This pandemic is centinly the wiredest thing that has happened in my life. I’ve never seen anything else like this happen. People are freaking out, stalking up on food and other items. For me, I’ve just been staying inside. I’m most definitely getting bored, but I’m trying to focus on my reading and writing. I’ve also been doing some painting to keep busy. Hopefully this will all be over soon and the world will go back to normal. I asked on Instagram, for you guys to ask me things that I could answer in my next blog. I got some good questions!
Does Hartman open things for me?
Hartman is trained to do some different things like pick up stuff off the ground and turn on and off the lights. One of the other things he’s trained for is to open doors . So yes he can do things for me, but he doesn’t do those things too often. Hartman really helps me emotionally. He always knows when I’m sad and he comes and puts his head in my lap. I think it’s super sweet that he knows I’m upset and wants to comfort me. I’m so greatful to have a dog as fantastic as him.
Who was there for me growing up?
Well of course my family was always there for me from the time I was born. I’m lucky to have the family I have. I’m so greatful to have two older sisters. I don’t think I would like being an only child. My family is always doing stuff together, such as taking walks or watching movies. My mom is part of a huge family so on holidays everyone gathers at one of my Aunts houses for dinner. It’s nice to be able to hear what all my family members has been up to. I’m so thankful that I have a big family that loves me. When I attended school I was in all the normal classes with all typical kids. I was lucky to have the
opportunity to build some really great friendships. I was in the same school district since I was in 2 grade. Most of my class mates grew up with me so they knew what to expect when being friends with me. Most of them just treated me like any other person. Of course there were a few people that didn’t know how to talk to me or treated me like a baby. It totally annoys me when someone baby talks me. My disability is physical, mentally I am just like my peers. It was nice to be included in all of the normal happenings that go on in high school. I had a normal group of friends that were really good at including me. They would always come over to my house and hang out with me. We all still keep in touch today. Sometimes it’s hard to be different than everyone else in the group. It can be a challenge to take part in the conversation mostly due to my speech. Despite that I’m so glad I have a group of friends to hang out with.
How do I deal with it when somewhere is not handicap accessible?
I like to go to as many places as I can. I mainly use a power wheelchair that’s very heavy, so my family and I always make sure there’s a way for me to get into wherever we go. I have another wheelchair that is lighter and can fold up. It can be power with a joystick or manual that can be pushed by someone. This makes it easier to get around in smaller spaces. I would rather use my big wheelchair, though, because it’s more comfortable. That being said, if someplace is not handicap accessible, sometimes my parents will help me walk if it’s a short distance . Sometimes I just simply can’t go there, which sucks. I get disappointed about the situation but after a few minutes, I try to move on. I know that every place I go isn’t going to be handicap accessible. My family and I just learned to work around the situation, like for example, they might go in and take a video so I can experience it that way. I Hope that I’ll be able to travel to more places and see new things. Somewhere that I really want to go is Europe. Everyone in my family has been there except me! My family always talks about all their experiences and how its super beautiful. I’ve heard Europe isn’t very handicap accessible. But I think my family and I can find ways to get around, despite my disability.
What do I love more painting or crafting?
I definitely enjoy both painting and crafting but I would say I love painting more. I think I have more of a eye for painting. I mostly do abstract as I mentioned before. I like to used a lot of different colors when I paint. I don’t to use the same colors in every painting. I like every piece to look different. I’ve been
working on some different techniques to widen my skill set. I don’t really do that much crafting. Sometimes I help my mom with some of her crafting projects. Over all my favorite kind of art is painting. I really enjoy painting and I’m excited to continue to widen my skills.
How’s quarantine life with CP?
Well I think quarantine is hard for everyone. I’ve never seen anything like this happen before. But having CP or any disability makes it a ittle bit harder. I think people with a disability or any condition, for that matter, are more at risk. That means we have to be more careful. I take a walk with my family everyday which is super enjoyable, but I have only been in a car and out of my nighburhood a couple of times. Other then that I’ve just been staying home. I’ve been trying to keep busy. I’ve been hanging out with my family a lot, we’ve been watching a lot movies, we’ve also been doing a 1000 piece puzzle together. This puzzle is one of the hardest puzzles that my family has ever done, it’s even a challenge for my sister who is the puzzle queen. My mom and my sister are the ones who actually do this puzzle. Since it’s hard for me to pick up the pieces, I am the DJ and play lots of good tunes. Like I mentioned earlier I’ve been doing some painting. I really like to paint. It’s probably one of my favorite activities. I have also been helping my mom with little projects around the house. I helped her clean out our food pantry in the kitchen. We went through all the bins and reorganized them. We got rid of any old food. I’m happy I was able to help my mom with something around the house. The only good thing about this pandemic is everyone has to stay home so they have plenty of time to get projects done around their houses.
This time is definitely difficult for everyone. Staying home is the best thing that everyone can do right now. Everyone is probably getting bored, I know I am! But the reality is, the more everyone stays home, the quicker this will be over. I Hope I’ll be able to go back to school in the fall. Given that next year is my last year in the public school system, I really want to make the best of it. I can’t wait until I can see my friends face to face again and for the world to return to normal.
