A Helping Hand


Can you imagine being the only person in a graduation ceremony not wearing a cap and gown? You probably would feel like you stood out like a sore thumb in a sea of black. The person sitting next to me at graduation was that girl and she is one of my best friends. Becca drove six hours to celebrate my graduation and hold my arm during the diploma ceremony, so I could go on stage with the confidence that I would not fall. When I asked her to help me walk at graduation she was so happy to be a part of my special moment.


During my senior year of college, I was falling a lot but had not gotten the walker yet. Therefore, I needed to hold somebody's arm when walking outside at night. I would often ask my friend and roommate Leath if I could hold her arm while I walked and she gladly helped me.

Finally, when my friend Arielle and I were in Las Vegas celebrating our 21st birthdays together, I walked so much on the first day that by the last day I needed a wheelchair. It was very difficult to give in to riding in a wheelchair but Arielle made me feel so much better about it by acting like it was really no big deal and pushing me everywhere we went.

One thing that all of my friends have in common is that they don’t treat me different than any other friend without a disability. This is so important because I never want anyone to treat me differently because I have a disability.

They also have taught me that it is okay to ask for help. They help me physically but I return the favor by helping them in other ways.

On the first day of college, I learned the hard way that asking for help is necessary when you are in a situation that you cannot navigate independently. I was walking on campus to go to my first college class when I approached a staircase without a railing. There were lots of students around that I could have asked for help but instead I decided to walk up the stairs without assistance and ended up falling. I wasn’t hurt but from that point I decided I would self-advocate and ask for help when I needed it.

The worst thing that somebody can say to you when you ask for help is "no", so why not take the chance of rejection to receive the help you need?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Being "targeted" at Target

Image
Imagine shopping with a friend on the weekend and your friend is suddenly approached by a stranger who starts whispering to her. As the outsider in this situation, what would you do?  Being the curious person I am, I wanted to hear what the stranger was saying to my friend, so I pushed my walker closer and strained to listen. Unfortunately, I still couldn't hear the conversation. After the stranger left, I asked my friend what the person wanted, and she said the lady was the owner of an Adult Day Health facility for people with disabilities and she thought they may be able to help me. She had given my friend a business card. My friend, who knows me so well, was so taken aback and was truly at a loss for words. While this lady may have thought she was doing the right thing by approaching my friend, she made an assumption about the type of disability I have and that I needed help. Both of these assumptions were made by seeing my physical disability and possibly overhearing my speech
Read more

Doctors who are Clueless

Image
Have you ever been to the doctor and felt totally disrespected and bullied? Up until this week, my experiences with doctors have been fairly positive. I went to see my primary care doctor for my yearly physical and she was so rude to me throughout the appointment, I literally broke down in tears. I knew the doctor was going to be late because I had been there for my flu shot the week before and waited thirty minutes for her. Therefore,  I asked someone at the front desk to let me know when the doctor gets to the office, so I didn't have to sit in a gown and be cold for 30 minutes. The employee was very nice and told me there was a patient ahead of me, so she had no problem doing that. However, the front desk employee forgot to tell me and the doctor walked into the room, without knocking, to get something for another patient and questioned me about why I was not changed yet in a rude tone. I felt like a child who was in trouble for doing something wrong at school. Not to
Read more

Going the Distance on Three Wheels

Image
Free- this is how I feel when I ride my adult tricycle around the neighborhood.  COVID-19 has been a tough and isolating time for everyone, When I came back to NJ in March at the height of the pandemic, the only way to get outside in the fresh air was to walk. At first, I could only make it a very short distance without having my legs get shaky and feeling like I was going to fall. Eventually, I was able to make it around the block but I still had to stop very frequently to rest and regain my energy. In short, it was exhausting. . . In July, my-parents surprised me with a three-wheel bike. The first time I rode the bike, it was a feeling I had never experienced before. . .freedom and exhilaration. I have a feeling this is how people feel when they drive for the first time  I may have started out a bit too confident when I was riding as I did flip the bike in August after going too fast and making a sharp turn. I think I am the only person in the world who could flip a three wheel bike!
Read more