Joy In The Midst of Struggles

Lately, little things have popped up about parents of children with disabilities and I wanted to write a little something. Dear Parents, I see you. I see the hurt in your eyes. I see the struggle of balancing how to deal with someone who is different. I see the sadness. You got pregnant and dreamed of a beautiful life for your child. You imagined all the little steps your child would take and then boom something is different. Your world starts crashing down. You get the word from the doctor of a diagnosis. You start hearing the words your child will not or can't. You think what? How can this be? How am I going to navigate a world that is so foreign to me? Where do you even start? Everyone wants to support you through this new journey but they just don't understand. They don't understand that your child is trying to talk to you but no words are coming out of their mouth. They don't understand that you watch your child trying to tie their shoes and they are just tak...

This word I despise because people use it to describe someone and then use it to describe something that person is not. This word is offensive, degrades a person, and puts them into a category. This word is...NORMAL I have had multiple people throughout my years say this either to me or in regards to the differently abled population. Oh my blood boils because I am so passionate about this word and how people use it in the wrong way. Don't get me wrong, people do not mean it negatively but I just wanted you to see this word from a not "normal" person because here is the thing everyone is normal.   Let's think about this what did you just say? Everyone is normal. It's true we all have a unique characteristic about us. We all have something that someone out there would say  is weird. So for you to say I am not normal is offensive. For you to say any one of the individuals I teach or am friends with that have disabilities, or myself strikes a nerve in me...

Sticks and stones may break my bones but words can never hurt me... Remember that saying? You would taunt it when you were a kid but as you get older you start to realize um wait a minute.. words do hurt me. This week was extremely challenging for me and I am still trying to pick myself up from it. You know with having a disability you have to develop a very thick skin because people can be mean and say mean things or do mean things by their actions. But still when you get that one person that targets one of your biggest insecurities you can't help but cry. I knew going into any profession I would get someone to tell me you can't do it you have a disability & that was and still is one of my biggest fears. So when it did happen this week I was crushed and I mean wrecked. Driving home from that day the Lord guided me because I was crying so hard that the car lights were blurry. I have worked so hard to get where I am today. I have pushed through multiple obstacles from ...

You all I just finished my first quarter of grad school. I am working full time, have extremely challenging students, and taking two classes. I ran off of 5 hours sleep, which I need my sleep because my body gets a lot more tired than an average person, had to say no to plans and parties with friends, cried A LOT (almost every night), and drank a ton of caffeine (Red Bull, tea, coffee, soda, you name it). It probably was the most taxing eight weeks I have ever experienced. I definitely was not prepared for it...& I don't know how I survived and today I found out that I got 100% on my final paper in one of my classes that I worked 15 plus hours on. I am not going to lie I legit cried when I read what my professor thought of my paper. But I wanted to write on here what I learned over these last 8 weeks. It's okay to say no I am very much a yes person. If you want to go somewhere I say yes. If you need a favor I say yes. & If I don't say yes oh my I feel extremely ...

Guess what!!!!!! It     is         World                     Cerebral                                       Palsy                                                  Day! The day to share your story and bring awareness to the most beautiful people. This day always allows me to reflect on my life on the journey I have been on since birth. Since birth you are labeled. You are cut down. You are not enough. You are not capable. Get ready for a life of hardships. ha! That's what people love to preface you with. But then you get surrounded with hope. You have parents that choose to say no and choose to say yes to believing their child is beautiful, is enough, is capable and will be faced with ...

Many of you saw the posting of me being shared on a website called Yoo Can Do Anything. I decided to write in to them discussing my story (https://yoocanfind.com/Story/1081/joy-in-the-midst-of-struggle). One thing I have learned as an adult with CP is to not be ashamed of yourself and to spread awareness so more people can understand and accept you. This website is bringing powerful awareness to help individuals from around the world understand the disabled community. The CEO wrote about how and why the website got started and you can read the story right here!!! Hi, my name is Moshe Gaon and I am one the CEO of  yoocanfind.com . yoocan is the world’s leading empowerment site for people with disabilities. In 2008, my nephew Erez was born with a rare disease and complex cognitive and physical disabilities. When Erez was born, we didn’t really know what to expect. The odds were against us and the doctors were pessimistic. We understood that we needed to focus on his quality of ...

As I go back to work tomorrow I like to reflect on what this season of summer has meant to me. The theme that stands out to me is this season I learned to be in love with who I am and where I am. I learned Jesus is the love of my life and we could go nowhere without His love. The month of June was filled with adjusting to the quiet, low key life of summer. It was trying to learn what God had in store for me this summer. It was starting a new Bible study book with some new girls and preparing myself for Kenya and celebrating my best friend's birthday. It was a month of adjusting and figuring out what to do. The month of July was a month of realizing I am enough and I am called to inspire those around me by which I learned in Kenya.  It was learning that I am truly not ashamed of my disability and realizing God has given me the strength to be proud of myself and showing that God can make anything possible. I turned 25 this month and that was a scary number. I used to say I would...