I never thought I'd admit this but one of the safety rules made for disabled drivers is adequate. My usual wheelchair is broken so I have anotyher one which doesn't have a bolt to lock me in my van while I drive. I drove yesterday and all was fine but I drove today and it was scary. I started to make a left turn and I slid a little bit. Thank goodness I was going slowly and thank goodness there were very few cars on the road. Nonetheless, I was pushed into my steering column very close. I also had to make a sudden stop and I slid a bit too. So I guess I'll be spending the $800 for a bolt to go under this chair.

Nothing disability related makes sense. My power chair isn't working so it follows that since I have no bolt on the bottom of this power chair I can't drive. I decided to just check the positioning of this char in my van. It was all perfect... or not since the lock-down wasn't able to work it screamed the whole trip but it was a very easy one. When I used my old power chair with the lock-down it was ten times less safe because the controls were six inches away. Try explaining and convining a normal person that the chair without the lock-doen is actually safer.

I can't believe my parents still don't get it. They still think accessibiity is more important then quality of life. Sure I must be able to navigate inside an apartment but there have been times when I made the situation work because I wanted a certain lifestyle. Life is not accessible, one makes it as best as possible because the alternative is waiting for the perfect situation and letting life pass. There may be more going on than I realize. Actually, they don't want me to be independent (they say they do but talk is cheap, and that infuriates me. "Any color I want as long as it's black." That's their real philosophy.

I finished my booklet on growing up sheltere. I hope it looks instructional not just an opportunity to vent about my childhood. It gives children of all ages a good opportunity to think about life and how to proceed. It gives parents some tips on how important it is to consider the whole person (beyond the disability). Now I have ten projects and programs to offer under "Infobility." It's going to have a website soon and then some real marketing. I'm on my way!

I finished 3/4 of the book. I wanted the first part to include what I wrote years ago in my manuscript. The section was called "Parentability." This included The School, The Family (Sibling Relationships), and The Future. I was really frustrated that I can no longer find the black 3 ring binder with the paper. Therefore, I will have to rewrite it all over again. Usually when something is written for the second time it is better. The second part is largely from "The tenacity of Hope" plus a few more chapters (Transportation, Housing, and Advocacy) that ended up being really long so I'm glad I just copied and pasted. Otherwise I would not have done something so extensive.

I have been looking for advice about overprotective parents. I have found nothing and when I bring the topic up to counselors or seek advice from them they just give me looks that say "I feel badly for you." Appearantly I have found a topic that really needs to be addressed. Who better than me to write about it? The first half of the information in the book will be for parents and it will be not matter what type of disability the child has it could be autsim or arthrogryposis. The second half of the information in the book will be for adult children of overprotective parents. The title will be, "How Do I Spread my Wings?"

I just took a vacation and stayed with the Super 8 Hotel. The beds were too high for me to transfer on so the staff took out the box spring and put the bedspread on top of it. The next day it rained hard when I came in. The staff went out with me to help me retrieve my belongings! It may be helpfull for people with physicaal challenges to know that when plannning a stay, take Super 8 all the way.