Accessible

I see a lot parents that are scared when therapist talk about wheelchairs for their children. Todd is one of them. I reassure any parents who are scared that having a wheelchair isn’t the end of the world. My Dad is in a wheelchair. He got hurt while he was in the service. It happened before I was born. When I was growing up, I use to think that most parents were in wheelchairs. Once I went to grade school, I realized that it wasn’t that common as I thought. I had a lot of kids that stared and it got on my nerves. I kept telling them to stop and mind their own business, but they were curious. They were mostly curious about the car lift or the lift inside our house going up and down the stairs. To me, I saw it as being normal, but to another child it wasn’t. There is a part of me that wishes I could have seen my Dad walk, but the bigger part of me says it really doesn’t matter. He still is the same person. I love him with all my heart.

I’m glad that my Dad is in a wheelchair because it helps me with Tyse. I could care less if Tyse will walk. Sounds so bad to say, but then again, it isn’t the end of the world. I may have to complain a lot to stores and theme parks, but it is worth it. Disney World and Universal Studios are great places for handicap. In 2000, my Dad took me to Disney World and Universal Studios. When we use to go when I was little, he didn’t have much to do and he had a good attitude about it. I think it was because he saw how happy me and my brothers were, but over the years, I think Disney World is getting better along with Universal about handicap accessible. Anyway, there was a sign in front of ET saying it was handicap accessible. So we decided to try it out. My Dad was scared that he would have to get out of his wheelchair and he couldn’t do that, but when we got up to the line they pulled out a special lift from the side and strapped his chair in. Still to this day, I remember not even paying attention to the ride. I couldn’t tell you exactly what it was about because I kept looking back at my Dad and seeing him smile. He was so happy. We were doing something together as a family. I get so teary eyed thinking about it because we don’t have a whole lot of memories like this one simply because many places do not think of my Dad or think of every single person out there to accommodate for. Yes, it’s a lot of work, but it is so worth it so children and parents can have these moments. Now I look forward to having these moments with Tyse. I look forward to taking Tyse to places that have thought about his needs.

I wish places would think about babies like Tyse and make special shopping carts to keep in their stores. That would be a blessing. My goal is to come up with a design and push for it. So that way, in the future, Moms do not have to carry a 20 pound infant in an infant car seat because that is the one thing that works with shopping carts. So what if my child can’t hold his head up, not everyone is perfect, maybe places or stores should think of a special seat in the cart so I can have a normal shopping experience. It would make my life a lot easier in so many ways. Plus, it would save me from building all this arm muscle and back pain. I feel like I’m getting old and I’m not that old. In the next month, I have to retire the wonderful infant seat and move to a bigger car seat. The infant seat was nice because it had a handle on it and I could put it on the shopping carts. Now I am creating a special seat for Tyse. It is extremely difficult, but I think I finally figured it out.

I love this picture of me and my Dad.