I am 81 years old and was born with a deformed right hand and deformed toes. When the nurse brought me to my parents, she had me wrapped tight. As my mom started to open the blanket the nurse said she had bad news, that my hand was deformed. My parents, being good Christians, looked at my […]
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RSS feed for this sectionThe things that make me different make me, me” written by flaunters about themselves or family members
A Journey of Love By Judy Jenkins
Imagine that every time you pick up a newspaper or turn the page in a book, you face words that resemble a foreign language. You know it is your native language but you cannot navigate easily through the words. There is tremendous difficulty breaking words down into sounds which create struggles with correctly pronouncing words and forming […]
Life is Precious, Live Free By Vinayak Shelke
Hello my name is Vinayak and I’m from India. I’m born with left a cleft hand. I’m little bit shy so I’m facing difficulty to go in public and talk to people. They are watching me like I’m from another planet. But it’s ok, I’m used to it. So when I’m in college I’m so […]
I Wouldn’t Change a Thing By Pamela Rae Schuller
I have Tourette Syndrome (Tourette’s). Tourette’s is a neurological movement disorder. For me it means that I have “Tics” (not the bugs) which are movements and noises that I can’t control. For a lot of my childhood, having Tourette’s felt like a negative. My Tourette’s was so severe that not only did I flail and […]
A Deep Sense of Gratitude By Katie McNamara
Things have been kind of tense because of COVID-19, but National Siblings Day approaches just as it does every year. I await the day to honor the bond I have with my twin brother, Brian. Growing up with a brother like Brian has taught me to commemorate the beauty in the basic concepts others take […]
You Got a Friend In Me By Will Bubenik
“Wow! That’s a GIANT Woody!” I never would have imagined that one single outburst in reaction to seeing an oversized ‘Toy Story’ Woody doll in a Target in Minneapolis, MN would bring me two lifelong friends. Lifelong friends that came from different places, at different phases in their lives. One in Connecticut, one in Colorado. […]
The Beauty in My Broken Smile By Grace O’Connell
“She’s beautiful!” cried my mother, her face wet with tears as she caressed my tiny cheek. The baby that caused her and my father countless sleepless nights had finally arrived. Soon this special moment ended when medical school students entered the room to see a newborn with cleft lip and palate. Cleft lip and palate […]
I’m Grateful for the Tragedy By Margo Arnold
When I was twenty-seven years old, I was in a fire. I was severely burned and spent six weeks in the hospital. I had five years of plastic surgery, seven years of litigation. I went into shock. It took twenty years to gain any semblance of emotional stability. Now seventy-nine, I’ve survived several things since […]
Comfortable Being Compact By Tracy Williams
My name is Tracy Williams. I live with mild-moderate cerebral palsy and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Cerebral palsy affects my lower extremities, fine motor skills and my rate of speech, but not my cognitive ability. Due to four orthopedic procedures during my childhood, I did stop growing at the age of twelve. This is why […]
Don’t DIS me…see my Ability! By Laurie Zappulla
“My name is Laurie Zappulla and here is my pitch!” That is the opening line for all TEDx speakers and I voiced my pitch this past March. In 1979, a week before my freshman year of college, I jumped into a swimming pool and broke my neck. At that moment, I didn’t have to wonder […]
The Princess and the Prosthetic By Jaime Cline
We were huddled around her incubator four days after Callie’s open-heart surgery. It had only been seven days since her birth. I stared at the three-inch scar that covered her tiny little chest and tried to keep my worry in check but it was extremely hard. Callie was hooked to a million tubes and wires […]
Why National Siblings Day is Important By Nathan Grant
On April 10, brothers and sisters around the country celebrate National Siblings Day to honor the special bond that exists between siblings. On this day, siblings spend time with each other and reflect on memories shared together. Many siblings also post stories, pictures, and videos on social media using the hashtag #NationalSiblingsDay. National Siblings Day […]
I am Grateful for What My Brother has Taught Me By Josh Glauser
Growing up, it’s easy to say that the favorite part of your day was getting a good grade on a test in school or soccer practice with friends. But more and more, it’s the quiet moments I cherish the most, especially with my brother Jacob. Being away from home for college is especially tough because […]
Embracing the Joy of Nick By Helima Croft
Five years before I arrived, my brother Nick was born and was later during a routine exam diagnosed with taxoplasmosis, which meant he had been born with holes in his brain. In a rare number of people including my brother, it impacted eye issues too. My mom has always been an extremely strong woman; she […]
Investing in Adults with Disabilities: A Personal Story By Ben Sacks
My older brother Matthew is autistic. When he was two years old, he was slow to develop cognitive skills. My parents knew something was wrong. He was formally diagnosed shortly thereafter, and after a subsequent battery of tests, my parents faced the devastating reality that he would never be able to enjoy an independent life. […]