We

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Were Just People

• By Steve Ferreira

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Steve Ferreira

• Student at Bellevue College
• Im here to let you know what its like to live
  with a disability

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• Early Life
• Born in Taipei, Taiwan
• Second born of twins twin sister Emily
• Born not breathing and placed in an incubator
  with an IV in my head
• At three months diagnosed with cerebral palsy.

• Ea

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• What is Cerebral Palsy
• Cerebral Palsy describes a group of disorders
  which affect body movement and muscles.
• Damage to the brain interferes with messages from
  the brain to the body and from the body to the
  brain.

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What Causes Cerebral Palsy

• Damage to the brain before or after birth
• Damage from injury or disease.
• Premature or low birth weight.
• Infections such as meningitis.
• Head injury
• Drowning or poisoning.

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Living With Cerebral Palsy

• Childhood is not the same as other children
• Things are difficult sitting up and crawling are
  hard
• Muscles will not do what your mind tells them
  very frustrating
• All types of therapies physical occupational
  hydrotherapy hippotherapy (with horses)

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How does Cerebral Palsy affect the body?

• Cerebral palsy varies from person to person.
• Muscle tightness or spasms
• Involuntary movement
• Difficulty with gross motor skills such as
  walking or running
• Difficulty with fine motor skills such as
  writing or tying your shoes
• Cerebral palsy cannot be cured but you can make
  your body stronger

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My Early Childhood

• Seizures at the age of four I had my first
  seizure.
• Seizures are frightening because you lose control
  of your body
• Body starts shaking and freaking out
• Takes hours to feel regular after a seizure
• Take medicine to control seizures

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Wheelchairs

• Received my first manual wheelchair at 4 years
  old was okay
• Received a motorized wheelchair at 6 was
  amazing
• Gave me freedom and made me feel like I could
  run!

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Elementary School

• Had lots of friends and kids accepted my
  differences
• About third grade kids started to notice I was
  different
• One kid called me a retard!
• First time I felt discrimination.

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Middle School

• Combination of three local elementary schools
• Some kids had never seen someone in a wheelchair
• Some kids tried to bully me and called me a
  cripple and a fag
• Learned to advocate for myself
• School had a zero tolerance level

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High School

• High school was great lots of freedom
• It was great rolling down the hallways and having
  everyone yell out my name
• Sometimes there was kids who made nasty comments
  and it hurt so bad
• One time a kid turned the light off in the
  bathroom to be funny and I lost my balance and
  fell

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College Life

• College life is great
• Bellevue College is very accommodating to
  disabled students
• Joined different clubs and Im a member of the
  Leadership team
• Really like the freedom at college

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Out in Public

• People tend to stare at me when Im at the Mall
  or in public places
• See the wheelchair and not me as a person
• Want to say keep staring, I might do a trick
• Sometimes people talk to me VERY LOUD or VERY
  SLOW
• Just talk to me regular!

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My Speech

• My speech is sometimes hard to understand because
  of the cerebral palsy
• I talk slow not because my mind is slow but
  because the cerebral palsy affects the muscles in
  my mouth
• If you dont understand me, ask me to repeat
• This is not offensive

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Living a Disabled Life

• Very hard but you need to deal with it
• I speak because I want people to realize what
  its like to have a disability
• People in wheelchairs are NOT weird theyre
  just regular people
• I try to do the best I can despite my disability

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Sports

• Ive played baseball, wheelchair basketball,
  wheelchair rugby, swimming, field, biking and
  weightlifting
• International competitions for discus and shot
  put won Gold in discus in 2010 in Czech
  Republic won Bronze in Shot Put in 2008

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How Does It Feel to be Disabled

• Sometimes it feels like Im invisible. People
  see my wheelchair and my parents or caregiver but
  NOT me.
• It feels like people dont try to get to know me
  as a person.
• Sometimes people think that because Im in a
  wheelchair, Im weak and they then pick on me.

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How Disabilities Affect Peoples Lives

• Living life as a disabled person is hard because
  you dont always have the same opportunities that
  abled-bodied people have.
• Sometimes daily living needs are a struggle.

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How to approach people who use a wheelchair.

• Talk directly to the person, not to the person
  who is with them.
• Sit down, if possible. when having a long
  conversation so you can be on eye level.
• Talk to the person in a normal tone of voice.
  They are probably not hard of hearing.
• If you do not understand what the person said,
  just ask the person to repeat. Dont pretend to
  understand.

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• If you still don't understand a word, ask the
  person to write it out.
• Be a patient listener.
• Don't interrupt or finish the speaker's sentences
  unless that person looks to you for help.
• Concentrate on what the person is saying, not on
  the difficulty you are having understanding.
• Do not assume the individual needs help or wants
  someone to push his/her wheelchair --- ask first.
  

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My concerns about treatment of the disabled

• Normal people sometimes treat disabled people
  like they are not good for anything
• Disabled people are sometimes treated as if their
  feelings dont count
• Questions are asked to the parent or caregiver,
  instead of the disabled person
• Disabled people are perceived as weak and
  therefore are prone to being bullied

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Conclusion

• Some disabilities are apparent or obvious which
  lead to poor assumptions dont assume. If in
  doubt ask.
• Some disabilities are not obvious and people
  dont understand. Be open minded when you meet a
  disabled person.
• Everyone is important and needs to be treated the
  same as everyone else.

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