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chris8258
03-26-2008, 04:43 AM
My name is Chris, I’m 30 years old born with spina bifida. I’m writing this in hopes that a parent will read this and find some use of it. I’m the perfect example of what you do not want your child with spina bifida to become. Now I’m not a bad person, I’m just not successful in life. It really is hard for me to say these things but I’m hoping that it helps me change my ways.

Anyways, the first thing that came back to bite me in the ass was public school. I’m not a fan of it for a number of reasons. First being the kids just never understood me, teased me, and just made my life at school a living hell. To this day it makes me sad. I wanted to learn, I wanted to learn everything I could get my hands on, but the kids just got to me too much. I would do home school in a heartbeat if I had a chance to do it over again, and so would my mom.

I made it to the tenth grade and dropped out hooked on drugs at 17 because the only people that would except me where the other losers in the school. We need a lot of help fitting in to the fast pace environment of grades 7 and up and the help just was not there, and to my knowledge it’s still not. For some reason we tend to be very smart, and I guess that is because we exercise our brains more than any other muscle in the body, and emotional issues can really cripple that.

The fact that I never had a good education made it impossible for me to pay for college, I also had zero interest to even go back to school until I was 24. So for the last 6 years I sat around and learned everything I could about computers. I read book after book after book. I learned a lot. I would build computers and sell them on ebay for extra cash, but shhhh I can’t tell the government I made a little money or I will lose my health coverage. They allow me to make 60 dollars a month, more than that and it’s gone.

I’m sorry if this post comes off as a big poor me post, but I just needed to vent. Sometimes I wish life would just be over, and I don’t want any of your children to ever feel this way. Love them, protect them, fight for them, never leave their side. This world can be very cold, and unforgiving.

kali
03-26-2008, 01:02 PM
hi Chris, I have tears in my heart and eyes! I have a 9 year old boy with sb! my message to you is its never too late to reach for the stars. The fact that you learned all you could about computers is proof that you can do it! I realize children can be cruel, becasue of ignorance. I am so sorry you had such a hard time as a child, and I am trying to protect my son by such feelings by treating him the same as is other brother and sisters. a child with sb is no different then any other child. why not try going back to school? night school? I wish for you the best!

chris8258
03-26-2008, 02:31 PM
hi Chris, I have tears in my heart and eyes! I have a 9 year old boy with sb! my message to you is its never too late to reach for the stars. The fact that you learned all you could about computers is proof that you can do it! I realize children can be cruel, becasue of ignorance. I am so sorry you had such a hard time as a child, and I am trying to protect my son by such feelings by treating him the same as is other brother and sisters. a child with sb is no different then any other child. why not try going back to school? night school? I wish for you the best!

I did fill out my FASHA and am waiting to hear back from them, but as of right now I just don't have the money to get into school. I do save money from time to time and take classes online but they don't count for a college education.

So my fingers are still crossed about school at this point.

Bigwilli
04-15-2008, 12:02 AM
Hi Chris,

I'm proud to hear you took the time and taught yourself computers. Keep up with the school and don't let setbacks stop you. What are you wanting to study in school? I have had setbacks in my life when i was young (I'm 39 now) that I thought I would not recover. I look back now and think wow was I wrong! Your so young and the future can hold alot of promise if you go after what you truly want. Ditch the drugs and that alone can save you money. Turn your misfortunes into a passion, you can do it...

Barb
04-15-2008, 05:50 PM
Thank you. I do homeschool my boys for those reasons (well and plenty of others) and most people act like I am harming him for not exposing him to the 'real life' that public schools offer. :eek: Thanks for sharing your experience

KMkaggerud
04-28-2008, 05:01 PM
Hi Chris,

I am 38 yrs old. I also got teased as a young child. I also had my setback that I hated and at one time I to wanted to die from being different. But I had the suppport of my family to help me through it. I was also not treated in my immediate family any different then my older sibling.

But like Kali said she treats her child with SB the same as her other children. Bigwilli said said use what you have learned about computers and use that as an asset to get yourself working on something you like to do. You could also be a good role model for younger people with disabilities and people that have used drugs.