My Life with a Disability (The YouTube Edition)

[Reneelawrence666]

You're hot

[benvolio15]

@Reneelawrence666 LOL! No, I'm not.

[Reneelawrence666]

@benvolio15 Yes, imo

[eeploo]

"He probably carries a certain amount of pride at having mastered the ability to walk with crutches by himself"

That's exactly it. The mom is afraid the w/c will take away his sense of independence and mobility. He doesn't want to be seen in a w/c. High school is hard enough for anyone good grief, so everyone is just trying to brainstorm for him. My friend thinks he is the best kid/young adult and feels for his situation. He's going to the ortho today. Thanks so much for your input!

[eeploo]

(con't) to use a w/c. The classes can't be put closer together for whatever reason. It was suggested to have chairs placed along the way for him to rest, allow him to leave class early and come late, and put padding where his hands grip to absorb some of the shock to his hands. Have you found anything that makes your walking more comfortable or easier or is it something he'll have to 'grin and bear' until his old school is done with construction due to limited choices. Thanks so much!

[benvolio15]

@eeploo I myself don't really experience the same level of discomfort with walking. and I don't have the same wrist issues. His wheelchair issue concerns me a little bit more; it seems to me that the real source of his distress is that he feels it will limit his mobility even further. He probably carries a certain amount of pride at having mastered the ability to walk with crutches by himself, just as I did at his age.

[benvolio15]

@eeploo (con't) I would reassure both him and his mother that the real purpose of the wheelchair is not to make him look bad or reduce his mobility, but to give his legs and wrists a break while he continues to work on increasing his mobility, which will ultimately make him stronger.

[eeploo]

Would you mind if I asked you a question? A friend of mine who is also an OT is working with a sophmore in high school with spatic diplegia who for the next 8 weeks has to go to a new (and much bigger) high school. He is really fatiguing because he has to go so much farther now on his forearm crutches. There is a wheelchair in the office for him to use but he does not want to use it. Mom says the short term fatigue and possible wrist issues are better then his emotional distress at having

[eeploo]

I'm an occupational therapist and work with kids in the schools who have similiar issues. Thank you so much for this personal video and educating others. It is wonderful.

[benvolio15]

@eeploo You're welcome.

[neurodoc170]

Thanks Ben, look forward to connecting with you.

[neurodoc170]

Hi Ben, the name is Dave and I'm a neurology resident with the University of Toronto doing a study on CP and specifically spastic diplegia (how I found your vid). I'd love to pick your brain. If you're interested drop me a line. Dave

[benvolio15]

@neurodoc170 Done.

[emmalinasdaniel]

Good video man :))) you have actually taught me a thing or 2 lol

and nice legs jen lol

[benvolio15]

@emmalinasdaniel Thanks, Daniel. Share it with Emma too if you like. (I know she's not as active on here as she used to be.)

The reason I call this the YouTube edition is because I originally shot this last year for the benefit of my Facebook friends, most of whom have known me almost all of my life. I had it split up into four parts and altogether it would have ended up being about a half-hour long....

[benvolio15]

@benvolio15 (con't) There's about ten minutes or so in the original version where I'm answering questions specifically from Facebook classmates about how my disability affected my school years, but since those storiees are somewhat more personal, and since YT is a much more open public forum than Facebook, I decided to post only the general information here.

[benvolio15]

@benvolio15 Jenn and I are also Facebook friends and so when I got her OK last year that's when I started this project in earnest.

[benvolio15]

@benvolio15 She finally gave me the motivation I needed to re-edit this and post it here this past weekend.

[Jennivision]

lmao where did that first clip come from? My leg looks massive haha

gah I remember having my bed on the floor..

very educational video, most people just don't understand and treat physical disability as some kind of bizarre thing... but it's just regular people who can't do certain movements or things that people without the disability can

[benvolio15]

@Jennivision That very first clip of you is from "Webcam Madness", where you're saying "I know I've got big legs!" or something like that. (I had to slow down all of your clips so I had enough room to talk) I decided that would be better in this version than having you start with wiggling your nose in slow motion! LOL

The other clips are from "Dear Body" and "Weigh-In #2