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So this is another story of people who get it right. Watch:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzUFOl2v7Ok

Obviously this is not huge but it was necessary for me to pass. She make no silly remarks about how I drive my chair or about how wonderful it was that I was out in public. She just treated me like anyone else trying to get by. She also noticed me very quickly unlike those girls from the coffee shop.

She didn't make a huge scene of it either. Too bad she's in the minority.

No I don't want to look at your *&%#^&* leaf.

Ok, here's a short one. So I was walking one of my dog walking clients (a kind of intimidating looking pit bull) and this woman yells out to me. This is someone I have never seen before on my walks through the area. I come closer thinking maybe she had some important information for me. But instead she exclaimed, "Look! I have a red leaf for you! Do you want to see it?" I just continued walking. My aide said with blatant sarcasm, "Oh great. That is wonderful." Oh boy. I just thought you'd enjoy what she said. Next time that happens I want to reverse roles and have my aide talk to her like she's 5. "Oh, great job on your leaf finding! You must be sooooo proud!"

"She drives her chair very well!"

I was interested in using the therapy pool at a nearby YMCA. On the phone they suggested that I should come in and have a tour with one of the specialists. I did just that. The specialist was a cheerful middle-aged woman who had one too many cups of coffee that morning. As usual, my aide did a two sentence explanation which goes something like, "She's got CP so she can't talk, but she can hear and knows what you're saying. I can decipher what she wants to say too so I'll speak for her but you can talk directly to her," etc. This sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. This was a case where it doesn't. So we three left for the tour and the woman kept commenting on how well I drove "just like a race car driver!" I looked at her like "thanks......". I wanted to talk to her about the logistics of going to the bathroom/changing/etc if I had male aide with me (I don't discriminate against gender when I hire). She acted pretty shocked that I would let a man see me naked. Although she talked to me, she directed all the important information to my aide even after my aide explained that I am a college graduate. Throughout the visit she was a little touchy feely, but right before I left I got the full experience. She grabbed me and hugged me and patted my head and was saying things like "It was sooo great to meet you!! You come back soon!" which looks nice on paper but sounded reaaally condescending at the time.

Oh YMCA, you are supposed to be cool about this stuff. Like everyone, she meant well but damn, it was annoying.

I'm baaack

Hey everyone, sorry for the delay but I was having health issues (I'm fine now though). But I did get some good stuff when I went to the emergency room which I plan to tell you about now (too bad I was so out of it or I would have video taped).

The first lovely thing was when the nurse tried to put an IV in my arm. She was very nice but didn't believe my mom that an IV in my arm was a bad idea (I tend to flex my arms and ball them up). She did manage to get it in and tape it down but as soon as she left it stopped working because I kinked it. She tried again and the same results. Its not like she was trying to torture me, but she didn't listen! Eventually she conceded to putting it into the back of my hand which worked well. Then I had to have an ultrasound. The technician came in and had a big badge with "Student" written on it. My mom and I looked at each other like "greeeat". So my mom played up my CP and said because of it, I'm really difficult to give an ultrasound (this is a slight exaggeration). But it did the trick so I had the senior technician. Meanwhile the student accidentally pulled my IV out. Then she was sitting unfortunately close to me when my body decided to barf all over her general direction. So that was lovely. The ER doctor was surprisingly cool. He talked to me directly and waited for me to respond. Too bad the other people weren't as cool.

I always interview doctors before I make an appointment to make sure that they communicate with me directly and not just to my parents/aides. Obviously in emergencies I can't interview the doctors. My general practitioner is great. She talks directly to me and allows me to email with her and doesn't defer to my parents. I have rolled out of some doctor interviews because they treated me like an infant. I can't stand that. But considering this was an ER visit, it went slightly better than expected.

It's like she read my blog!

So I was waiting for my aide to bring down my next dog for a dog walking session and and a car pulled up and a woman walked out toward me. I honestly thought, "Oh crap, here we go."

She said, "Hey, do you need any help or anything?"

I shook my head.

She replied, "Is someone with you?"

I nodded.

She said, "Okay then, my name is Molly. I've seen you around and though I'd introduce myself. What's your name?"

We then had a brief few second of me thinking "Oh crap, I can't answer" until my aide came down and said, oh this is Eva the dogwalker.

The juxtaposition between this exchange and the one I had a few weeks ago is enormous. Not only did she listen to me when I nodded and shook my head, she proceeded to have a normal conversation with me. Wow!!!

Share your stories!

Hey everyone, I just created a forum for others to share their own stories of mistreatment, being bothered in public, or dealing with unfortunate people. The link is:

http://thedealwithdisabilityforum.ning.com/

And I am going to put it on my side bar as well. I look forward to reading your entertaining posts!

Don't spit out Jesus Christ!

Before I tell you what my subject line means, you might notice I have books from Amazon on my page's sidebar. I chose these books because, well...they're awesome. Exile and Pride is an awesome bio/discussion of disability and gender identity. The Ultimate Guide to Sex and Disability is exactly what it sounds like (wink wink). And I actually know the writer of Beyond Victims and Villains. She is a disabled actor and director and has produced many plays by and about people with disabilities.

So I went back to Cleveland, Ohio for the wedding of my favorite aunt. My dad's family is cool but kind of religious. By "kind of" religious, I mean compared to me and I'm not religious at all, but not like the going to church every week type. My dad is not religious at all but he grew up in a Catholic family of 13 children. But is was a wedding and weddings are usually held in church (which is cool with me).

Anyway, I was siting up front (they had accessible seating in front) enjoying the wedding when it was time for communion. My whole family lined up while my mom, dad and I just waited in our seats.

Now I have to explain somethings. Because of my CP, my mouth is open a lot (not like widddde open, but open). And also because of my CP, my tongue sometimes also pushes out my food. Both of these things are not a huge deal and I don't even think about it normally.

So, the priest seeing that I sitting in the pew with my mouth open, just shoved in a host wafer. My dad leaned over and said "Eva, whatever you do, don't spit it out," while my grandma did a "Hallelujah!" My aunt, whose wedding it was, was cracking up because she knew I was not religious and there was a big possibility I would spit out the sacrament.

I did not spit out the wafer. But it was so funny and I have a great first communion story. The priest was not being a jerk at all, but he definitely did not give me a chance to decline. I think he just saw an open mouth and went for it. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this story.