I have to write because I have something on my mind, and besides, I was watching the tv this morning, and they had something on that really made me think. They had a show called Maury, and on the show were people who were born disfigured somehow due to rare diseases, or became disfigured later in life (like this man they had on; he got some sort of rare fungus infection in his sinuses, and it caused him to lose a lot of his face; he really looked odd), and some of the people went through a lot of hell just because they looked so much different.
Kind of like me. I look like a normal girl--that is, I have hair, eyes, a nose, a mouth, a FACE--, but if you were to look at my shoulders you would immediately see that I don't have any arms or hands. I also am in a wheelchair because I had been born with spina bifida, which paralyzed my lower half and left me unable to walk. To get around I use a power wheelchair, and I have a special lever I control with my chin to make the wheelchair go. If I DO have "arms" I wear prosthetic "hooks" which act as my hands. With these hooks I can pick up and hold things, and I can do just about anything other than getting dressed. (I need some help with that.)
I also wear oxygen because I have damaged lungs, and I also have asthma. My lungs aren't just that strong. So the oxygen helps me.
People tend to treat me different just because of how I look, and it hurts me inside. I don't like being stared at or made fun of any more than any other kid does; and I don't like people telling me I can't do anything when I CAN. I can draw and write, read a book, type on the computer, brush my hair and my teeth, put makeup on, control my wheelchair (with my chin, remember), and sing. I only mainly need help getting my arms on and fastened, getting dressed, and getting to and from the bed. I also need help with my toilet. (I can't really tell when I need to go, so I wear diapers and a catheter; and every so often they both need to be changed or I can get a nasty infection and end up in the hospital as a result.)
Instead of trying to get to know me and finding out that I am not a bad person people tend to judge me just because I "don't look like them". That is not right. Or they judge me because I am dark-skinned, and I don't speak like they do. I am also a former Muslim, and people have really treated me badly because of that. I didn't bomb the World Trade Centers or the Pentagon; why punish ME when I HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH IT?? Besides, I don't even BELIEVE the way the terrorists do!! Oh, I USED to, but then I found Jesus Christ. I am NO LONGER a Shiite Muslim; I am a CHRISTIAN!!!!
I wish people could really get to know me and understand how I feel. I hate the stares, the rude comments, the ugly way they look at me, like I had bugs in my teeth or something...I wish they knew how much this hurts me inside and know that I don't appreciate the comments or the stares. I am just like anyone else; why single me out just because I happen to look different?
