Impossible!

When I moved into my new apartment one problem became apparent: the bathroom door opened inward meaning I couldn't get through with my wheelchair or put my washer and dryer combo behind it like I did in my old place. Solution, I figured, would be to flip the door and the hinges so it would open into the hall, like in the unit I moved from. The maintenance technicians were nt helpful at all and offered to simply take the door out permanently. My friend Victor also decided it needs to go. Flipping it, he announced would be "impossible" and I should consider putting a nice shower curtain or some beads  instead. That simply would not have worked. I don't mind the door either way when I'm by myself most of the time. But when I have friends over they need they privacy when using the restroom and feel comfortable. And while all the male "experts" jointly agreed that it simply couldn't be done, my friend Verity one afternoon while arranging my new apartment just grabbed a drill and took the door down. Then, when the cable guy was setting up my service in my livingroom she begun to drill holes for the hinges. The installer came handy because he told us how the door actually needs to go. And she accomplished in 15 minutes what others were debating on for a week. Because she just went and did it. Later, an appropriate picture with her doing the impossible and all the naysayers tag ended up on Facebook. If I just went with what they did  say I would have never known would I? You never know until you try. That story for some reason made me think of Conductive Education and all the recent negative articles from people who never even seen it links to which Andrew Sutton posted few weeks ago. CE is of course the Cerebral Palsy approach invented in Hungary that I credit for my mobility and independence. One of the texts concluded that because there isn't any conclusive research, CE must be giving parents "false hope". Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. Those who read my blog on the subject know that I've been incredibly critical of the Peto Institute for doing this for many decades and not having a vast body of research. But that doesn't mean that it's ineffective. Why don't we ask the parents who saw their children walk for the first time if their hope is "false" and if they consider it a waste of time. Besides- I think that hope is the one crucial element in bringing up a child with disability. Focus, empowerment, encouragement, positivity. Hope is of course not certainty. But I wonder what would the critics do if they had a CP child. Nothing because it might not work? You won't know until you try. Quite honestly, if my parents just left me alone, because they won't get their hopes up prematurely I'd be a little spastic ball in the corner. Any rehabilitation method might not bring the results you dream of, but doing nothing is so much worse. That's hopelessness. Even if you don't trust the CE and it's methodology, even if you think that the theories behind it are little dicey, at the basic level of it you have kids exercising. Working their limbs and bodies. How can that be a bad thing. Even if you see it only as a workout, don't you go to the gym four times a week?