All of this will be true even though it sounds a tad on the fictional side. As the saying goes, sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction.

Anyone who is relegated to working from home due to injury tries to find method of increasing the income generation potential. Let’s face it, the options are not that great yet for at-home work but they are growing. However, that knowledge is also known by those who would choose to be a scammer.

These scammers will go to some creative lengths to try and con you out of your money. Recently, I was contacted to become an “Assistant Director” for a company I will not give the honor of having more traffic. Some flags flew up and I decided to do my due diligence and follow through checking on what this “employer” was requesting.

One of the websites this “employer” from Sweden claimed to have worked on was for the company ErgoGenesis LLC based out of Texas. After following up with the person in charge of their website, I discovered what I suspected. My “prospective employer” was just a scammer. But now the scammer had a double gift coming back. First, the company lawyer was not pleased with this false advertising from this scammer. Then there is this silly thing called and FBI list which these scammers get to be part of. Hopefully this schmuck will get a gift soon from the Investigative branch in Sweden soon.

But I am grateful to the scammer for a different reason. I wouldn’t have known about ErgoGenesis if it weren’t for the scam. Since I have my fair share of physical ailments and know of others who do as well, I am thrilled at the concept of having my own office chair built for my specifications. So whether you are with your own physical ailments from injury or from the effects of aging, I recommend that you can construct your own chair located here.

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There are a large number of issues considered to be a disability. Whether it is one of a myriad of potential physical disabilities ranging from temporary to degenerative to fatal, emotional based disabilities, learning disabilities or cognitive disabilities, there is one that stands above them all.

This disability is the most common disability held by many. There is no medication for this the most debilitating disability of all. I have taught children with Emotional Disturbances and a large portion of them have this. I’ve taught many Cognitively Disabled children and they do not have it. Those with Learning Disabilities are varied.

Men and women could be said to have it equally and it is not genetic. Age is not a factor either as it can strike just about anyone except the youngest. As I’ve said this disability is not based on genetics. There is no medication for it. But a cure does exist except the cure is hard to come by.

So what is this greatest disability that can ruin all aspects of your life? Some will know the answer immediately, while others will never be able to answer the question. The greatest disability in life is a bad attitude.

A bad attitude is not genetic based. There is no medicine for a bad attitude. There is no excuse for a bad attitude. But there is a cure. The cure is change. You choose what you are exposed to. You choose what information goes in your mind from what you watch, what you read, who you listen to and who you hang out with. Garbage in, garbage out. Do you want to get rid of a bad attitude?

Then you must be willing to do the hardest thing that a person can do.

Change.

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In my time as a teacher, I spent most of my time in the Special Education classrooms working with those with Emotional Disturbances and often the Cognitive Disabilities classroom. Those with physical disabilities were placed based on their intellectual capabilities. How many of these disabilities of the mental, emotional or physical sort was preventable is something I would not fully know.

Some of those disabilities are genetic but some of those could have been prevented. Perhaps a few were caused by improper prenatal care, some by poor parenting choices, and some created by malpractice. This is something I am all too familiar with as I was born with club feet and a combination of doctor errors starting when I wasn’t even 1 year old and others later in life. Speaking from experience, being proactive and taking preventative measures is far better than being reactive and spending a life of adjustments. Life is tough enough, no need to give a child more challenges to start with.

My sister-in-law is one who has suffered permanent brain damage courtesy of an error by a nurse. But there are other preventable forms of brain damage such as Kernicterus. Kernicterus is caused by untreated jaundice when a baby is born. My nephew was born with jaundice but the causes would generate a new entry. Fortunately for him, the jaundice was treated and that has not caused further issues.

Children with Kernicterus are given an unnecessary challenge much as I was. A good doctor similar to the one who made the error in my infancy readily admits to their error. He was forgiven by my parents as he was truly sorry for the error. But there is medical staff, such as that nurse that started the brain damage in my sister-in-law, guilty of incompetence and need to be removed from the profession for the greater good of all. A career path for a shortened life is more than a fair exchange.

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From the perspective of a husband, sometimes you may be led to believe your wife has a temporary bipolar condition when it is that time of the month. Well, that would not be a truthful assumption.

Bipolar disorder, formerly known as Manic depression, is quite a bit different than such a short time period. (pun intended) Currently, it is being heavily diagnosed almost to the level ADHD was diagnosed for the past few decades. Like all issues in life, caution has to be put into place to not misdiagnose because of a current fad.

So how can you the layperson know if you or your child is bipolar or not? The same answer applies to all issues and that is to get solid information that you know to be comprehensive and accurate.

From personal experience, I know 3-4 persons who truly have the bipolar disorder in my life. Dealing with them can be a roller coaster ride and it does cause a fair amount of strain on family ties and friendships. Also, as a former teacher of the Emotionally Disturbed, I’ve dealt with this directly with children. As with many issues, bipolar ranges in severity and in my opinion medication should be avoided if at all possible.

No matter the situation though information is crucial and the linked website carries a lot of it. So if you or someone you know may have the disorder, study to double check the accuracy and to be prepared. I grew up with a sibling with the bipolar disorder before it was diagnosed. Information would have gone a long ways in helping out.

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I will touch on a topic I previously mentioned I wouldn’t say much on. But I feel it is necessary to do so in this circumstance. The topic is abortion and one of the primary reasons why some claim it should be available.

Of the many reasons some use to try and justify an abortion, one of them is because the baby to be has a ‘severe’ disability. The term ‘severe’ is a subjective term depending on the viewpoint of an individual or group. ‘Severe’ pain that sends one person running to the ER will be ignored by another who just uses superglue to close a gash. So it is a subjective term.

As shown in the article Babies with minor disabilities aborted, points out even minor disabilities, such as a cleft palate or club foot, were used at grounds for an abortion. This is an article from the UK but it is easy to believe the same is happening here.

“Club feet, one of the most common birth defects in Britain, affects around 700 children every year.

It results in the feet pointing downwards and inwards, but it can be corrected without surgery using splints, plaster casts and boots.
Despite improvements in treatment, the data suggests there remains a perception among some parents and doctors that club foot is a serious birth defect.

The Abortion Act allows termination at any stage of pregnancy if two doctors agree there is a "substantial risk" of the child being "serious handicapped".
But the scope of the term is left to the doctors' discretion, and some fear the definition of "handicap" is widening as scanning technology develops.”

I completely and totally disagree with that line of rationale. Quite simply, any child in the womb that has a disability is a life altering gift to the parents and family. It depends on the viewpoint of the potential parents if they want to make it a positive. In my blunt and honest opinion, those who chose to abort a baby that has a disability of any sort are self-centered cowards.

Why such a strong statement from me? First a few details about me. I was born in 1971 prior to Roe v. Wade being passed in 1973. My parents are wonderful, hard working folks with solid morals. After a number of miscarriages and 3 adoptions, I was given to them as a surprise gift when they were 32 years old. One other crucial detail to this entry, I was born with club feet.

So just try to come up with any rationale that you think might work to explain why I should be dead. For that matter since I’ve involved myself in the lives of those with disabilities of both the severe and mental sort, just try to tell me why they should have been killed. Due note, the first casualties of Hitler’s Holocaust were the disabled. So what is the rationale? I’m waiting for an answer.

What impact would my not being here have had on this world?

1. My father would have died in my mother’s arms June 20, 2001.
2. My daughter would not be here changing lives as she cares about encouraging others to believe in themselves and be happy.
3. My wife’s parents would have lost their house.
4. My wife’s father would have died on one of two different occasions.
5. My wife’s brother would have not survived a motorcycle accident.
6. Two children who are now my nephews would have died from encephalitis and other tropical diseases.
7. A niece on my side would have continued to be abused and likely ran away by the age of 10.
8. My brother-in-law would not be able to support his family of himself, his wife and 2 daughters with more than one likely passing away from malnutrition or tropical diseases in the Philippines.

So again what possible rationale can someone come up with to convince me and all those in my life why I should be dead? Try telling it to my wife.
Wonder why I’m opposed to abortion now? I would suppose not.

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First, this is not an advertisement. Well, not really an advertisement I’m getting paid for. Consider this a product review from the viewpoint of a person with a mobility disability.

There are many aspects to our lives that a healthy individual will take for granted. Common tasks that are done without much thought about how to do them become complicated when you hinder a load bearing joint from the equation.

As I have written before, my primary physical disabilities deal with my ankles. When you stop to think about it, there are not very many common tasks that do not use the ankles. So when the ankles are injured, you shift your weight to your knees, hips, shoulders and elbows to compensate. Shoulders and elbows you say? Ever break your leg or sprain your ankle? Ever use crutches or lean on the grocery cart? That is how the shoulders and elbows are impacted by the decreased functionality of your ankles.

One of the common tasks I have issues with is vacuuming the carpet or sweeping the kitchen floor. I’ll wait for a second while you get up and run your vacuum a bit or do the sweeping motion with your broom. Focus on how your shoulders, elbows interact along with the rocking motion you use your ankles to do. Okay, go….

Doo dee doo doo doo dee doo, doo dee doo dee doop dee doo doo,… dum dee dah dah doop, dee doop.

Welcome back. Now that you have done that you can understand what I’m talking about. So how does a person do this common task without getting hurt more? Technology can come to the rescue. The tech I am focusing on is from iRobot. No, this is not a plug for the 2004 movie of the same name starring Will Smith. iRobot specializes in the creation of robots to assist in a variety of tasks that are either dangerous (IED removal), cumbersome (cleaning the sides of your swimming pool), a royal pain in the rear (gutter cleaning), or common tasks such as floor washing and vacuuming.

For a disabled home owner, these things can extend the duration of your limbs by quite a bit. All I need to do is push the ‘Clean’ button then empty it out. No chasing the vacuum cleaner around. Mopping? That can be done as well. The products in particular are the iRobot Roomba for vacuuming and iRobot Scooba for mopping linoleum, vinyl, or hardwood floors. Is it the lazy way? Not for a person with mobility challenges. This saves a lot of money over the long term in reduced pain medication and forced medical procedures.

Now what can this do for a business owner? Cut time on the janitorial duties thus cutting expenses. What about for a business owner with mobility problems? It makes them more competitive with a better profit margin and still reduces the pain and complications.

When you have a different set of circumstances to live under, you see things differently. You can look forward to more reviews of this same type as I stumble across new stuff. (I do take suggestions.)

So my final word on the iRobot products I mentioned is they suck and I’m thankful for it. (Vacuum cleaner joke.)

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Yes, this is about a dream, a toe, and jam. No, not dreaming of toe jam but a jammed toe caused by a dream. How on earth can you permanently injure a toe to cause a reoccurring jammed toe from just a dream? Well, first let me tell you the dream then I’ll take you back to reality.

The dream started like any other dream. You find yourself standing in a familiar setting usually from your past. For me, it is usually my parents’ backyard from when I was a kid (prior to removing the white clothesline poles). This time was a bit odd though. You see my parents live in a city of about 16,000 people so their backyard isn’t all that big maybe 30’x50’ or so. In my dreams, the garage is still on the right, the neighbors on the left, a fence all the way around, the 2 white clothesline poles, and the Central Air unit with the black tarp on it. It was all fairly normal except for all of the livestock that was running around in the backyard. (Which my parents do not have in the city.) Oh, I forgot to add the black square monster with a ¾ football sized opening that needed feeding.

In my dream, I deduced that the black monster was hungry for a livestock to fit in the opening / mouth. However, when I tried the goat, it was rejected as it did not fit correctly. So I tried the rabbits, nope. Ducks? Close but the wrong shape!! I needed a chicken!! But all we had were baby chicks and they were not going to work. So I kept running around the backyard looking for a chicken to push into the mouth with my right foot until…my wife woke me up.

Back in reality, she woke me up as I was behaving quite bizarrely in my sleep. I was lifting up my right foot and pushing her feet around. Then I would rapidly kick her in bed (running in my dream) followed by grinding my big toe into the bed as if I was drilling for gold (pushing the duck in the monster’s mouth). She woke me up and the dream ended. I do not really remember that incident but I do know in the morning my toe really, really hurt.

Who was that monster in my dream? It was a flashback to something that scared me once in my youth. Once upon a time I was sitting on the Central Air unit nice and calmly when it roared to life and scared me. So now, a little under 30 years later I have received a permanent injury to my big right toe requiring me to frequently ask my wife to “please pull my toe.” So I now introduce you to the villain of the story:

FOWL VILLAIN!!!

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Are all permanent injuries disabilities? No. Are all physical disabilities permanent injuries? Not all are but those not cause by genetic conditions or diseases are. What I am going to do is share with you what my permanent injuries are and how I got them. You will likely be surprised on just how easy it is to get a permanent injury.

Of my injuries, I have 5 permanent or reoccurring injuries which are to my right ankle, left ankle, right hip, 1 vertebra in my mid back and my big toe on my right foot. How I injured my big toe is a story all unto itself that is nearly unbelievable and hilarious (kinda). My right ankle was injured and started to break down by simply getting out of bed. I rolled over and put my foot down and crack. The pain started right away but each day went by with 8-10 more cracks and more pain. Just not fun.

One year later, the ankle bone in my left foot gave way when I went to get a drink of water. Literally all I did was step into the kitchen and crack. Then it ballooned up to 3x its normal size full of blood.
My right hip was a combo that killed it. I did a little bit of overstretching in a Tae Kwon Do class and popped it a bit. Then I went up to help my parents, aunt and cousins to clean out my Grandma’s house as she had passed away. None of us thought of taking the basement door trim off or the upright freezer handles before we tried to get it up from the basement.

Guess who got to hold the entire bugger up on the steps while they took off the handles, the basement door and the trim off? Me, lovely. Since I didn’t want to die by being crushed by a freezer, I didn’t have much of a choice. I challenge you to try that exercise. Try holding a freezer upright at nearly the top of an enclosed stairwell for 15 minutes.

The reoccurring vertebra that keeps slipping in and out was injured by my sneezing at work. The call center company was rather cheap especially on the chairs so my chair only came up to my mid back. Now I have quite a powerful sneeze. After enough times, the vertebra right above the top of the back of my chair started to slip in and out with each sneeze. It continues to this day. My wife and daughter duck when I sneeze. As for the permanent injury to my big toe on the right foot, I was sleeping in bed and had a dream. Yup, I got a permanent physical injury from a dream. Guess what the next entry will be.

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In my prior entries on Disability Issues, I gave you the background on what joyous buggers my ankles are to me. In this entry, I would like to expound a bit on a topic very, very few can understand unless you have a physical disability similar to mine.

For the sake of ease, I am going to group physical disabilities into two categories. The first category is those physical life challenges that are permanent alterations to your life.

For example, my friend Bobby is a paraplegic. No, being a paraplegic does not stop him from attaining his goals. However, he does know that he will not be running as it flat out isn’t possible anymore. Another example is one my Mom tried to use to cheer me up initially. She pointed out a guy in the news who had lost his arm and how it will permanently alter his life. All this is true. One segment of the physical disabilities can be defined as disabilities that change certain life functions such as walking from what you could do to what you cannot do any longer.

The second group of physical disabilities is the one I belong to. They are disabilities that change certain life functions such as walking from what you could do to what you shouldn’t do. The word ‘shouldn’t’ is the key word in that line. I will do my best to explain this one as my mother missed it and still does to this day. In her example of the guy who lost an arm, she did not catch on to that minor detail or that I have a friend with a disability in the ‘cannot’ class. For anyone who acquires such a disability, there is a period of time of adjustment to the major life alterations and limitations. You will get down for a bit which is totally normal.

However, once you are adjusted to it, you go on with life with the new definitive limitations. In that regard, I envied those who received a ‘cannot’ class disability. They knew what they could no longer do as their body flat out did not have the ability to perform that way anymore. You will not be carrying a large, heavy and awkward item up a stairwell with one arm. You need help. I wished I had that limitation.

What I and so many others are faced with having to refrain from doing activities most take for granted while still being able to do them. Can I still mow the lawn walking behind the lawnmower? Yes, but I will pay a price of not walking for a couple of days afterwards. I can deal with that. What gets hard is when you go from being an active outdoors person to having to step back. Imagine having been involved in playing beach volleyball which is rather fun. You sustain your injury and now your place that overlooked the volleyball courts is a continual reminder of what you shouldn’t do lest you be down for a week recovering from a couple games. That stings because I can still do it. But I dare not.

Those of you who have read my entries know I am very close to my wife and daughter. It does pain me that at times our going out and doing something fun even just a meandering shopping trip is usually cut short because I just can’t keep going. But the most recent event comes from two small things. This past summer some friends of ours showed us around their town and the beaches of Lake Michigan. It only took me 2 steps in the sand to realize what I had to refrain from doing. How easy would it be for you to stand on the sidewalk and let your spouse and child go play on the sand because you dare not? How easy would it be for you to be the spouse that has to let your loved one behind on the sidewalk? Or knowing that you dare not help your daughter make a snowman? That is what pains those with the ‘should not’ class of disability.

But the article is long enough and should give you sufficient background information to begin to understand the world of those disabled physically. This way you will understand just how important advances in technology are to help bring us back into life. Guess what some of the next entries in the category will be.

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So what impact would those ankle ailments have on your life? Would it shut you down? Seriously limit you or maybe cost you to lose or highly alter your employment? Would you look to the State to support you? Would you be looking for pity? I’ll get to most of my answers soon enough.

To cover the last question though, this blog is meant to educate not garnish me pity. I do not need it nor want it. I’m fine with who I am and the limitations on my life, well most of the time, you’ll understand soon.

First though you do need to understand an issue those with physical challenges face. Yes, there is a primary physical issue but almost always there are secondary medical issues caused by your body being thrown out of whack by the big one. When I started using my arms to support more of my weight, my ankle injuries triggered bursitis in one elbow and tendinitis in the other. Additionally, I had issues with my right hip and lower back as the height of the right foot was higher than the left because of the brace while in socks. It didn’t help that I had previously injured that hip years ago either (upright freezer, stairwell, you get the picture).

Similarly, nearly all the friends I have who have challenges face the same thing. They have a primary ailment with a number of secondary ailments. And yah, it does hurt worse some days than others but you get used to it the best you can. How can I talk so nonchalant about the litany of ailments I’ve got? The answer is courtesy of some very long time friends. See, there are plenty of others with far worse ailments. Some persons have far more painful or life shortening issues than I, they all have something in common.

Our physical problems do not define who we are, just what we can do. One of my childhood and long time friends is a paraplegic. He is confined to a wheelchair for life. His attitude is what inspires me still to this day. His infectious positive attitude and dreaming of attaining goals left a permanent mark on my life.

As life went on, he attained his goal. Take a guess what it was. Ready? He became a race car mechanic. Our disabilities do not define who we are. They might limit what we can do but a person can still find a way. Thanks Bobby.

-MatureKid

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Disabilities come in three basic categories – physical, mental or emotional. With my certification in Special Education with an Emphasis on Emotional Disturbances and 4 student teaching courses away from being certified in Learning Disabilities and Cognitive Disabilities, I’ve got my knowledge base fairly good in this topic.

Additionally, I’ve served in those three kinds of classrooms for the better part of 5 years with many positive and some interesting stories. But this category is about bringing you the reader into the realm of one with disabilities. So it would help if you knew what my disabilities are.

Mine are of the physical limitation variety. Obviously, my fingers are mostly fine and so is my brain. The majority of the issues are with my ankles. The story of the sequence of them can be found in Family Matters. My three ‘gifts’ are a right ankle that is breaking down, tendons out of place in the left and an edema in the left ankle. So what the heck does that mean?

My right ankle bones are separating from the small foot bones in the area and both sets are folding in forcing my foot to collapse on itself to the outside. I can tell you this isn’t fun. It also isn’t reversible either. I have to wait until I’m 55 for a fusion of that ankle. Until then, I have to wear an immobilizing brace to extend the amount of footsteps I have with that foot.

The left ankle is more joyous with a Catch-22 double whammy. A bone in my outer left ankle keeps slipping in and out of place daily. Each time it slips out of place it ruptures a blood vessel on the inside of my foot. A compression sock is worn at nearly all times on that foot to prevent a blood clot from forming and killing me. To make it more fun, the tendons that cover the outer ankle have slipped and now are resting under the outer ankle.

Translation – The more I walk, the more likely the tendons are to rupture without a hard orthotic insert to give the foot proper structure. BUT, if I wear shoes for more than 4 hours a day, the blood leaking from the inside of my ankle will pool up and I won’t be able to wear shoes for over 2 days. Sounds like fun hunh? I’ll let you ponder how that would impact your life before I let you know how it impacts mine.

-MatureKid

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Disability Issues

In this portion, I will share from the heart issues those with disabilities face as I have one of my own. Many, many people have their opinions on this topic but most haven’t been in the shoes of one with disabilities. Hopefully, I can bring you into our world but not for sympathy as I don’t need it. The goal is to bring you enlightenment as to what life is like. I will also include resources and encouragement for those with disabilities of the physical, mental or emotional sort. However, I will as always give it to you blunt and honest. Some of it you may not like as I will not put the gloves on. You won’t mistake where I’m coming from.

I’ll part this introduction on this note. Whether a person has a physical, mental or emotional disability, they are not truly “disabled”. In my opinion, we are limited in some choices and face a few extra challenges. But as per the saying that we adopted in this household, “the only disability in life is a bad attitude.” That is what stops people not a medical or other challenge. A bad attitude will doom you every time.

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