Tag Archives: Speech

Day 2327: When a “No” is Best for You

Sometimes people say no for your benefit – that’s what I realized yesterday.

It’s 11: 10 AM on day 2327 of my journey towards independence and I managed to have breakfast, pray, read Joshua 10:25 and learn a new word – Definitions for shivoo
1. Australian. a boisterous party or celebration.

Yesterday I needed to call a local baby care centre to see when I could go visit and help out I tried to get our housekeeper, Amanda, to do it for me (phone communication with a stranger is not my best event – I’m always afraid the person I’m speaking to won’t understand what I’m trying to say) and at first it looked like Amanda would do it for me but then she refused confident that I could speak for myself and it turned out she was right the person on the other end of the line understood me just fine for the most part (I was shocked and SO GRATEFUL for Amanda’s unwavering belief in my ability (everybody needs at least one person to believe in them and there are some times we’ll need it more than others)). Enkosi SisiAmanda.

Day 1865: Telephone Conversations, Fears and Me

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If you’re going to play the what-if game play it till the end – that’s my message to the world.

It’s 1 : 40 PM on day 1865 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, pray, read Acts 10, publish my Disability of the Day feature, learn one new thing –Incendiary [in·cen·di·ar·y] adj. Designed to cause fires. “An incendiary device.”- have breakfast, continue working on my new local project – i spent hours on the phone trying to order Christmas gifts the people talking to me couldn’t understand most of what i was trying to say (many thanks to my frenemy Cerebral Palsy) but they were so patient with me I’ve set up a meeting at the store tomorrow hopefully they will understand me better in person – make sandwiches for the kids in our sisi’s (housekeeper’s) neighborhood with sisi’s help as part of Virginia’s Sandwich Run (thank you sisi for all your help today).

Today I conquered my fear of initiating a phone conversation with strangers (because I have Cerebral Palsy my speech is more often than not unclear especially when I’m nervous like when I have phone conversations with strangers) it’s true that one of my my worst fears came to life when I realized that the people on the other end of the line didn’t understand most of what I was saying but hey I tried my best and I’m still alive despite one of my worst fears coming to life.

Day 1722: Cerebral Palsy and Speech

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Me having Cerebral Palsy is a bigger deal to me than it is to other people – that’s what I realized today.

It’s 12 : 13 PM on day 1722 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, pray, read Amos 4, publish my Disability of the Day feature, learn one new thing – The brilliant colored bird-of-paradise, or crane flower, gets its name from the flower’s resemblance to the bird of the same name. Though native to South Africa, the bird-of-paradise has made its way across the globe—it’s the city flower of Los Angeles, California.
– feed myself French toast for breakfast and promote my Educate Generations campaign– $3 000 raised so far .

Today I realized that me having Cerebral Palsy is a bigger deal to me than it is to other people I’m always in two minds as to whether or not I should explain the fact I have Cerebral Palsy to new people I meet in person or talk to over the phone I feel the need to explain myself because I really want them to understand why I talk the way I do but I rarely end up mentioning it because I find that people understand what I’m saying fairly well.

Day 1319: Deceived by Perception

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Perception and reality are two very different things– that’s what I keep realizing.

It’s 12 : 00 PM on day 1319 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to pray, brush my teeth, feed myself egg with bread for breakfast, read Psalm 10, publish my Disability of the Day feature, promote my Eradicate AIDS campaign – on $602.85 – practice sitting up straight to strengthen my core muscles, stretch my hamstrings and continue promoting my campaign – still on $602.85 but I’m not giving up winners never quit and quitters never win.

A couple of days ago I heard my voice on a recording it sounded like there was static behind my speech almost like a radio when the signal is bad I was so surprised by the quality of my speech because how I sound to the world is not how I sound to myself oh well it’s not a trainsmash I can speak well enough for people to understand what I’m saying and my abilities far outweigh my “disabilities”. Have you ever been deceived by your perception?