Loving life!

     Hi everybody! School is going great this year! I am a Sophomore now. Homecoming was a couple  of weeks ago and it was great. 
     At school, I have a walker now. I use it during Adaptive P.E. I love that class. my teacher is so awesome and I have a lot of friends in there. One time, we played kick ball in P.E. and I walked all around the bases in my walker. It was really hard work and I felt so proud of myself. I also played badminton in my walker with a couple of my friends helping me. If I can do this, I feel like I can do anything I set my mind to. That means that anyone who is disabled can do so many things that they might not think they can do. 
     Hey guess what? The other day I went fishing with two of my friends. I caught a fish! It was so fun and I can't wait to go again. 
Later dudes and dudettes,
Jack

Talkitt SO COOL!

WOW! My Aunt sent this link to my mom today and I want everyone to know about it! This app could change my life and could help a lot of people with disabilities. Watch the videos, read all about it and donate if you can! If you want to donate, that would be wonderful.
Later dudes and dudettes!

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/talkitt-this-is-my-voice

Ice bucket challenge!

I accepted and completed the ALS ice bucket challenge. I was challenged by my cousin, Chase.  My family made a donation to John Paul II Medical Research Institute. It is an organization that is researching cures for ALS and other diseases.

People that have ALS really suffer. In some ways, it is like CP but CP doesn't get worse. I've seen some things on TV about people with ALS and many of them use communication devices like mine. The guy that started the ice bucket challenge, Pete Frates, even uses a communication device with eye gaze like mine. I did the ice challenge to show my support of people that have ALS.
Later,
Jack
P.S. That water was really cold!!!

Determination

     DETERMINATION is composed of three things. I bet you're wondering what those three things are, right? Okay, I'll tell you. Determination is made of patience, toughness and will. 
     Patience is the most important component, and the hardest part. It is based on the time and sometimes it takes forever for something to happen or to get what you want. If you have a disability, you need patience. A lot of things can be so frustrating like when people don't understand you or they treat you like a baby. I really hate that when that happens, but I don't ever give up. 
     You need to have toughness to have determination. Mental toughness and physical toughness are both keys to determination. When you are having a bad day, you have to forget about it and move on. That is mental toughness, it's hard to move on. Physical toughness is when it hurts, but you do it anyway, or your muscles don't do what they're  supposed to do, but you try and try. 
     Willingness to do something is the third part of determination. It determines how much you want it. If you want to do something really bad, you are likely to be more determined to get it done. You can do just about anything if you want it bad enough. 
     Determination is all I am about. I have achieved so much through determination. I did this by being patient, tough and willing. 

     "Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough."
~ Og Mandino

Therapy

     If you have some kind of therapy, you need to work hard in it. I have Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Aquatic Therapy (PT in the water) and Speech Therapy. As you can imagine, this keeps me busy! All of them help my life be easier. So, I try my hardest during each therapy session. They help me move better, talk better and eat better. If you don't work hard in therapy, you might as well stay home. The therapists can only help you if you try. There have been many times where I've been able to do something that I couldn't before. That is an awesome feeling! Always work hard. Otherwise, there is no point. Try making it fun. Challenge yourself. I always ask my therapists to time me. I like to compete with myself. So, here's a shout out to Sharon, Wendy and Amy, my current therapists. Thanks for all you do for me. Thanks to all the therapists I've had in the past…Nancy, Patti, Mandy,  Rema, Elizabeth, Maeve, Hailey, Tina…and all the rest that I've had in and out of school.

     “You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.” 
― Maya Angelou

     I encounter many defeats but they only make me stronger and make me work harder. I never give up. I choose to focus on what I CAN do, not what I can't do. There are 
NO LIMITS  in my house! 
Later dudes and dudettes,
Jack

Independence

     Since we just got done celebrating Independence Day, I want to talk about independence. Independence is just a privilege, not a requirement. Because of my physical disability, I rely on my family to take care of me. I wish I could be more independent. It is very hard to accept that I have less independence than my friends. When I am upset about it, I try to be humorous. One time, I saw a person waterskiing and I said I'd like to try it. My mom said, "you were born into the wrong family." I said, "and with the wrong body!" I try to have a sense of humor about my Cerebral Palsy. Life's too fast to not see the humor. Zach Anner said, "People feel sorry for me because I'm in a wheelchair. Have you ever tried sitting? It's really comfortable!" I love that! Therefore, when you are feeling down about your lack of independence, think about the humorous aspect of the situation. I know you'll feel better. If you don't feel better, you can call me a liar. Or you can look up Zach Anner on YouTube. He will definitely make you laugh!
     I had a great Independence Day, by the way. I went to see some fireworks with some of my cousins and some friends of our family.
     Here is me with my dog, Bailey. She just turned two and she loves to lick my face!
Later,
Jack

Awareness and Summer, finally!

Finally, it is summer! The time when I am not so busy.

 

I am going to talk about disability awareness. Last week, on the news, somebody’s brother decided to walk 40 miles with his disabled brother that had CP on his back to raise money for equipment. This shows that disabled people are normal but we need the right equipment to achieve normalcy. This story is inspirational. I think that it gave people a reason to help and support disabled people. I also saw a video about a little girl in a wheelchair that wanted to dance in a pageant. So her dad danced her wheelchair around and picked her up and was twirling her and dancing. She was so happy. This shows that there is a way for disabled people to participate in things that they want to do.

Awareness is very important because it makes the society that we live in recognize our needs. The more people with disabilities are able to be out in the world doing regular things, the more people will be used to seeing us out in the world. Then they’ll realize that we are just like them, then maybe there will be less staring and pointing. These stories are really good for the community to see.

In my personal life, my first year of high school was AWESOME! I love high school. I had fun, worked really hard and got good grades. What else could anyone need? I played on a baseball team for special needs again this year. My last game was today. I enjoyed my team. Of course, I wish it was more competitive but I did what I could. I am feeling so thankful because my cousin had major brain surgery last week and he is doing so well. 

So, to all of my disabled readers- stay active! Get out there and do stuff! We can do just about anything we want. 

Stay positive!

Later,

Jack

I love high school!

I love high school so much! The people who work at my school are so open to me. So many people work so hard for me to have everything I need for school. I have been making new friends. I am in this awesome club called Team Polaris that is for kids with special needs and kids who don't have special needs. We do stuff together, like last night a bunch of us went out for dinner and to a dance at our school. The kids and teachers in this club are all so awesome, it is so fun! 

My point is that it doesn't matter if you are disabled, you still can be accepted. Everyone is so nice and respectful to each other. This club has made my social skills better. My classes are all going well, too. I have a lot of homework sometimes, but I am getting through it! 

Guess what? I am turning 15 this week! I hope that it will be Spring SOON! I am getting tired of all this snow around here.

Later dudes and dudettes...Jack