Living with Cerebral Palsy requires creative thinking and ingenuity. Traditional ways of doing things don’t always work for me. When I was in school, my teachers often found ways for me to complete the same work as my peers. This was particularly true in my math and science classes.
When I took geometry in my sophomore year of high school, using a graphing calculator made it easier to understand. It was easier to plot a graph on the calculator than on paper. When I took anatomy and physiology my senior year, seeing the body parts on a skeleton was easier for me than labeling a diagram on paper. This made my education more accessible to me. It also saved me hours of frustration. I will always be grateful that my teachers were willing to accommodate my disability in the classroom.
In my adulthood, thinking outside the box has been necessary when figuring out how to live an independent life. I moved out in 2020. I couldn’t just move into any apartment. It had to work for me. Accessible housing options are limited where I live.
Eventually, I was able to find a first-floor apartment that worked. I had a ramp put in and used equipment from my parent’s house to make this apartment more accessible for me. I couldn’t find an apartment with a roll-in shower, so I brought my bathtub transfer bench from home. By the end of the year, I hope to have a roll-in shower installed in the bathroom.
Over the past three years, I’ve been looking for work. I can’t work many standard entry-level jobs such as retail. I’m unsure if I’ll be able to work a traditional full-time job. This doesn’t mean I won’t ever have a job. I want a career involving writing. I’d like to have the option to work from home, perhaps even a couple days a week. My house is already accessible for my needs.
Writing is an accessible career for me. I can write anywhere. Writing is also a very broad career field. I could become an author, blogger, journalist, poet, or freelance writer. I will probably never make The New York Times Best Seller list or win awards which is fine. Many writers do not receive awards for their work. Writing is one of my passions. I become fully immersed in whatever I am writing.
Cerebral Palsy means that I have to be creative when living my life. I may not achieve my goals in a typical way. However, this doesn’t make my life’s journey any less meaningful. Right now, I am happy to be a blogger. My blog has reached people worldwide, which is more than I could have ever hoped for. We all have different paths in our lives.