“FREEDOM”,s not ‘just another word” to MEE!

wen I was about 4, my mother left me waiting outside a store 1 day, & after
wat seemed like a long while, I began2 wonder wat happened.  I already knew
I had som problems understanding the world, (visual & perceptual), & now
that I look back on things, even then, I felt rejected by people, & half
expected that my mother just left the store without my seeing her!  So, even
tho that didn’t seem completely logical, it seemed plausable enuf4 me2
decide that this was “my big chance” to go off on my own & explore the
neighborhood!  1 of the worst things I remember about being a kid, is the
lack of FREEDOM.  Interesting…  Now I find myself in a similar situation!
The more
disabled I became, the more freedoim I lost!  & not necissarily because of
the impairment itself.  Its because I don’t have the MONEY to buy the
assistive devices I need, to function.

Anyway, getting back to that day in 1948, I left the store that my mother
seemed to disappear into, after pearing inside & not being able to spot her.
  I crossed, “the avenue” (just as carefully as I would NOW, & walked the 2
long crosstown blocks to my aunt’s building!  (I didn’t go in tho, 4 fear of
being “taken into ‘custidy’ “ again!  :)

Instead, I just turned around & walked all the way back to the block where
my house was, but instead of going in, I went around back to explore a
constructiion site!  I went climbing on these bolders that were on a slope,
but didn’t appear unsafe to MEE!  :)

NOTHING HAPPENED.

After I satisfied all my curiosity about the small world I inhabitted at the
time, I “turned myself in!”  (Went home!)  :)

I had no aparent movement disorder at the time, but I think my other
physical problems may’ve made the adults around me a bit over protective.  I
remember thinking that they “had it wrong.”  I knew wat I cud see, & wat I
cud do, & it was different from wat THEY were telling me.  I was able 2
cross a big street full of traffic, FINE!  But wen I got home, & (and gave
an account to the queen, of my adventures “on the other side of the world,”
she insisted that I could’ve gotten myself killed!

10 years later, in wat had become a DESPERATE attempt 4 independence, I took
my little cousin’s “baby” bike, and rode through the streets of a New York
suburb, ‘til I reacched another family member’s house, about 10 miles away.
Again, I turned around without going in…  I made it almost all the way “back
to base,” wen I was intercepted by my Uncle John’s ’55 Buick!  The bike went
in the trunk, & I went in the back seat!  Everyone was so worried!  But not
as much as I was!  I knew I might be facing a life that would be a constant
& FUTAL struggle for something as basic as the freedom to travel.

All my cousens were prepairing to get their driver’s licenses in a couple of
year.  The doctor told MEE, “I wouldn’t wanna see YOU behind the wheel!”

Right at this moment, in my bag, is a “egular” driver’s license.  The only
thing stopping me from driving the car sitting right downstairs in the
parking lot, is MONEY for special controls.  (Actually, it’s a bit more
complicated than that, but $2000 above the usual costs of driving, IS a
major barrior!)





>From: Gary Peterson <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: "St. John's University Cerebral Palsy List"
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: How does something like this happen soooo easily?!! (fwd)
>Date: Thu, 3 Nov 2005 23:49:28 -0600
>
>Hi all,
>
>So check out this TV news story below.  How does something like this
>even come close to happening when this child was sleeping in the very
>same room as his parents?
>
>
>Toddler Unlocks Door, Takes Overnight Stroll
>
>Reunited With Family
>
>KGO  By Amy Hollyfield
>
>      Nov. 3 - The San Francisco police have wrapped up their investigation
>      into a serious situation overnight on how a 3-year-old boy was on the
>      street alone in a neighborhood.
>
>      The toddler was reunited with his parents Thursday afternoon. It took
>      some time because police said child protective services had to do an
>      investigation.
>
>      They talked to his family, parents and grandparents to make sure
>there
>      was no abuse or neglect, but they think that everything is fine and
>the
>      boy is back with his family now.
>
>      The little boy decided to head out at 12:30 a.m. this morning, and
>the
>      3-year-old was found in the middle of Burnett Avenue in the Twin
>Peaks
>      neighborhood.
>
>      An off-duty nurse spotted him in his 'Blues Clues' pajamas and called
>      police.
>
>      It wasn't until his mom woke up that she noticed he was gone, and she
>      called the police.
>
>      So how did he do it? He managed to climb out of bed. He sleeps in the
>      same room as his parents. He climbed up onto a table and unlocked the
>      door and went off on his adventure.
>
>      The good news is he wasn't gone very long, but it appears the little
>      kid is ahead of his parents on the learning curve on what they think
>he
>      can do.
>
>      The family has requested privacy during the ordeal and ABC7 is
>      respecting that wish.