Interview: Elizabeth
Posted on Jul 29, 2007 and filed under Blogathon 2007, Charity
Elizabeth was born with Spina bifida, a birth defect where the spinal column doesn’t close completely. The Spina bifida association web site says it occurs in 7 out of every 10,000 live births in the United States. There are a few different types of it. Occulta seems to be the mildest form and only causes a small defect in a few of the bones in the spine. Meningocele is where the protective coatings come through the open part of the spine. It usually doesn’t cause nerve damage and disabilities are minor. Myelomeningocele is the most serious form and happens when the protective coatings and spinal nerves come through the open part of the spine. This is the one she has.
Elizabeth has had a lot of surgeries, mostly when she was a baby. The first surgery she had was to close the opening in her spine when she was only 12 hours old. She has also had a couple of surgeries on her ankles and one on her hip that she has no memory of. She had another operation on her back when she was about 11 years old, and she had scar tissue tethering her spinal cord which causes her spine to curve.
Elizabeth maintains a personal blog at Another Random Memory.
There is a local organization for people with disabilities where she lives, but her odd working hours prevented her from getting a chance to be involved with other members of the organization.
One of the issues relating to people with disabilities that goes right into Elizabeth’s mind is accessibility.
There are still too many places that are just not as disabled-friendly and wheelchair-accessible as they should be. The town I live in is one example. There are a few nice shops downtown that I’d enjoy going into, but I have a van with a wheelchair ramp and there’s really no place downtown where I can park it and let the ramp down so I can get out.
Another issue that, thankfully, doesn’t happen to me too often is people underestimating what I can do. For example, an ex-boyfriend’s parents assumed that I wouldn’t be able to work (I didn’t have a job while I was dating him) and that I’d need someone to take care of me my whole life. I’m not sure exactly what made them think that way but they were wrong. I now have a full time job and am perfectly capable of taking care of myself.
- Elizabeth
