tammyjh
New Member
What a great thread.
I do agree with slsh in that we don't see my difficult child get treated like a hero...despite the the fact that her physical disabilities are fairly obvious. Her motor skills on her left side are impaired...she walks with a limp and has very little motor control of her left arm...no fine motor in her left hand. she also has balance issues but the school van driver expects her to walk across an icy driveway because he doesn't want to drive in it. Despite the fact that the school van has snow tires. We sand and salt as much as possible but it doesn't always do the trick. So, I opt to drive down the road to the school bus stop to meet the van most days. The driver also gets very annoyed with her because it takes her so long to get out of the van with her things...also because of her physical disabilities.
As far as the not so obvious disabilities, the one that gets me the most is the fact that people base their expectations of her on her speech abilities. She is very articulate so most people just assume that she is "sooooooooo smart". Her psychological exam and neuropsychologist exam from last year put her in the low borderline functioning range. We have the hardest time getting people to understand that her performance skills are lower than her verbal skills. Even the professionals have a very hard time with this one. We usually have to go into the lecture of how her brain injury impacts her functioning.
But yes, on the whole, I get tired of people who think difficult child acts the way she does because she is "spoiled". When one looks at her disabilities AND the way she conducts herself, they think we spoiled her due to the fact that she has the physical problems which is not true......sooooooo annoying.
I do agree with slsh in that we don't see my difficult child get treated like a hero...despite the the fact that her physical disabilities are fairly obvious. Her motor skills on her left side are impaired...she walks with a limp and has very little motor control of her left arm...no fine motor in her left hand. she also has balance issues but the school van driver expects her to walk across an icy driveway because he doesn't want to drive in it. Despite the fact that the school van has snow tires. We sand and salt as much as possible but it doesn't always do the trick. So, I opt to drive down the road to the school bus stop to meet the van most days. The driver also gets very annoyed with her because it takes her so long to get out of the van with her things...also because of her physical disabilities.
As far as the not so obvious disabilities, the one that gets me the most is the fact that people base their expectations of her on her speech abilities. She is very articulate so most people just assume that she is "sooooooooo smart". Her psychological exam and neuropsychologist exam from last year put her in the low borderline functioning range. We have the hardest time getting people to understand that her performance skills are lower than her verbal skills. Even the professionals have a very hard time with this one. We usually have to go into the lecture of how her brain injury impacts her functioning.
But yes, on the whole, I get tired of people who think difficult child acts the way she does because she is "spoiled". When one looks at her disabilities AND the way she conducts herself, they think we spoiled her due to the fact that she has the physical problems which is not true......sooooooo annoying.
