Early last year, I was asked by a friend from high school if I would be interested in being interviewed for her college paper about people with disabilities. It didn't take long for me to think about it, because I actually enjoy talking about it. I believe it's important to educate people, especially about Cerebral Palsy and the misconceptions that tend to surround the disability.When I was first given a copy of this paper, I shared it with only a select few very close friends. I have since decided to post it in a blog, to share it with whomever would like to learn more about me.I am also going to include a poem I wrote in 2007 about life with Cerebral Palsy. I thought it would be nice to post that poem along with it. That way, you'll get to learn more about me from two different perspectives.Thank you everyone for allowing me to share my life and for being interested in it. I appreciate you taking the time to read my blogs and getting to know me a bit more. If anyone has any questions for me regarding CP, feel free to ask and I will answer them as best I can.By the way, she got an A on the paper lol.-------I conducted an interview with Tamara Cross at Starbucks coffee house in Faribault, Minnesota on Monday, February 18th, 2008. I went to high school with Tamara. She graduated the year ahead of me. Tamara is 4'11". She has blonde hair and blue eyes. She is 33 years old and is a friend of a friend. Looking at her waiting for her drink at the counter at Starbucks, I could not tell that anything was wrong with her. I told her that and she said, "That is the highest compliment that you can give a disabled person: telling them that you didn't know anything was wrong with them." When she walked to the table, I could see that her walking was unbalanced, but it looked like she was a baby taking her first steps. It did not look as though she was disabled. Her legs were not turned in at all like I expected in a disabled person.Tamara has cerebral palsy. She was born at a weight of 2 pounds, 4 ounces with the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck. She was not breathing when she was born. When the doctor did get her breathing, she had bronchitis and pneumonia and had to be in an incubator for 3 months; where she lost weight and was just over a pound. Her parents did not know that something was wrong until she started walking. She would hang on to things to get up and she would always walk on her toes. Her parents took her to see many doctors to try to see why she was walking so funny. The doctors kept telling her parents that she was mentally retarded. Her parents kept telling the doctors, "No. There does not seem to be that wrong with her. It seems to be in her legs." It was finally at Mayo Clinic when she was a little more than a year old that a surgeon final said that it was cerebral palsy.Tamara has had a total of nine operations in her life to try to get her walking corrected. Her first operation was when she was three years old, the last when she was 15. She has had surgeries inside of her ankles, two were done behind the knees and then a hip surgery when she was ten years old to put metal plates on both side of her hips that left her in a body cast from her feet going all the way up her legs and torso. Those plates were later removed at the age of 15.Tamara does not feel that she has experienced any discrimination in employment. She worked at JC Penney in Faribault for a year when she was in high school in the Children's Department. She enjoyed the job, but she got stress fractures on her feet from standing up so much. That was painful for her and she found out that she really cannot do jobs which require prolonged standing. She went to college for Radio Broadcasting and had a job as a radio announcer at KRUE 92 in Waseca for four years before being laid off. Then she worked at Rust Consulting doing customer service for four and a half years before being laid off from there as well.Tamara does not need assistance with daily living activities or on the job. The only assistance she needs on the job is that it must be a "sit down" job, so that she does not have to stand up and put any pressure on her feet or legs. But even then, she needs to get up and walk around often, otherwise her feet and ankels get swollen. She had a blood clot in her leg while working at Rust Consulting, due to prolonged sitting. She does have her mom come over to her apartment once a week to help her with her laundry because she cannot carry and walk with the laundry baskets. Her mom also goes grocery shopping with her, to help her lift the grocery bags. When she goes to the Mall of America, she will go with friends and get a wheel chair, so that she doesn't have to walk the mall. She does have a car and drives herself. She is a very able person.Tamara did not know what to say when asked "How do you think your disability has impacted your family members?" She said that her parents just kept taking her to doctors to see what was wrong and see what needed to be done for her. She thinks their attitude was, "This is our little girl and we're going to do whatever we need to for her." She is an only child and the light of her parents' eyes.Getting around in high school was difficult for Tamara. Our school was two stories and there wasn't an elevator, so Tamara had a hard time getting up and down the stairs to get to classes. However, her teachers would let her out of class early so that she could start the climb up to the second floor for her next class. She did not need to use the learning center. She was a good student. Her disability is only physical; she doesn't have any learning disabilities.Tamara has been teased because of her disability. She said that it has not been by people that she knows; but people talk about her in front of her. Kids will point and stare. It is hurtful for her. She does not mind questions, so she prefers that they ask her about it.When asked, "How do you feel about being a person with a disability?" Tamara said she wouldn't change a thing. She likes who she is, disability and all.I felt that the interview experience was great. I was very nervous before it started, but I am glad I did it. I like to hear other people's stories. I like to see how they got to where they are today and what made them who they are today.I noticed that Tamara did say some of the same things that have been said in the videotapes in class. She wants to live a normal, independent life, like everyone. She wants to be accepted for herself, not as a person with a disability but as a person, period."I Have"
Have you ever asked someone
if it hurts when they run?
If their legs get tired,
simply from walking a short distance?
I have.
Have you ever had to explain to someone
the difference between the words:
Disability and Handicapped,
and to find out they didn't realize there was a difference?
I have.
Life's a funny thing sometimes.
Children can be cruel.
Laughing, staring, pointing;
anything to bring attention.
But you handle it.
Adults are most often worse.
Life's a funny thing sometimes.
They should know better.
Be more educated,
more mature.
But you handle it.
You learn to live with it.
Second nature.
Have you ever have to see your parents
crying in the distance,
as they watch you being wheeled into your
"second home"?
AKA the operating room.
The feeling of being scared,
but yet having to be strong for them
and for yourself?
Afterall, after nine operations
You'd think you'd be a pro.
I have.
Second nature.
It's amazing how one's life can change and often improve,
thanks to another's training and magical hands.
Being used to the inability to stand up straight
or walk "normal",
and suddenly, you're "ok".
At least, in your mind.
Never take physical ability for granted.
Some 32 year olds have no idea what the feeling is like,
to run like the wind.
To jump.
To ride a bike.
To sit Indian style while looking through photo albums on the livingroom floor.
Would you handle it?
Could you handle it?
How do I handle it?
It's second nature.
Would I change it?
Never.
It's all I know, it's who I am.
It's normal... to me.
It's living with my "disability".
-2007-
written by me.
