A driving question...

An interesting topic was brought to my attention today. A 12 year old wheelchair user with spina bifida was AMAZED to find out that in four years he would be able to get a license and drive a car. "OK explain step by step how that is even possible!" the sharp, soon-to-be teen replied. It was clear that he had honestly never thought that being able to drive one day was something he could easily do.

His response surprised me because everyone, including myself, can take certain things for granted. I was able-bodied until the age of 25 and, as a healthy young man, enjoyed what healthy, able-bodied young people do. One of those things was the simple ability to drive a car. While in the rehab hospital I had good therapists who informed me all about the adaptive driving controls that were available to people with all types of disabilities. It took just over seven months after my injury to have bought a car, install hand controls, figure out how to get my manual wheelchair inside by myself and be on the road again.

Enter the fray...

Hello and welcome to my blog! Here I'll be speaking about and commenting on all issues under the sun that relate to disability and disabled persons. For those in the know -- that is for people who have an understanding of this subject because they have a disability or those who are very close to a person with a disability -- this is a huge topic with endless variance and nuances. So let me first start by formally stating that what is said here is not the Gospel of Disability (obviously). I am merely sharing my direct experience of being a disabled person and being a social worker whose clients are primarily persons with a physical and mental disability. If I've learned anything from my experiences in life it's that what is successful for person A doesn't automatically translate to a solution for person B.


So onward and upward. I promise to not always be so redundant but my first post will revisit much of what is stated in the "about me" section of my profile...