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People First
Last week I had the chance to visit several people involved with disability. I met with gracious doctors and therapists from a leading rehab hospital, I spent time with the self-giving mom and caregiver of a young man with quadriplegia, and I met some new people too. All positive experiences for which I am grateful.
The Voice of Experience
Tom, looking at the responses from the Christmas blog, one realizes how just being able to write a few lines about situations that pertain to living life to the best you are capable of; blesses and encourages others immensely.
A Cup of Water
Blogging is a funny thing. Sometimes a topic comes up and I think “nah, I don’t want to write about that.” But when it keeps coming back, eventually I give in.
Christmas Reflections
You know that Christmas is a great time for family and friends to get together. In Julie's and my case, we cannot have family or friends with children in. The Christmases that we’ve had the children and grandchildren in, I ended up in the hospital with pneumonia. So, we have to have the family in only when the weather is warm. I am not sure how this affects the other quadriplegics, but some of my difficulties could be with my age.
Breakfast at D's
I live in a small town of 4,000 people. I like it. Last weekend Diane and I went to a local diner attached to an old motel. It is the kind of place where guys in their 70’s and 80’s sit, play dominos, and harass each other for several hours each morning. The breakfast is good and as we waited for ours, I overheard a man at a table by himself complain to the waitress about the $6.50 cost of the breakfast buffet. He said that he couldn’t afford that – it was all the money he had for the whole day.
Joy and Sorrow
As we approach the holidays, I find myself with mixed feelings. I’m excited about my recent engagement to a wonderful man, and I’m looking forward to spending time over the holidays with our children and grandchildren. However, I am saddened that my time with InvoTek is coming to a close. My upcoming marriage means that I will be relocating to NE Arkansas, necessitating my leaving InvoTek at the end of January. Joy and sorrow mixed together!
Being Like Everyone Else
This is the time of year we reflect on being thankful, in fact I am writing this on Thanksgiving day. I reflect often that I am thankful for a lot. Even with a spinal cord injury the number of things I can do is more than the number of thing I can't do. I live independently and find ways around obstacles. Fortunately there are laws that try to reduce the obstacles we have to confront.
Guilty Lessons for Success
As I was reviewing our Be Extraordinary program on our one-year anniversary, I was pleased that all of our clients with technology are making good progress. You might say “duh Tom, isn’t that what’s supposed to happen?” Yes, but the reality is assistive technology often doesn’t have the intended impact. Here are the lessons that I’ve learned from Be-X:
Lightning Bug Road Maps
The Be Extraordinary team met recently to review the program’s first year and plan for its second. As we looked back, what we found surprised us. It was no surprise that we worked with more clients than we had planned, nor that dozens of people encouraged us through donations and other types of support. What surprised us is how we got there.
First Words
We've been working with a new family. Billy had a brain-stem stroke back in December of 2010. His disability is so severe that none of our technology worked for him. I talked with our clinical experts and there doesn't appear to be any equipment available – anywhere – to help him. This guy is hard. Really hard.
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