Please share a funny experience that you can laugh at. For me, it was many, many years ago when I was in college. I was interpreting for the Deaf at my church. The Interpreter chair was set up on a wooden box, raised up about 2 feet so the Deaf attendees in the second row could see the interpreter. When I climbed up on the box to sit down, little did I know that the back chair legs were right on the edge of the box. Two seconds after sitting down, I felt the chair fall backwards. As a natural response, I tried to grab whatever was near me...which happened to be a music stand. Of course, the stand wasn't heavy enough to pull myself back, so I kept falling backwards. When the chair landed on its back, I was still sitting in it. Immediately, about 4 Deaf individuals came running up to me...looking down and asking if I was Ok. Fortunately, I was not injured...just a bit embarrassed. 😄

Was your disability recognized at birth or was it diagnosed later in life? If later in life, at what (st)age? What was the most difficult challenge you had to face as a Person with a Disability (PWD)?

In the context of this community, the term PAD stands for Persons Affected by Disabilities. This includes individuals who are recognized directly as having a disability, or a family member or friend of someone with a disability. If you fall into the second category, what type of support would help you AND your family member/friend reach their goals and dreams?

Hello everyone, its been over a month since I last posted. I apologize for my absence, however, I just wanted all of you to know that I became very, very sick about six weeks ago. I began experiencing convulsions and while my body felt like I was freezing, I suffered from a high temperature. As soon as I started feeling these symptoms, I know immediately it was my cellulitis flaring up. While my convulsions fortunately stopped within 12 hours, I woke up with a lot of pain in my body, especially my left leg, which had become significantly swollen, along with redness from the infection. I was unable to sit up and stand right away due to the immense pain. It would take me at least a few minutes whenever I moved my leg from a horizontal to a vertical position. Then another couple minutes to put weight on my leg and start walking. Whenever I experienced these symptoms in the past, I would usually spend between 2-4 weeks in the hospital. However, that was when I lived in CA and had really good health insurance. Now that I am in the Philippines, things are quite a bit different. Even though she is native pinay, my beautiful asawa has never trusted hospitals here. She insisted on taking care of me directly and pump me full of organic supplements. Mainly because of the financial costs, I agreed to comply with her wishes. Thankfully, within less than a week, my symptoms started to gradually subside. Within a little more than a month, I experienced no pain when I sat up, stand and begin walking. While I am dealing with other residual symptoms, I am so thankful to God for healing me. I was reminded of so many principles while recovering. The first is...We should never take our lives for granted. Each time we wake up in the morning, we should thank our Creator for another day He has given us life. This precious gift can be taken away from us anytime, without any warning. As soon as I open my eyes in the morning, I've made a habit to thank God for His grace and mercy and opportunity to be a blessing to others.