Everyone knows something useful which others probably don’t. If you are an expert in your field, use that expertise to blog. Write down what you know most about or what you’re most passionate about. And blog it! Remember, knowledge which is not shared, is useless. – Nicky (@rocksstar10 on Twitter)
It’s 8: 28 PM on day 311 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth – twice once before my mother left for work and once after she was in a hurry to leave for work and she didn’t give me time to brush my teeth properly the first time– watch TV, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – no luck – feed myself chicken briyani for lunch, tweet about my campaign some more–still no luck :(– feed myself for whole-grain bread and avocado for dinner and brush my teeth once more.
Yesterday I was reading If a tragedy happens and nobody cries, is it still a tragedy? on Outrageous Fortune – a blog written by a mother of twins one of whom – Malachi – happens to have Cerebral Palsy – and as I read it I could not help but feel offended and hurt by the insinuations that her son was deficient in some way but this morning I woke up and realized that I should advise rather than criticize so I came up with a list of things that I wish someone had told my parents when I was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy. Take a look
The Do’s and Do’s of Raising a Child with a “Disability”
• Start the necessary therapies e.g. physiotherapy, speech therapy and occupational therapy as early as possible so that it will be a part of your child’s lifestyle
• Read as much as you can about your child’s condition
• Get connected with other parents that are facing the same challenges that you are (you know the saying it takes a village to raise a child I think that is particularly true if you’re raising a child with a “disability”)
• Treat your child with a “disability” as you would any of your other children while keeping his/her limitations in mind (in my school days when I got a B in math my parents would pat me on the back and say good job whereas, if my sister got a B you wouldn’t hear the end of it and although I know they were just trying to be supportive the difference in the expectations that they had for my sister and the expectations they had for me really made me feel like they didn’t give a shit (excuse the vulgar language))
• Don’t be too quick to help your child rather push him/her to do things by himself/herself otherwise what’s going to happen to him/her when you’re gone because let’s face it no matter how young you are you will die before him/her (you hope!)
• You’re child sees himself/herself through your eyes so whatever you do, DO NOT pity him/her i.e. if you pity him/her he/she will pity himself/herself.
Are we connecting on Twitter? If not, say hi at http://twitter.com/Nisha360
If you’ve given to my cause or you can’t give now, please help me by sharing my cause with others. You can tweet about it like my friend Stan Faryna. This is the tweet he uses: @Nisha360 is a brave, smart young woman trying to make a better world for us all. Please help her do an amazing thing. http://bit.ly/hC7vOu
Stan’s very sweet for saying so, but feel free to write what reflects you best.
Thanks to all my friends out there who are helping me make my dream come true: to make a better world for all of us!