More Sites

Laura has given me a lot of different sites to look at that are helpful for her and other people with disabilities. Looking at the sites I can see why she uses them. They give her helpful information, a wide network that allows her to find almost anything she might need, and ideals for making her life a little easier on an everyday basis. Some of the sites I'm attaching to this posts are ones that she likes to go to because they give her a ride variety of things to look at that she may need. But they also allow her to link to other pages that are relevant to the topic she is looking into.

Dogs helping people

In a previous posting I used a You Tube video to show how dogs and animals need help to. There was a time period when you animal would most likely be put down if it had broken something. Now there are things that allow you to let your animal live its life to the fullest. I felt that the dogs in the video all looked both happy and healthy. In this video it is shown how dogs can do the same for humans. The dogs in this video are working with blind people and people who are in wheelchairs. It is amazing to me to think that animals can help a person out so much with their everyday life.

New Mobility

All of the comics I have used throughout my blog I got from a magazine called New Mobility: Life on Wheels. Laura has it delivered every month. She has told me that there are always very interesting topics in it and that there are always web sites throughout the magazine so that people can order things on-line or take a closer look at something before they decide to buy the product. It has also been very helpful in giving Laura and I ideals about the different things we can build to help her out. Some of the products in the magazine are used and made by people who have are handicapped themselves. There are also true life stories and experiences given throughout the magazine which are very touching and helpful in understanding what others are going through. There is a web site for the magazine which i have attached to the blog. Not only does it have a lot of the same things that the magazine has but it also has much more. There are links throughout the site that will take you to other places you might be interested in looking at. Laura has said this is one of her biggest problems on searching the wed. She will start off looking for one thing and link into other pages and go off looking at things completely different.

Comic

I found this comic interesting because it is referring to stem cell research which is something that is fairly new and is still slightly controversial. I would also like to take this space to say a little thank you to Laura for helping me understand her a little more every day. She also helped me with finding some very helpful web sites and information relating to the subject.

Medical Needs

Their are web sites out there that give both medical advice and have medical equipment available. The equipment I noticed were things that ranged from gloves to wheel chairs to bed covers and lifts. These types of sites can prove to be very helpful. One of them is the Express medical supply. This one seems to have a little of everything and Laura said it has been very useful to her.

Comic and helpful web page

I have used the comics throughout the postings to show that happicapped people are as normal as they can be. Just becuase something about them looks different doesn't mean that they do not have a sense of humor or a need for love and attention from others. And when I say attention I don't mean the kind that makes them feel different from others but the kind that makes them feel welcome and wanted but not a berdon. The web site I have posted are helpful in many different ways. You can find almost anything now-a-days on the web and its nice to know that handicap people can find the things they need as well. The two that I am adding to this page are ones that Laura has said have just about everything a handicapped person might be looking for. She said that they have been very helpful in anything she had been looking into

Personal Experience

As I said in a previous posting I resently hurt myself at school. I was put on a five pound weight restricktion. This not only meant that I couldn't work at the Bavarian Inn Restraunt becuase I am a server and the limit was to low for me to be able to work. But it also made it very difficult to help Laura out. As I said by boyfriend has been helping me out with her for the last week. Even though it is likely that I will be back to normal in a week or two I still have had to rely on the help of others this last week. This is a very new thing to me. Usually I am the one helping others and refusing any help for myself. I have learned from this experience that there comes a time when you need help from others and you can't be afraid to ask for it. It also made me realize how important the things I do with that one arm that I can't do right now, such as lift my nephew who weighs about 30 pounds. I had found it difficult to understand a handicapped person fully and I still done, but going through this has opened my eyes a little more.

Love

As Laura as put it many times to me "gimps need love too" she calls her and her disabled friends gimps and says that it is a personal joke between them. There are web sites out there for people who are disabled to find love. And just as Laura is saying in other words, everyone needs love. Its not just about the phyiscal but the whole thing, the spirital and emotional bond that comes with love.
The web site I am posting here is a site for disabled people who are looking for love. Hopefully it is useful for handicapped people who are looking for love.

Comic

This is one of those comics that I don't quite understand. Some others might get ijt better then I do. But it is just an example to me of how there are somethings you really can not understand unless you are experiencing them first hand. You can try to understand and do what ever you can to help a friend or family member who might be dealing with a disablity but I don't believe that one can truely understand it unless as I said you experience it yourself. But it also shows me that people with diasbilities have a sence of humor and want to live their lives to the fullest.

You Tube video thats shows the struggle to be egaul for Handicapped poeple

This next video shoes a organization that is fighting for equality for handicapped people. The video is done in London and gives great examples of how even buildings and public transportation that say they are handicapped assessable are not. It shows how difficult it can be to get around. I found it to be a very nice video showing the fight for equality in everyday life.

Spirit

I called this posting spirit because it amazes me everyday to see people with disabilities live their lives to the fullest. Some people take for granted the things that they have. They don't even realize it until it is lost. The other day Laura and I found out that there is not cartilage left in her one knee. This is not a good thing. It will eventually require surgery but she doesn't want to do it because she is positive it will put her in a home. I am amazed at her will to continue on with her everyday activities like nothing is happening. We knew from the start things would continue to get worse for her throughout the years. But to tell the truth I think I am more concerned about it then she is. It is remarkable to see people including the young man in the YouTube post who said "It is gods will" and he continues about his daily life. It is difficult for me to watch these things happen to Laura and I have watched her change through the last ten years. The changes are always difficult to deal with but we find ways to get around them and keep her as active as she feels she can be. Her courage and spirit amazes me continuously because some of the things she goes through I would have a very hard time dealing with. I think part of the reason she deals with it so well is because she has dealt with it her whole life.

Comic

Another comic done by Callahan. Just a little note about the comics, some of them might be a little hard to understand. I get the feeling that they would be much easier to uderstand if you were a handicap person reading them. I get most of them but some of them I really don't understand. I have worked with people with disablities for well over 10 years. In elemantary school I worked with a young man who was disable through a program my school offered to fifth and sixth grade students only. I am now 26 years old and have worked with poeple with disablities on and off through out the years. Even with all this experience I still don't get some of the comics. But the ones that are easy to understand give people some ideal of what its like to be handicap.

Simple Things

Laura and I have worked to make things that she need in everyday life in to help her do the things she needs to do on her own. I get meals ready for the week for her so that she can easily get to the food that she needs for the week. Some of the things we have made to help her out are grabbers; these we take dollies and put hooks at the end that move that she can grab onto things on the floor. We do this because she can not bend over and pick things up on her own. We also put magnets on the end of dollies so that if it is something that can be pick up by a magnet she can easily get to it.
We have also modified her crutches so that they are easier for her to handle. She walks very little but on days shes feeling good she does what she can. She just got some new ones that we have had to make many changes to in order for her to easily use them. We get special bottoms that are slip resistant so she doesn't fall. We also put bike handle covers on the handles so that they do not leave marks on her hands when she uses them. We have also taken small bags and attached them to the side so that she can put light weight things in it and take them with her. There is also a new cup holder placed on one of the crutches so that she does not have to try and juggle the crouches and a cup. We also have the Alterations place in town make little cushions to go over the place her arm rests so that they are a little more comfortable. We have some other modifications to make to make things easier when using her knew crutches but they seem to be working out very well.
One of the other things we are working on changing is her desk. Instead of buying a new one we are making one out of two small book shelves and a table. She has a laptop computer so she does not need a lot of space for it. The book shelves are going to be a great source of extra storage space that is easy for her to get to. This is still a work in progress so we'll see how it turns out. Some of our creations for her have not worked out very well so hopefully this one does.

Comic for handicap people

Laura gets a magizen call New Mobility: Life on Wheels. It is a magizen that deals with life as a handicap person and has many interesting things in it. It also has web pages located inside of it that one can go to to look at products that are featured in the magazine such as handicap excessiable vechicals and work out equipment and much more. But on of the things that is in the magizens are comics done by a man Named Callahan. ALthough I am not sur what is wrong with him he to has a disablitity, which makes his asbility to do comics for handicap poeple much easier becuase he understands it first hand. Here is an example of some of his work.

First hand experience

The other day I hurt myself at school and am on a five pound weight restriction. My boyfriend decided he would help out when it came to taking care of Laura. I have to admit it was difficult for me to just stand by and watch him do the things that I normally do for her. He spent the day doing what Laura and I would do on a normal outing only this time I sat in the back set and observed what was going on around me. I was worried that something would go wrong. My boyfriend had never really dealt with something like this and it was the first time him and Laura had meet. Needless to say everything went normal and the day went by with little difficulties. My boyfriend listened to what I was telling him and took it to heart. I was very impressed already and then after taking Laura home he told me that he really enjoyed the time he spent with us. He also said that he didn't really know what it was like until he experienced it for himself. This is what i meant when I said that it was rewarding to help someone out. It may be something as small as grabbing something off a shelf that someone can't reach. That little bit of help will make you and the person you helped feel much better.

Even Animals need a little help

This video shows how not just humans need help but so do animals. It also shows how people can help their animals live a good life even with disabilities. A little love goes a long ways and helps animals and humans with disabilities live a happier life.

A little information about the previous video.

The previous video shows some of the struggles of living a handicap life. But it also shows how with a little help someone can still do things on their own. The video shows how the young man goes about life being handicap and the different things he does to make his life a little easier. Each disability is different, therefore different people might go about things differently when it comes to getting the things they need done.

A Video that shows the life of handicap people

Simply being helpful

The other day while I was out with Laura it was shown to me how many people will just walk by someone who is struggling rather then help them. Laura is wheelchair bond which is difficult in itself. There are still doors leading into and out of buildings that are not handicap assessable. By this I mean there is no way to just push a bottom and open a door. And half the time those don't work either. It only takes a short amount of time to hold a door open for someone who is trying to hold open a door and pull a women in a chair through that door at the same time. Or even when you see an older person struggling to open the door or who has a walker and is struggling with that. It only takes a moment to help them out. I'm not saying that no one helps out in these situations. But I can say from my personal experience that the people that tend to help me the most are teenagers and older adults that I sometimes think that I should be offering help to them not the other way around. This is just one of the small things you can do, and it only takes a few minutes out of your day to help someone out.

The spinal cord

Laura and I do a lot of research on different topics dealing with handicap people and their equipment other helpful information. Although she does not have a spinal cord related problem we have looked into a few different areas dealing with the topic. There is a book found at www.spinalnetwork.net that appears to be a very helpful one. The information given in it comes from people who have dealt with the problem first hand. There are items that can be used to increase mobility and much more. Even though this is a place for people with spinal cord problems it can come in handy for any person who might be interested in a new form of mobility. It has different wheelchairs and other things to help a disabled person to get from point a to point be. it can also be use to give someone a little help if the are doing something on their own. I have hand made a lot of different things at Laura's request that help her do more things on her own. Some of her best ideals came from things other people had done. But when your working with a small amount of money you look for other ways to get what you need done. Viewing different web sites can give someone a lot of helpful information they did not even know was there.

Background

I thought I might start off by giving a little background of my experience in working with handicap people. About 10 years ago I started working with a woman who we will call Laura through my high school. She needed a small amount of assistance when it came to getting to the store and her doctors appointments. At this point she could still drive and was capable of doing a lot for herself. But she has rheumatoid arthritis and things were becoming more difficult. In the last ten years we have worked to find ways that would allow her to still do things on her own but at this point my job as gone from just going out and helping her reach a few things on a self to driving, preparing food, transportation outside the car via wheelchair and much more. But this is not just a job for me but it is me helping out a friend. Along with working with Laura I have worked at two assisted living facilities which are homes for seniors who need a little extra help but can do some things on their own still. In total I have had a little over 11 years in experience and I'm positive there is still much more to learn.