Being Disabled: Mile Stones

There has been a lot of small milestones that I've had throughout my years. Forbpeople with disabilities, sometimes the small things that they acomlish bring them the biggest joys. I know I've done a lot of blogs lately, especially "top ten" blogs, but I just can't get ideas for them out of my head! For this blog,here are the top ten milestone I've hadt to overcome that have gotten me to where I am today! 1. Learning to Walk: I've always been able to walk. When I was little I was carried around and in a wheelchiar a little more than I am now. I was always keen on walking though, and when I was six years old I took 100 steps. Thatn was a big goal for me that year. I was very excited about walking and wanted to do it more and more everyday. When I walk, I feel like a toddler because of how fast I like to moter and how excited I still get when I walk by myself. I'm supposed to take it slow, stand up straight and have good posture. I just like to go! Even though Iuse a electric wheechair quite a bit more than I used to, I still love to walk.I willnever give up on my moblity. My boots were always made for walkin'. 2.Getting an electric wheelchair-Everyone worried that when I got my wheelchair in Grade seven it would hold me back from walking. It hasn't. like I said I still love to walk, but my new wheelchair opened up a whole new world for me. It has been amazing! I was so excited in grade seven, to get it. I was couting down the minutes until it was delivered. That was a big day. I remember I was sitting in my clssrom just waiting for it to come. The Lions club, an organization that helps with grants to give to people that need certain things, came on that day. It was an exciting day. I even got the book "Zoom" by Robert Munch. Its about a girl in a wheelchair who wants a new one that goes really fast. I thought it was very fitting for me. Ever since I've gotten my chair, I am able to do so many more things. Back in grade seven all my friends loved to play tag, and I would get upset because all my friends loved to play tag together and I couldn't join in, but when I got my chair I could! My chair has done a lot for me. It keeps me up to speed in highschool. I can wheel home from school now, which, still I get quite amazed at. I love being so independent wheeling home and having my own little routine that I can do by myself. Now that it's spring, and the weather is nice out, I can wheel home. Our family got a grant for a wheelchair accessible van, so now I can take the chair to camp and anywhere I want to go! It's quite amazing how much my chair has opened up a whole new world for me. My increase of mobility means that anything is possible and I can go anywhere I want to make my dreams come true. 3. Skiing- I've bloogged about skiing quite a bit, I know. It has become a big part of my winters now. I never thught I would be able to ski. Then in grade seven, I went up with my school's ski program. Katrien had just gotten off maternity leave and tht's when we found out she had done her CADS course and that she could take me up in a sitski on the hill. Skiing has been my favorite sport ever since then. Every year I get better. I can use both outrigger now and am able to initiate most of my turns myself. I hope to be skiing for a long time into the future. It's something I thought I would never be able to do. The volunteeers at the CADS program made that possible for me and other children in the valley! Thankyou CADS VOLUNTEERS! 4. Being more independent around the house- I have my own liitle routine now aroud the house. I get up and dressed myself and make my own breakfast in the morning. After school, when my parents work, I am able to wheel home in my chair, get in the house, make myself a snack and be by myself for quite a while. My friend Paige made me a special cutting board that holds the bread in place so it's easier for me to spread something on it. My left hand can't hold bread doown as well as my right so I have guards that keep it in place. Making a simple meal like toast feels great! i dont have to wait for someone to make it for me. If I feel like toast, I can just get it myself! I can do my own laundry now whitch helps out my mom a a lot. Doing these things by myself makes me feels less nervous about living on my own one day! It makes me feel like I can do it no problem, even though I still got a while to go before I move out! I get excited about doing these small chores! I know what your thinking. who would get excited about doing laundry? I know it sounds weird, but for me, anything I can do either to help out somebody or to add one more thing to my checklist of things I can do, it means a lot! 5. Getting stronger- The past couple of years, I've been noticing that I'm getting a lot stronger than I used to be. In gym class, Paige and I have been working on using my core muscles and standing up a bit straighter. I have to practice getting up using my legs,not my back. My physiotharist is always worried about my posture and me arching and hurting my back! I kind of feel like I'm taking princess lessons sometimes with how straight I have to walk and stuff like that, but I know the people that teach me this are only doing the best they can to help me and I am only doing it to get better at walking as well so it all works out! There have been some things I do some days that didn't think I could do. I'll lift something and think "Wow, I didn't think I could lift that" It feels terrific. I feel like I'm getting stronger everyday. 6. Speech- I do have a bit of a speech impediment due to Cerebral Palsy. Sometimes my words don't come out right, or I stutter because I'm nervous because they sound wrong, or they don't come out at all. I feel like as I grow, it gets a bit easier to talk to people. I think a lot of teenagers can relate to that. Havin a conversation is definetly a skill that everybody needs to be able to do. When we're little kids, we're often kind of shy and don't want to talk to older people as much, but as we grow and mature, it gets easier. I talk on the phone a lot now and somethimes when we go to a store or something,my mom will have me talk to a worker there to practise. I love getting to know people and being social so I want to be able to have good conversations. I think the more things I get to do and the more people I, the better it will get at it. 7. Being more independent at school- In highschool you learn how to be an adult and how to do more things for yourself. I'm slowly getting there. There are little things I do by myself in schhol now like being all by myself in Social Studies. I usually have an aid with me in that class to help with notes and getting set up for class, but in Socials this year I'm all by myself. It feels awesome. I have a great teacher that helps me get set up sometimes,and a new friend that I ask questions to if I didn't understand something the teacher said or something. I can take notes myself. I keep up alright. Being all by myself in a class feels amazing. I can practise making my own decisions about what I need to do for myself in that class. It feels like I'm getting ready for college or university. I've kept up in class pretty well. I'm just above adverage! Everything's going great! 8. Excersinsing at home- When I was little, I didn't like doing my excersices at home. I'd always come back after summer break and have really tight and not as strong as I was in the spring. NoW that I am older, I have kind of taken the initiate to do some myself. Paige bought me an excercise ball for Christmas one year so I could work on that sometimes. I also have a standing board board to stretch out my hamstrings. I have a summer program that I do with a friend Patti Cowles. We make sure and do Excersinsing a bit so I stay strong during summer holidays. It's great how strong I can get and when I can do it myself, it's even better! 9. All the trips I go on- I've been going to a lot of places and doing a lot diffrent actives recently. Each new activity is a new learning experience. They're all about exploring diffrent things and finding out where you want to be in the future. I do a lot of these trips with Grace, so they've all helped us grow as friends. These trips also help me grow stronger with my family as well. Every trip I learn new things and accomplish something new. they are all so worth it and I will remember them forever. Thankyou to all the people that make these trips possible for me. Theyall have been amazing! 10. Acceptance- The biggest milestone I've had to overcome is accepting that I have a dissability. likevIve mentioned, whe I was younger, my dissability used to be my biggest enemy. Now I find that it is my biggest teacher. there are lots of advantages to being a little diffrent. you see thing way. you meet so many amazing people and do so many amazing things. I'm not saying that having a dissability is the way to go. It's not everybody's life. it's not an easy life. it's my life and I love living it! So, yes, I've have had a few extra obstacles to overcome, but they have all made me stronger. The obstacles will never stop, but I'll get stronger. I love getting so excited about the little moments in life where I finnally figure out I can do something that all of you guys can do too. I'll keep on trucking' and conquering more and more obstacles everyday. I want to be just like all of you. One small step for mankind,one big step for Kate gibbs!