In a message dated 3/27/2000 1:40:49 AM Eastern Standard Time, [log in to unmask]
writes:

<< If I didn't have CP, I wouldn't be the person that I am. I am a fighter. I
am
 a big believer in alternative therapies. Sometimes, I think that I have CP so
 I can make a difference in the younger generation, having experienced what I
 did and been through what I have. >>
I had to go throu a lot of painful torture testing too.  Thankfully ataxia,
or most forms, can now be scaned through a simple blood test(DNA wise).  Now
Ataxians do not need to go through what I did for an educate guess and
possibly be misdiagnosed.  I am a fighter too and anyone who knows me will
tell you.  I was given till my 18th birthday to hit the chair, by 20 I'd be
bedbound and my prognosis was death at 21.  I hit the chair at 21 and I am 30
now.  Making a difference w/ disabilities as the subject is what I NEED to
do.  It's like my ataxia kicked my but, I took an 8 count and then the bell
rang.  Difference now is I intend to fight mentaly and not physiclly.

Russ White
Orlando, FL
 <A HREF="http://www.onelist.com/group/GeneticDisabilitiesUnite">ONElist :
GeneticDisabilitiesUnite</A>
 <A HREF="http://members.aol.com/rwtw128/mypage.html">My Autobiography</A>
"Do not suppose that, if you find something hard to achieve, it is beyond
human capacity; rather, if something is possible and appropriate for man,
assume that it must also be within your own reach." - Marcus Aurelius, _The
Meditations_