Skip to main content

How does she drive??

Recently I got a new car because my other car was a lemon (aka lots of transmission issues). & while it is exciting to get a new car it brought me to this topic of how it is i can drive so let me tell you the story...

Flashback to 8 years ago when I turned 16. Thinking about driving like all teenagers was on my mind. To me I had no doubt that I would be able to drive (see my parents inspired me to always dream and never give up) but others had their doubts. I remember telling my parents I wanted to get my permit so they said okay to start the process of figuring out how and if i could drive. I failed my permit twice and it really discouraged me and I figured you know what maybe this isn't going to happen so I put a hold on my dream.

Fast forward to sophomore year of college when I decided it was time to revisit that dream again. I took the permit and passed! Next step I went to a driving rehabilitation place to get assessed. They said I could probably drive without hand controls and I would just need a stirring knob because driving with both hands would be a little difficult. Therefore, we tested out the stirring knob on the left side because i am left handed and my left arm is stronger than my right arm. Next, since the knob is on the left side how can i do a blinker? So now I need an attachment to the blinker that allows me to control the blinker with my right hand and TADA! those are my driving accommodations!

It took about 6-8 months of personal driving lessons for me to go and take my driving test. I got a new car fit with all my accommodations and passed the test!

Now 5 years later I have been driving on my own with the same accommodations! My newest struggle with my new car is the gas cap. My first car did not have a gas cap so this is a new challenge for me because twisting caps (like a water bottle) can be hard for me but I know like everything in my life with practice I will get there!

Every time i get into my car even though it has been 5 years I still want to pinch myself and praise God for giving me the ability to live independently and drive on my own! It is a miracle provided by God thats for sure!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Pregnancy & Birth

 Hi there! I know I do not blog on here on a regular basis anymore but my baby is napping and I wanted a place where I could remember the beauty of my pregnancy and birth. So here we go... June 20, 2023: I found out I was pregnant! Cue all the emotions (excited, nervous, scared) and the now what!  June-July 2023: I had just switched to my husband's insurance so I didn't have a doctor or anything. Luckily, with Kaiser I was able to get in pretty quickly. You see I wanted to be seen pretty quickly because I was on medication. I have been on medication since I was 15 for my spasticity/shakiness in my hands. Mind you I was 30 when I found out I was pregnant so I have been on this medication 3 times a day for half of my life 😲. I had no idea how my body would react to being off of it or even the process of getting off the medication. At first I was getting varying opinions about whether to stop cold turkey or to stay on it. Eventually, I spoke with my neurologist (who I wasn't ...

You talk funny

So I have always debated about doing a post on this subject but I always convince myself not to but my hope for this blog is to enlighten others about the disabled community so here it goes... Let's talk about my speech and how I talk... This is a rough topic because I never really have told others about this insecurity of mine but I have recently gotten peace about it and I feel like I finally embrace it You know having Cerebral Palsy it affects your muscles and one of those muscles it affects for me is my tongue. Thus is why I do talk differently. I went to a speech therapists from one I was in kindergarten all the way to about 5th grade. My speech has improved greatly from it but yes I do still talk differently. So can I tell you growing up and honestly until about a month ago I used to HATE hearing my voice on any recording. It would make me so uncomfortable because in my head the way that I hear myself I sound normal. So then when I go to hear my voice on a recording I...

Acceptance

For those of you that follow me on Instagram or Facebook you have probably seen my yoga videos that I have been putting up. On the recent one I had a friend comment about how much she loved my openness and confidence. This really got me thinking about what a road I have been on to get me to where I am at today. Back when I was a senior in high school I got nominated the most inspirational senior. Now when you are nominated for this award you have to write a speech and make the speech in front of the whole school at an assembly. I remember when I first found out I started bawling. Like what? People think I'm inspiring? At that time I was NOT comfortable speaking about my disability. In fact I couldn't even read the speech my principal had to because I was a wreck and was far from confident in myself. Even halfway through college I was not comfortable mentioning my disability. It was like the BIG elephant in the room. It made me nervous and I thought people already see that I...