looked at me, repeating the request. I said ‘um.. uh.. only the 1 today.’ Internal struggle with my limb difference Immediately embarrassed and somehow ashamed. My mind raced and my anxiety heightened as my 13 year old self tried to decide how to explain myself. Truthfully dreading the fact that I do feel like I have to explain myself and that there is always something “wrong” with me, that it seems unfathomable that someone can simply exist like this. People seem to be surprised, and confused and often have a lot questions. I wished that I could navigate my life without this constant conversation, sometimes it can take forever! The regret I felt for even wanting a manicure in the first place, as at this moment I just felt stupid. These thoughts fought against the want for the social participation in being a girl who can get her nails done, feeling like this is some basic activity that I should be allowed to experience. While navigating through this internal battle, on the outside I just sat there. So what do I do? The nail artist looked at me confused and said ‘you only want one hand done today?’ At which I replied ‘um, yes, only the one.’ Do I show her my hand? I should right, that would make this make sense? But I didn’t want to, why don’t I want to? Show it? Not show it? Ahhh! She stared at me for a second. I kept my left hand in my lap and probably looked down, ashamed of the whole ordeal and wishing it would get resolved quickly. She then said ‘Ok, one hand.’ I don’t believe that I ever took my left hand out of my lap. This was how my 13 year old self chose to deal with this situation. It was effective I suppose, I was able to get my nails done and they looked great! However, I keep thinking “there could have been a better way!” Maybe this is true with everything. What happens next time? I know these interactions will continue with all of the people we interact with in passing who won’t necessarily be cast in roles in our lives. How do we best navigate these conversations? It can be exhausting to continuously explain myself all of the time, unsure of how people will respond. Sometimes people are really friendly, sometimes people don’t notice, sometimes people aren’t as nice as they could be. There were times where I felt it was my responsibility to explain myself. My fear of this conversation prevented me from using my hand more, and I wore sweatshirts in the heat in the summer time in efforts to pass as “normal.” However, as I got older and worked through my insecurities and asked myself a lot of self-awareness questions, trapped in endless “why do I feel this way?” and “what about this experiences makes me want to avoid this?” I was gradually able to come out of the fear of these types of conversations. Nails on fleek Now, it is a part of me. I feel comfortable and confident in using my hand for the things I need to and want to. Sometimes people ask and then I explain other times people don’t ask and I don’t explain. It all depends, however I am not afraid of that interaction anymore. I can now comfortably walk in nail salons and get a manicure if I wish. I put both hands on the table and sometimes the nail artist will massage my left hand as well as the right. Sometimes I get discounts. Endless Why's lead to self discovery I really believe in the power of the “why” question. I think about that a lot, “why am I anxious right now?” Keep following these whys and there will be some great self-awareness, recognition, acceptance, and potential for change if you find the answers to your whys don’t match your desires. Also important on how we ask about other people in our lives. Everyone has something they are working through. I believe in mutual respect! I would love to hear how you navigate these hard conversations! Photos I was actually sitting on the toilet clipping my nails and reflecting on my first manicure. I then thought I needed to share this, I believe in the authenticity of it. I then moved into my room and painted my nails on my desk. It is hard to video tape yourself haha! Any recommendations to make iPhone cameras easier to use for this blog would be greatly appreciated!

סיפור השיתוק שלי היי, שמי קייט פראדו, אני מקולומביה. לפני ארבע שנים בעלי ניסה לרצוח אותי עם ארבע יריות כדור ואז התאבד. אני משותקת מן הצוואר ומטה ונאבקת קשה כדי לשרוד. אני אמא לילד בן 7, דוגמנית, פסיכולוגית ודוברת. אני אוהבת להרצות ולהניע אנשים, להגיד להם "אתם יכולים!" זה הסיפור שלי. אני מאמינה שהכל קורה מסיבה. החלטתי לסלוח ולהתקדם כדי לבנות עתיד בריא. חשוב לי לספר את הסיפור שלי כדי להעניק השראה לאחרים. My Quadriplegic Story Hi, my name is Kate Prado, I'm from Colombia. Four years ago I had a serious accident when my husband tried to kill me with four bullet wounds. Then he committed suicide. I struggle a lot to survive and stay quadriplegic. I am the mother of a 7 year old child, now I am a model, psychologist and speaker. I like to give lectures and motivate people, tell them that "you can!" This is my story. Now I think that everything happens for something. I have decided to forgive and move forward to build a healthy future. I also like to tell my story to help inspiring others.