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writers_loft2010-05-24 04:32 pm
rosalinda-143.livejournal.com) wrote in writers_loft2010-05-24 04:32 pm
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Peer Review Needed!
I'm doing this empathy project for school and I had to write a final essay, and it needs a peer review.... Also, did I mention it was due today? So... if anyone would be kind enough to help me out real quick, I'd be grateful. Thanks in advanced!
Final Essay
How do physically disabled people make it through the day? How do they cope with the stares, crude comments, and prodding questions? I wanted to know what it was like for a disabled person (preferably one without an arm). I was motivated to do this because my brother is disabled and I wanted to know what it was like for him to go through the day. I also wanted to expand the horizons of thoughts and feelings; to be grateful for what I had and not to take things for granted. The rules I’d decided to use for this project were the following: 1) not to take short cuts, 2) to keep an open mind at all times, 3) and finally, to try and get the full experience in.
Long story short, I broke my arm while playing on the monkey bars and had to have it strapped to my side, totally immobile. I was not aloud to use it at all. The worst part was that I had broken my right arm, and I’m right handed. Since I couldn’t use it, I had to ask other people to either write it out for me, or ask the teacher to make a copy for me. For some reason this unsettled me. I think it was because I didn’t like asking people to do things for me after doing them myself for so long.
Because it was about the middle/end of the school year I still had to attend school. It was definitely a whole new kind of experience and I felt like I was seeing it from a different person’s eyes. I’d never been “disabled” before, so this was all new to me. As I said before I asked my friends, teachers, and my mom to help me do everyday tasks, which seemed easy when I had two arms and hands, but was very difficult when I only had one. Near the beginning of the injury I was always a little afraid that they’d get tired of always having to help me out, but when I thought about it and realized it was just an irrational fear.
Not a lot of people asked what happened, but that’s only because my school was relatively small and practically the whole seventh grade was there when I broke me arm. Only those who weren’t in my grade or wasn’t there that day asked what had happened and I soon found myself tiring of all the questions. I knew they felt sorry for me when I told them I broke my arm but I lightened up the mood by making a joke about it. You see I had broken my humorous (a.k.a. the funny bone) and I would always joke that my mom and I didn’t think it was very funny.
That was just at school. At home was a whole different story. If I had to write something out for homework, I had to ask my mom to do it all for me. When I took a bath I could take the brace off but I still was not aloud to move it, and my mom was there to make sure that I was okay. When I got dressed she had to help me maneuver my arm through the sleeve so I wouldn’t hurt it and the same when I had to take it off. She helped me do a lot during my injury and I’m very grateful for that.
It was funny because near the end of my experience my mom told me now that I’d broken my arm I’d start noticing other people who have a sling or brace on. She was right. Now whenever I see a person with a cast/brace/sling I always think: I know how that feels. I’ve also realized just how hard it is to go through the day without an arm. How hard it is to do normal everyday tasks, and I’m very grateful for what I have. It was a very eye-opening experience, but also brought on another onslaught of questions: what would it have been like if I used a prosthetic arm? Would it have been easier or harder?
Again, thanks a ton!
peace.love.happiness.
~ Rosie
Final Essay
How do physically disabled people make it through the day? How do they cope with the stares, crude comments, and prodding questions? I wanted to know what it was like for a disabled person (preferably one without an arm). I was motivated to do this because my brother is disabled and I wanted to know what it was like for him to go through the day. I also wanted to expand the horizons of thoughts and feelings; to be grateful for what I had and not to take things for granted. The rules I’d decided to use for this project were the following: 1) not to take short cuts, 2) to keep an open mind at all times, 3) and finally, to try and get the full experience in.
Long story short, I broke my arm while playing on the monkey bars and had to have it strapped to my side, totally immobile. I was not aloud to use it at all. The worst part was that I had broken my right arm, and I’m right handed. Since I couldn’t use it, I had to ask other people to either write it out for me, or ask the teacher to make a copy for me. For some reason this unsettled me. I think it was because I didn’t like asking people to do things for me after doing them myself for so long.
Because it was about the middle/end of the school year I still had to attend school. It was definitely a whole new kind of experience and I felt like I was seeing it from a different person’s eyes. I’d never been “disabled” before, so this was all new to me. As I said before I asked my friends, teachers, and my mom to help me do everyday tasks, which seemed easy when I had two arms and hands, but was very difficult when I only had one. Near the beginning of the injury I was always a little afraid that they’d get tired of always having to help me out, but when I thought about it and realized it was just an irrational fear.
Not a lot of people asked what happened, but that’s only because my school was relatively small and practically the whole seventh grade was there when I broke me arm. Only those who weren’t in my grade or wasn’t there that day asked what had happened and I soon found myself tiring of all the questions. I knew they felt sorry for me when I told them I broke my arm but I lightened up the mood by making a joke about it. You see I had broken my humorous (a.k.a. the funny bone) and I would always joke that my mom and I didn’t think it was very funny.
That was just at school. At home was a whole different story. If I had to write something out for homework, I had to ask my mom to do it all for me. When I took a bath I could take the brace off but I still was not aloud to move it, and my mom was there to make sure that I was okay. When I got dressed she had to help me maneuver my arm through the sleeve so I wouldn’t hurt it and the same when I had to take it off. She helped me do a lot during my injury and I’m very grateful for that.
It was funny because near the end of my experience my mom told me now that I’d broken my arm I’d start noticing other people who have a sling or brace on. She was right. Now whenever I see a person with a cast/brace/sling I always think: I know how that feels. I’ve also realized just how hard it is to go through the day without an arm. How hard it is to do normal everyday tasks, and I’m very grateful for what I have. It was a very eye-opening experience, but also brought on another onslaught of questions: what would it have been like if I used a prosthetic arm? Would it have been easier or harder?
Again, thanks a ton!
peace.love.happiness.
~ Rosie