Your Disability and Health Stories

Your Stories

In this area of Disabled World we list health and disability stories and articles submitted by our members.

The stories range from funny and factual, to inspirational, informative, and serious.

We welcome submissions to the "Your Stories" section.

Please take a few moments to share your story with us and maybe inspire others, we would love to hear from you!

Maybe you had a good or bad travel experience and want to tell others about it.

Perhaps you have some interesting factual health or disability information you think may help others, why not write about it and see your story published on Disabled World.

Submitted Stories

Plastic in the Environment
An island of garbage is floating in the North Pacific that is estimated to be larger than the size of Texas. The death of over a billion seabirds and mammals are attributed to the ingestion of plastics. Despite government treaties to ban ships from dumping plastics, it is estimated that nearly 14 billion pounds of plastics are dumped in the oceans.

Accessible Shopping
When I shop at stores, the first thing I look for when I get through the door is some form of Mart-cart or manual wheelchair. Stores that recognize the millions of consumers with disabilities today have purchased these mart-carts for their consumers with disabilities to use, just as they have the regular push variety of shopping carts; a wise decision.

Truly disabled - MBTA leaves many out in the cold
Mr. Park relies on the MBTA’s buses and trains for most of his travel needs; he prefers these modes over the RIDE because the RIDE is typically late and makes him tardy for work. Mr. Park encounters many problems with trying to access MBTA buses and trains. Problems include broken elevators and escalators as well as unsanitary conditions in elevators.

Amandas Disability Story
When all blood test came back she told us that I had partial 18th chromosome abnormality, where part of of the arm copied itself and attached its self to the 13th chromosome.

Beware the Retarding Environment
In 1984, a report entitled, "Surviving in the System: Mental Retardation and the Retarding Environment," detailed how placing individuals with cognitive disabilities in institutions or congregate settings puts them in "retarding environments." Who were the architects of this impressive and profound revelation? A group of people who had been assigned the stigma-laden "mental retardation" label (the People First chapter of California).

A Genuine Plea for Assistance
Disabled World occasionally publishes articles on behalf of our members who are in genuine need of assistance - This is one such article from a member who can use your help.

Think it can not Happen to You?
Of course, one doesn't want to be in a state of constant worry. But if we want to be healthy we should consider our health on a regular basis.

Settling on a New Location - Moving Day
Uprooting your family and moving is a huge decision. Whether you are moving out of state to start a new job or wanting a different neighborhood in the same city, you most likely want to find somewhere that you can settle comfortably into. So, how do you know what area will be just right for your family?

The Final Say - Living Will Power of Attorney
A Durable Medical Power of Attorney states that a designated person has the legal right to make healthcare decisions for me, should I become incapacitated.

Reasons to Forgive
No one can change the past, but you do have the power to upgrade how you feel about it, and that makes all the difference. You can take your power back from all those painful memories, and make peace with your past.

Balance Your Life
When your life seems out of control and you've got endless demands tugging at you from all directions, it's easy to feel overwhelmed, fatigued - and just plain stressed!

How I got Rid of Migraines
I suffered from migraines for over 10 years. At least once a week I would have one. And if you have never experienced one, the pain and discomfort can't be described in mere words.

Lessons to be Learned Being up a Creek without a Paddle
Mark and I had previous whitewater rafting experience about 15 years ago. During that trip, we were both flipped out of the raft on one of the rapids, and trapped under the raft. I was scared beyond belief gasping for air as I swam away from the raft and floated to the surface of the water.

Hair Straightening Flat Iron Tips

If straight hair is the style you have in mind, then this article will tell you what to look for in a flat iron that makes it possible to straighten any type of hair with the least amount of time, effort and expense.

Book for Working Women with Autoimmune Disease
Rosalind Joffe, president of cicoach.com, provides tips and survival skills for women with autoimmune diseases to thrive in their career.

Transform a Plain Room
Living with the same looking room year in and year out jades the eye. This article covers hints and tips to decorate a plain or bare room by giving it a makeover to make the room more lively.

Health Magnets - How do they Work?
Through some little-known process, magnetic energy seems to refresh and recharge lagging energy levels. Users of magnetic products report noticeably higher energy levels.

WIFI is it Safe?
With 300 new WIFI hot-spots and over 52000 mobile phone masts the concerns for peoples health and general well being is being questioned.

Cremation Urns - Preserving the Memory of Your Loved One
It is very important to remember that a cremation urn is more than just an ordinary container. It is a container which contains the ashes of your loved one - of what has remained after he or she has gone. It will keep and hold the memory of your loved one alive not only for this lifetime but for many lifetimes after yours.

Does my Butt look Big in This?
Does my butt look big in this? How men hate that phrase. It's a mine field, particularly if the answer is yes, but I really don't think it's the pants. And really the women who asks it is either fishing for a compliment or seeking validation on her outfit, which at the end of the day is really the same thing. We want to be told that we look beautiful.

CN Tower Toronto - Facing our Self Limiting Fears
On a visit to Toronto last week, my husband, Mark and I were drawn to the tower that was outside our 10th floor hotel room window. It was an impressive site, especially at night when the tower was dramatically lit with multiple, ever changing colors.

Nutritional Myths
This interview is an excerpt from Kevin Gianni's Fountain of Youth Summit. David Wolfe shares on the myths about calcium and life changing MSM.

Obesity and Discrimination
Among severely obese people, about 28 percent of men and 45 percent of women said they have experienced discrimination because of their weight.

Evading the Abusive Relationship
I thought that I had seen the last of battering after my mother divorced my stepfather. Similar scenarios were happening in my own high school.

Addictive Behavior and Financial Abuse
Whether you are a parent, friend, student, teacher, boss, co-worker, employee, patient, counselor, manager or partner, having to be involved with an addict can and will drain you mentally, physically and financially.

Forced to Live in Own Waste
One error would lead to finding out that my medical insurance company knew about it. And, was willing to allow me to live suffering in my own excrement...

Its Not all Black and White
Windheim, 44, a traumatic brain injury survivor who has been working for the Nyack Public Library for more than 15 years, has been a familiar figure to Nyack locals.

Asking for Help is not a Sign of Weakness
We all need help every now and then. Financial, spiritual, physical and emotional help that comes from others to get us through difficult times in our lives.

Distance Advice - Snowdrop
My name is Andrew Brereton and I was the father of a child who suffered with profound  brain injuries, which caused a mixture of symptoms, - some of quadriplegic cerebral palsy and some of autism, although neither of those diagnoses do justice to the true nature and severity of his brain injuries! Unfortunately, Daniel passed away four years ago, suffering a series of brainstem strokes.

Cruising in a Wheelchair
This was our first cruise with our children. We have been on several cruises. Our oldest son who is 21 uses a wheelchair. We flew into Ft. Lauderdale the night before which I highly recommend and stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn. They offer free shuttle from the airport and to Port Everglades.

Discipline: A Key to Achieving your Goals
In order to discipline yourself, select the time that you will start and stop the task. Consider this an appointment. Allow no interruptions that would side track you. As you get involved with the project, and the time that you have set aside is ending, decide if it is best to extend the time, or stop working on the project.

Setting Your Personal Best
Walking any distance is an accomplishment. Many of my muscles below my waist are paralyzed due to a spinal cord injury. When I walk, I wear calf-high plastic braces on my legs and use a rolling walker, crutches or canes. The braces are used for support in order to position my paralyzed feet at a 90-degree angle to the ground.

Pessimist or Optimist - Which one are You?
In this fast changing, struggle-filled world, there are two kinds of people; those who see only the bad and those who see a whole lot more. Which person are you?

The Nuts and Bolts of a Creative Life
The popular conception of a free spirited, creative life, full of inspiration and imaginative productivity is an enticing proposition. But it's not quite that straightforward.

Maintaining and Building Momentum
Positive momentum on something that matters may seem like a magical thing - and it can be magic. The best news is that using these steps everyone can be the magician that helps that momentum live longer and create even greater success.

The Resiliency Factors: How to Bounce Back from Adversity
Ever wish you could get over a tragedy, bounce back and get on with your life? Resiliency is the ability to get through, get over, get past, and thrive after a trauma, tragedy, or tribulation.

Hope Springs Eternal
Most people would struggle with having this brutal illness called Huntington’s disease. Most people see it being horrible. I don’t. The trick is seeing Huntington’s for what it is… A blessing in disguise as something horrible.

Nuke Your Microwave Oven
I would imagine that most of us have seen warnings about using microwave ovens for some time. The first ones I recall were way back in the radical seventies, when I learned that our standards for allowable microwaves were 100's of times less stringent than the world leading authorities in microwaves.

My Success Story - My Heart Beats with Hers
It was a miserable hot Sunday of April 12, 1970, in Lahore, Pakistan when I fractured my cervical spine in the shallow water of Lahore city canal. As I dived, my head hit the sand; legs poled up over my head and then fell down to right side. After a moment, I felt that water is running over me. I tried my best to come up but there was neither sensation nor any movement in my body.

Towards a Successful Society
The success of any society is ultimately determined by how well its population lives and dies. Within this paradigm of "successful population" are two fundamental elements - individual and collective wellness.

The Ten Commandments for Strategic Change
Most changes cause disruption and in many cases, massive disruption. It is up to you to determine how acute this disruption is and how long it will last. Be as up front as you can about why the change is being done at this time and how it will unfold.

Personal Professional and Ethical Dilemma
Is it appropriate for me, as a person with disabilities, to tell others that if they provide these suggested accommodations, interventions, modifications, social skills training, medical intervention, etc., that a child will magically succeed or be happier, when I know, first hand, there is no truly happy ending for us?

Lessons Learned Paddling in the Moonlight
Last night, my husband Mark and I went kayaking in the moonlight. The event had all the makings for a romantic evening.  It was a warm summer night under a beautiful moonlit sky on a five mile stretch of a lazy and shallow Hocking River.  We had been looking forward to this adventure for weeks.

Voice of Special People
This article speaks about the bitter truth of the rights of special people, which are always under-estimated by our society.

Odd Thoughts about Your Body Organs
In general usage, the term "body organ" doesn't usually cover the muscles, bones, blood vessels or nerves, although, technically speaking, all components of the human body could be called "body organs".

Drug Rehab Voices of Recovery: A Mothers Story
Barbara had never heard of cocaine, except on the news. And an alcoholic and a crack addict are two entirely different things. Unfortunately, Barbara's second youngest son, Matt, was both. But it was crack that changed the lives of her family and landed her son in drug rehab.

Conspiracy Theories
The people who propagate, profess and adhere to fixed notions and evaluate a given set of facts and call them as false or see a hidden meaning are authors of conspiracy theories.

Living Life with Conviction
Life is like a roller coaster. There are hills to climb and hills to coast. Your image of your life is critically important to your success. We are in control of many of the circumstances around us, but there are other circumstances beyond our control.

A Jump for Charity - Out of a Plane
One organization that is very aware of the conditions of people around the world is G.A.P Adventures, Canada's largest adventure travel company. With hundreds of adventure travel offerings to continents like Latin America, Asia and Africa, the people at G.A.P are very informed about the situation of communities in many countries.

Ancestral Healing
What is ancestral healing you may well ask? The short answer? It is 'healing your family tree which includes both you and any descendents you have'.

How to Make Lemonade
We all come upon problems, either self-imposed or from elsewhere, often from the least expected places. Little or big, easily managed or seemingly devastating, they all can lead to growth and a path to the good life.

A Powerful Motivator: The Fear of Regret
We’ve all done things in our lives that we have regretted. Sometimes it is an action we have taken, or something we have said. Other times it is our lack of taking an action. That action would have made all the difference in our lives. We suffer the consequences.

Advocating and Otherwise Abled
Excerpts from a self-published handbook used with the parents advocated for in the special education process.  Michelle Fattig, Ed.S. is a school psychologist and parent advocate with nine years experience.  Her varied professional roles have included medical technologist, medical microbiologist, school psychologist, educational consultant, research assistant, school board member, advocate, and parent support provider.

Think Before you use Drugs - My Regret
Think before you use drugs is an easy thing for me to say now. I used to use drugs regularly for about 4 years. I started out smoking marijuana and ended up smoking crack and sniffing heroin and crystal meth.

Opportunities and Growth: Plausible and Workable Solutions
It is a matter of fact that in all developed countries including USA there is a trend of migration for finding better opportunities and growth with future scope for advancement. This has resulted in a situation of multi ethnic composition in the society.

Consumer Rights - Common Help Line Numbers
Even during the normal times when a person as consumer buys goods and attempts to get right value for the money so spent, he or she has to be also compensated if it comes to any goods and services which are found to be defective or unusable.

Looking Back Teaches you Lessons
How clear is your memory of very difficult times in your life? Memories fade. Bad memories are often locked away in our mind. We often try to fill in the gaps in our ability to recall details of our lives.

Having the Courage to Face Your Demons
This past March, a business trip brought me to Granville for the first time since I was injured.  I felt an avalanche of emotions flooding over me as I drove by the entrance of the path. I parked my van in the same parking place where I parked two years ago and wept. The nightmare was returning.

Happiness
A curious thing can happen when we discover a sudden change in personal circumstances such as a life threatening experience or a forced sudden and dramatic transformation in life style due to physical or economic circumstances.

How to Improve Communication Skills
Knowing how to improve communication skills will come easier once you become aware of your own communication style.

Develop the Character Trait of Self-Discipline
Self-discipline is a character trait. People with this trait are willing to sacrifice, drive themselves hard, and be convicted to a passionate cause.

The False High of Addiction
While scanning the information on the Titusonenine blog, I recently read a post entitled "A Bout With Addiction, for the Doctor Who Has Everything" that captured my interest. According to the post, Dr. G. was an anesthesiologist who became addicted to drugs.

Rosemarie Rossetti Article
Learning to do something differently can take what seems like forever. When I came home from the hospital five weeks after my spinal cord injury, I began learning the true meaning of patience. Patience is acceptance. Patience is an expression of deep understanding.

Negativity and your Health
In our quest for a life as healthy as possible we often overlook that moods and attitudes play a very important role in our health. A happy and relaxed person is always healthier than one who goes through a period of depression or who has to put up with a lot of stress.

Taking Stress Out of the Holidays
Symptoms of high stress are frequent illnesses, back problems, anxiety, ulcers, insomnia, headaches, irritable bowel, moodiness, fibromyalgia, over eating, abdominal weight gain or feelings of being overwhelmed and out of control - to name a few.

Alcohol - Hangovers and Obesity
A number of years ago I had reason to reside in the U.S of A. I arrived at LAX about 12 stone wringing wet, and returned 18 months later greeted with comments like: "Fatso", "Lard Arse" and "Mud Guts".

Organizing Your Time
Time is an infinite resource that we can neither save nor find a substitute to. It is a resource that both the rich and poor were born with. All of us are given an equal amount of it every day. It is up to us how we use it.

Finding The Greatness Within
It is an illusion that only some people are great. All of us have greatness within us. As a teacher, I have always felt surrounded by greatness, whether I was in a school classroom or a workshop for adults. It has always been easy to see the potential people carry within themselves.

Perseverance is Necessary for Fulfilling Dreams
It is not often that I have the opportunity to be recognized for my work promoting spinal cord injury research on such a grand scale! This October article tells the story about the planning that went into a promotional event at the recent OSU vs. Penn State game.

Do Something About It
If, in your heart of hearts, you know that you're following your physician's professionally prescribed program at least 90% of the time and you're still not enjoying any positive results, you need a change.

Benzos and Me
What began as an innocent prescription for xanax became the nemesis of my sanity and my survival.

Living the Blossom to Full Life
As my husband, Mark and I rode our bicycles on the tree-lined streets in our neighborhood this spring, we took great pleasure from the beauty and fragrance of the flowering trees and shrubs.

Instant Healing with Magic Eraser Technique
Mistakes are not so much of a problem in themselves. They become a problem when we hold onto them, when we get fixated onto them, when we become attached to them as if they were great treasures, until they become so deeply embedded in our minds, emotions, and bodies that they prevent us from fully enjoying the present moment.

Matters Of The Heart
Our heart is the foundation of our lives, emotionally and physically. It is the pump house for our body's fuel and the keeper of our spirit. It energizes us through life's daily demands and can maintain and console us through life's sorrows and heartaches. Our heart is constantly working to sustain and guide us to the life we are meant to live.

Empower People with Serious Illness
Serious illness is more than a crisis of the body, it is a crisis of the soul. Many patients react to a serious disease by becoming paralyzed by fear. Resistance quickly crumbles, and is followed by depression and despair. Yet others marshal the inner resources needed to overcome the crisis.