It has taken me sometime to figure out what to say here about my
determination to learn newer independent living skills.  I think that I can
safely say that I feel all my determination now days is actually my
excitement from past successes.  It's almost like a little kid learning how
to ride a two wheel bike most of the time I feel that they receive the
encouragement and determination to do that because more likely they have had
success riding a bike with training wheels, so they're excited and ready to
have the training wheels taken off.

Thanks,
Anthony
  ----- Original Message -----
  From: Elizabeth H. Thiers
  To: [log in to unmask]
  Sent: Thursday, January 03, 2002 4:26 PM
  Subject: Re: Folding clothes


  Anthony,
  You are learning the reason why good OT (or a lot of determination in your
  case)is so important.  Teaching skills, and being more independent (even
if
  it is just learning how to direct ones care)above all else improves a
person
  self-esteem and teaches them to get out of the learned helpless mode.  The
  essence of therapeutic occupation is that we are healthy if engaged in
  meaningful activities. Here's to more discovery.

  Beth the OT
  Tootin' her own horn and wishing everyone a Very Merry New Year!

  -----Original Message-----
  From: St. John's University Cerebral Palsy List
  [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Anthony Arnold
  Sent: Thursday, January 03, 2002 5:04 PM
  To: [log in to unmask]
  Subject: Folding clothes


  Friends,

  I know that I have driven some of my friends nuts with talking about my
new
  ability of washing clothes, but I'm doing things right now that I wouldn't
  have guessed a year or even a month ago so I'm like a kid on Halloween.  I
  have successfully learned how to wash and dry my clothes totally
  independently.  However folding them was another story until just this
  afternoon because I had myself believing I wouldn't ever master folding,
but
  however I made myself try like I usually do now days, and I got it in no
  time at all.  I'm very pleased with my ability of teaching myself these
  independent living skills because I'm not an occupational therapist or
  physical therapist by a long ways, but however seeing my progress, I
  definitely want to help others be independent mainly with the idea that we
  can try to make people as independent as possible, and in the long run we
  can have better attendant care because we could pay them more because they
  would work less hours.

  Thanks,
  Anthony