Two decades have brought us a lot of adapted products. Especially those that revolve around eating. While our twins' premature births brought low birth weights and developmental delays they had their older sisters to observe and imitate. We often did not see the advances they were making and continued to look at them as our babies. Then it became apparent that these two were not going to stand for it. At. All. I remember when one of the twins (the very babiest of our twin babies) pitched a fit that we couldn't seem to resolve. Until, finally, she had motioned and growled at us enough that we narrowed down the subject and the action she desired. She wanted to sit up to the table just like the way the rest of the family did. Her wheelchair at the time was a supportive stroller. No highchair, no booster seat, nothing babyish would pass...it had to be a WOODEN chair. Just because the cerebral palsy had delayed her speech and developmental milestones didn't mean she was going to be content waiting for it to happen...and wait to join the life of her big sisters. That was Continue Reading
Using a portable ramp for access
Why we travel with a portable ramp in the back of our van... Several years back we began attending a new church and, along with that, making some new friendships. If you are a family affected by disability you potentially face different challenges in finding ways to meet up with friends. Sometimes it is obvious, for instance when you come via two power wheelchairs, that access is going to be difficult if not impossible. We were invited to a family's home to hang out and eat together. I needed to politely ask if there were steps into all the entrances or any flat level access for our wheelchairs. As luck would have it, it was a split level home and steps were everywhere. We debated whether we wanted to carry our then small-ish daughters into the house or move the party to a restaurant or even our house. (We continue to be fine with any of those options as the friendships are worth the effort!) I don't recall what we determined to do but I do recall a package arriving not much later...a portable ramp with the message "we always want you to feel welcome in our house...and anywhere Continue Reading
