Now, THAT boggles my mind! The government is telling you you can't leave your property???? I realise they want you to be safe, but com'on, you're an adult, for crying out loud! I am temporarily rendered speechless. Excuse me, guys, whilst I try to recover from a laspe in my ability to express my emotions without using four-letter words. Kat "St. John's University Cerebral Palsy List" <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > It is the County that says that I can't be left alone. I can go for walks alone in my electric wheelchair on our own property. We have a blind spot going out and in our driveway. Kathy Jo --- Stephen Allman wrote: > Kathy Jo: > > There have been several suggestions during the > past two weeks to try to help > you but I have not seen any response from you > that you would try them. Can > you physically go outside on your own or do you > need assistance? How much can > you do for yourself? Are your parents being > over protective because of your > disability or do they trust you that you will > not hurt yourself? If you want > some kind of independence you must take small > steps first like walking or > using your wheelchair to get around your own > neighborhood. I believe Gary or > Anthony suggested going to a store and that's a > great suggestion. You should > try to talk to your parents and let them know > what you want for your future. > If they do not want to listen to you then you > should talk to someone that > they respect and that person may give you the > support you need. It's a great > feeling when you go to the store for the first > time and buy what you choose > to. When doing these kinds of things you build > up confidence in yourself and > then you will be talking about your able to do. > > All of us want to be as independent as we can > be. Everyone needs some kind > of help but for people with physical > disabilities there are more obstacles > in the way. Some of us need more assistance > than others but we can achieve > our goals by being realistic, working hard and > accepting our strengths and > weaknesses. We need to work on our strengths > and weaknesses so we can > physically and emotionally become stronger. > > What does being independent mean? All of us may > define independence in > different ways. Some of us may find ways to > communicate better, some may find > ways to get dressed or fed or have our bathroom > needs met. We can find ways > to have these basic needs met by doing them > ourselves or getting assistance. > There is no shame in getting assistance if it > is truly needed. Many of us > want to live in our own place, get a job and > earn what we get out of life. > For many of us our disabilities effects us in > getting jobs and there are many > instances where the attitudes society has on > the disabled community hurts our > chances to live the best lives we can. We > cannot change everyone's attitudes > towards the disabled but we can educate as many > people as we can that have > open minds > > How do we become as independent as we can be? > We must accept our own > disabilities. We should always search to > improve physically, emotionally and > spiritually. I believe we should never make our > disabilities an excuse for > not attempting to improve your life. We are > human and it's healthy to get > frustrated at times at what we cannot > accomplish but we should not dwell on > that. Many of us with disabilities have more > time and then we dwell on what > we cannot do but I try to use my anger to push > myself more. I also believe > it's important to help people and keep the mind > and body active > > Stephen Allman ===== My Ya-Hoo ID: kathyjopinkus __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Send FREE Valentine eCards with Yahoo! Greetings! http://greetings.yahoo.com