Cerebal PalsyBorn on the 31st December 1981, I was the second child of three children. I was born a healthy normal baby in Brisbane, Australia. It wasn't until I was nine months old when I suffered an aneurysm that my life started to change dramatically.
Living in far north queensland, I was flown down to Cairns Base Hospital with my life hanging in the balance to undergo a craimeotemy. Not expected to live or if I did, to be a vegetable, I was put into an induced coma. This is as much as I know about my accident. Apparently three quarters of the right side of my brain doesn't work.
Over the course of my life, due to my father getting transferred all the time, we lived all around Queensland. I went to 'normal' school from grade one to twelve just like my older sister and younger brother.
Besides having to wear a Caliper and then later a plastic brace thing that I wore in my normal shoe, and the fact of being a bit slower then my classmates I did fine. Most peers from the various schools I attended accepted me for me and I have managed to make lasting friendshilps from most of them. I even went to Boarding School by myself after a nasty experience attending the local state school in Mareeba were my parents were at the time. So off I went to St. Patrick's College in Townsville until my father got transferred down to Brisbane (his last big move), where I ended up at Lourdes Hill College where my sister was already going to school.
It wasn't until I finished year twelve that I was really forced to notice the fact that I had a disability. This is where I found out what 'discrimination' really meant, and where I start to feel like an outcast.
Going through years eleven and twelve, I discovered my passion was caring for children and set out to follow a career in childcare. I got accepted into University to study, but unfortunately I was unable to take up the place as I didn't have the support and guidance I needed as the University I got accepted into was in another town a short distance away. Sadly kissing goodbye my chosen career I had a week to decide what I was going to do instead.
At this point I had struck up a 'train association friendship with a cute boy that I used to catch the train home from school with. After finding out what and where he was studying after year twelve, I changed my path and got it in my head that I wanted to be a social worker so I went on to study a Diploma of Community Services at Tafe.
After a year of sticking it out, I decided that Social Work wasn't for me, so I never went on to complete the course. I was also forced to give up the part time job that I had had since I was fifteen years old.
A blow to my self-esteem I reluctantly went on a Disability Support Pension. Not liking the idea of sitting on my butt day in and day out while people paid for me to eat, I enrolled in a Certificate II in Business (Office Administration) with Tafe. After completing that I then went on to do a traineeship in Certificate III in Business with a transport company. Unfortunately this was only a traineeship position, so once I had gained my Certificate there was no ongoing employment for me, which left me unemployed.
As I tried to look for work in the administration field, I sunk into a depression. By this time I was living by myself in a one bedroom unit, which wasn't helping my welbeing. It wasn't until my boyfriend (now my husband) moved in with me months later, that I started to pick up a little bit, although I was still unemployed. Even though I was unemployed for some time I refused to go back on the Disability Support Pension because I knew that I was capable to work fulltime.
We moved into a house and bought a dog from my friend who breeds Staffys. Because I was under the assumption that I would never be able to have children (after claiming in high school that I wanted 20) I brought up the dog as a substitute child. Til this day he still expects to get his 'cuddle' when my husband sits down in the evening after he comes home from work. We still laugh about one instance where my mother in law came to stay for a few days. My son was a toddler at the time and my mother in law walked into the house and called "Where is Grandma's boy?" and the dog came running out of nowhere thinking that she meant him.
After countless months of looking for employment I fell pregnant with my first child, which halted my job hunting expedition. My husband and I were married when I was four months pregnant in the cheapest wedding that we could come up with because money was tight as I hadn't been working for sometime. Even though it wasn't my ideal wedding, we had a nice ceremony in the front yard of my father's house.
After my son was born I decided that I was going to start living the way that I wanted to and not living the way that other people wanted me to live (because I was disabled). Even though money was tight, I started driving lessons, determined to get my drivers licence. I was 37 weeks pregnant with my second child when I finally gained my drivers licence.
When my daughter was still a baby I started the job searching again, although this time I was getting quite desperate instead of looking for work in the administration field, I would apply for less paying positions, and finally landed a job as a dinning room assistant in a fast food outlet. Even though I was grateful that I was employed again, I felt like I was only good enough to clean tables and put the rubbish out.
After a year I knew that being in the job wasn't doing me any good, I was lucky enough to land a job as a checkout operator at a major supermarket which I am now currently employed.
Even after ten years I haven't been able to forget about my dream to work in Childcare, so at the begining of the year with my husband's encouragement I enrolled in the Certificate in Childrens Services with Open Learning Tafe which enables me to study at home around work and raising my children.
Even though I have passed the subjects that I have completed at the moment, I still have doubts that I am doing the right thing as the comments that I got years back still stay with me to this day. It hurts me that when I announce that I have passed yet another subject, only my friends and husband and my inlaws congratulate me on what I have just achieved.
In the event of telling my story, I hope that I encourage people to not look upon people that have a disability as stupid, spastic or retarded, but look at them as a person. Don't look at their disability, but their ability.
Living in far north queensland, I was flown down to Cairns Base Hospital with my life hanging in the balance to undergo a craimeotemy. Not expected to live or if I did, to be a vegetable, I was put into an induced coma. This is as much as I know about my accident. Apparently three quarters of the right side of my brain doesn't work.
Over the course of my life, due to my father getting transferred all the time, we lived all around Queensland. I went to 'normal' school from grade one to twelve just like my older sister and younger brother.
Besides having to wear a Caliper and then later a plastic brace thing that I wore in my normal shoe, and the fact of being a bit slower then my classmates I did fine. Most peers from the various schools I attended accepted me for me and I have managed to make lasting friendshilps from most of them. I even went to Boarding School by myself after a nasty experience attending the local state school in Mareeba were my parents were at the time. So off I went to St. Patrick's College in Townsville until my father got transferred down to Brisbane (his last big move), where I ended up at Lourdes Hill College where my sister was already going to school.
It wasn't until I finished year twelve that I was really forced to notice the fact that I had a disability. This is where I found out what 'discrimination' really meant, and where I start to feel like an outcast.
Going through years eleven and twelve, I discovered my passion was caring for children and set out to follow a career in childcare. I got accepted into University to study, but unfortunately I was unable to take up the place as I didn't have the support and guidance I needed as the University I got accepted into was in another town a short distance away. Sadly kissing goodbye my chosen career I had a week to decide what I was going to do instead.
At this point I had struck up a 'train association friendship with a cute boy that I used to catch the train home from school with. After finding out what and where he was studying after year twelve, I changed my path and got it in my head that I wanted to be a social worker so I went on to study a Diploma of Community Services at Tafe.
After a year of sticking it out, I decided that Social Work wasn't for me, so I never went on to complete the course. I was also forced to give up the part time job that I had had since I was fifteen years old.
A blow to my self-esteem I reluctantly went on a Disability Support Pension. Not liking the idea of sitting on my butt day in and day out while people paid for me to eat, I enrolled in a Certificate II in Business (Office Administration) with Tafe. After completing that I then went on to do a traineeship in Certificate III in Business with a transport company. Unfortunately this was only a traineeship position, so once I had gained my Certificate there was no ongoing employment for me, which left me unemployed.
As I tried to look for work in the administration field, I sunk into a depression. By this time I was living by myself in a one bedroom unit, which wasn't helping my welbeing. It wasn't until my boyfriend (now my husband) moved in with me months later, that I started to pick up a little bit, although I was still unemployed. Even though I was unemployed for some time I refused to go back on the Disability Support Pension because I knew that I was capable to work fulltime.
We moved into a house and bought a dog from my friend who breeds Staffys. Because I was under the assumption that I would never be able to have children (after claiming in high school that I wanted 20) I brought up the dog as a substitute child. Til this day he still expects to get his 'cuddle' when my husband sits down in the evening after he comes home from work. We still laugh about one instance where my mother in law came to stay for a few days. My son was a toddler at the time and my mother in law walked into the house and called "Where is Grandma's boy?" and the dog came running out of nowhere thinking that she meant him.
After countless months of looking for employment I fell pregnant with my first child, which halted my job hunting expedition. My husband and I were married when I was four months pregnant in the cheapest wedding that we could come up with because money was tight as I hadn't been working for sometime. Even though it wasn't my ideal wedding, we had a nice ceremony in the front yard of my father's house.
After my son was born I decided that I was going to start living the way that I wanted to and not living the way that other people wanted me to live (because I was disabled). Even though money was tight, I started driving lessons, determined to get my drivers licence. I was 37 weeks pregnant with my second child when I finally gained my drivers licence.
When my daughter was still a baby I started the job searching again, although this time I was getting quite desperate instead of looking for work in the administration field, I would apply for less paying positions, and finally landed a job as a dinning room assistant in a fast food outlet. Even though I was grateful that I was employed again, I felt like I was only good enough to clean tables and put the rubbish out.
After a year I knew that being in the job wasn't doing me any good, I was lucky enough to land a job as a checkout operator at a major supermarket which I am now currently employed.
Even after ten years I haven't been able to forget about my dream to work in Childcare, so at the begining of the year with my husband's encouragement I enrolled in the Certificate in Childrens Services with Open Learning Tafe which enables me to study at home around work and raising my children.
Even though I have passed the subjects that I have completed at the moment, I still have doubts that I am doing the right thing as the comments that I got years back still stay with me to this day. It hurts me that when I announce that I have passed yet another subject, only my friends and husband and my inlaws congratulate me on what I have just achieved.
In the event of telling my story, I hope that I encourage people to not look upon people that have a disability as stupid, spastic or retarded, but look at them as a person. Don't look at their disability, but their ability.
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