Perhaps I should take this into the chatroom, but I have a hard time getting the details off my chest in a dialogue. Lately, Ive realized that my attempts to lose weight have gone in the opposite direction. I can't let this happen, my wheelchair is at the limit for the doors in my house. The only be...

I so identify with your poem, and as much as I loathe the idea that we all think alike, I suspect that a number of people dealing with a disability would/will identify, too. Only after some reflection, I've decided that I don't think ignorance should be defined as being without knowledge, since igno...

Ragman,
Thank you for sharing so much. I find the forums very helpful when I need to vent, scream, cry, what ever.

This website was a pleasure to read. I rent a bedroom in my mother's bunglow-style house. The only modification has been a wooden deck and key-operated wheelchair lift installed in front. It has proven to be well worth it, even though there's annual maintenance, and neighborhood toddlers being disap...

Thank you for this post. I, too, have witnessed such abuse, some financial, some emotional, even from the children of some of my loved ones. Sometimes I wonder if I would be so aware if I wasn't also disabled and vulnerable, and can at least partially relate. I had a relative whose life savings was ...

Thank you for this post. Very often, I need this reminder. Sometimes there are circumstances beyond our disabilities that prevent us (at the moment) from pulling up stakes and moving to a better situation. That's when I plug in headphones and play angry rock music or lose myself in a funny book or a...

Durzo,

First, I'm sorry that I didn't respond sooner, I've been offline a while. Second, I am so sorry about the treatment you're getting. It sounds like a nightmare. My heart truly goes out to you.

Durzo, thank you so much for your response; it really helps me feel not so alone in my frustrations.

When I was a child, my family could only afford one car, which my father drove to work every day, including weekends, when he worked a second job. Thus, we had to rely on the city bus a lot, and more often, we walked. Years later, I remember an instance when a friend of my mother's drove past us as ...

What a beautiful expression! Thank you very much!

Yesterday, while I was on my weekly trek through the supermarket to buy weekly groceries for my household, pushing a shopping cart with my wheelchair, a woman with a walker approached me and said seeing me was inspiring, because she'd been sitting at home, feeling sorry for herself, because she was ...

I so enjoyed your post! I recently (like, this morning), realized that my constant contact with a hater (that is, a pessimist who refused to keep it to himself), had begun turning me into a pessimist. Although the only step I've taken to turn things around is to break off that damaging influence, th...

I don't visit the chat room as often as I'd like, but I've discovered that instead of posting individual hellos to everyone (I'm so afraid I'll miss someone), that I've been saying, "Hi' everybody!" No big deal, right? Except it occurs to me that the voice in my head is that of Jennifer Coolidge fro...

Locally, I use a paratransit service that, nine times out of ten, has been good for me and my wheelchair. I must admit, the idea of travelling outside of my city hasn't even occurred to me in the six years I've been disabled, probably because I'm too broke to go anywhere. :( But, the biggest problem...

I want to thank y'all for your more-than-encouraging responses. I'm so thankful for this site, forum, and chat room.

I hope I can be as helpful to others, too.

Take care.