Test Pilot Journey Ted Walker: After the Begining

I told you about my experience with the school.  My mother always told me to "never quit" and "Don't listen to those who say you can not do it, no matter what it is"  Society told her to baby me but she knew she was not going to be around forever to take care of me.  She wanted me to be able to take care of myself. 

I am so glad she was the way she was.  People in our neighborhood saw the way she was tough with me and they gave her a hard time.  They called her cruel and said things like "How can you treat him that way?" 

You know she was the only one that was right about how I should be treated. 

In grade school it was a nightmare to be anywhere when my mom was not there.  As you may know I have Cerebral Palsey and so it is hard for me to talk.  Even when I work really hard at it people have trouble understanding me.  Many people treated me as if I were deaf and dumb.  They would talk about me while I was in the room. They would talk at me but not to me.

People would ask me a question and before I even had a chance to answer they would go off on another tangent or topic entirely.  Before you know it they were confused because I was still working on answering the first question they had.  I had already lined up the next three sentances I wanted to say but I could not get my mouth to work fast enough to get it all out. 

At the school they would leave me in one place for hours.  The other kids could get up and go to the front of the room or the playground to play or to the bathroom. 

If I had followed the suggestions and advice of the experts at the school I would be very much more crippled than I am today.  I might not even be around.  Mom always made me get things myself.  If a neighbor was over visiting they would say to mom "Oh! how can you be so mean to him, he can't get that for himself, he is a cripple"  Mom had to work hard to help me not be lazy and she also worked hard to educate people.  They did not want to be educated about how to work with a child that has cerebral palsey and I don't think she really wanted to spend so much time teaching everyone why she was doing it. 

If she did not work so hard to encourage me to work hard and discouraging the neighbors from trying to baby me I would not still be here today. 

Thank you mom.

A word to any of you who have a child with cerebral palsey.  You may have been told my the insurance company that they will not pay for this or the insurance will not pay for that.  Well do not listen to them.  Keep fighting to get them to pay for it.  If they will not it does not mean your child does not need it, it just means they are not going to pay for it. 

That is not good enough.  People need to know that your insurance company has turned you down.  If your insurance company is paying for the therapy, the adaptive equipment, the walkers, wheelchairs and excercise your child needs you need to let others know the good they are doing too.  Too many people are muck rakers.  I don't mind telling the bad story if it is true. 

As I grew I was able to move away from the walker.  I still had it around just in case but with moms encouragement I was able to get strong enough to use the arm brace crutches.  With one on each arm I was able to walk. 

Then when I got to the new school they took them away from me.  They did not want me falling down so they put me back in the wheelchair. 

Don't let them do that to your child.  Every time my mother and I made progress with my health the experts would undo everything.  And we would have to start all over again. 

Today at TheyShallWalk.org we have an exercise partners program.  If you are paralyzed and you want to walk or if you have some mobility disability and you want to walk you can get paired up with some exercise partners.  They are usually nursing student applicants who need volunteer hours.  They get to "try it before they buy it" so to speak. 

We have a community partnership with Bayview Retirement Community where they let the Test Pilots from They Shall Walk meet with volunteers to do exercises in thier Wellness Center.  We need more volunteers to help with this program.  You can apply to become an exercise partner or a test pilot by contacting theyshallwalk@yahoo.co

As a Test Pilot I am in training to get my body ready to be placed into one of the LIFESUIT Robotic Exoskeletons.  When my body is ready and the machine is ready I will be able to push a button to stand up or sit down.  While standing I will be able to control the LIFESUIT with a joystick just like the one on my wheelchair.  The LIFESUIT will move my body and it will be my excercise partner. 

I have been in my wheelchair for twenty five years.  The doctors expected me to spend the rest of my life in the chair.  Because of the They Shall Walk Test Pilot Exercise Partner Program I have improved my health in just four months to a point where the Doc has prescribed a walker for me.  Now medicare will not pay for it.  So I am in the situation where the insurance will not pay for the device the doctor wants me to have.  In effect the insurance company is practicing medicine.  How wrong is that?

Excel Rollator 4 Wheel Walker Retail Price: $333.00

Well you can help by donating money to They Shall Walk and they will purchase the walker for me.  If you have walkers or wheelchairs that you no longer need you can donate them to They Shall Walk as well. 

To support this blog and the work being done at They Shall Walk you can shop at amazon from our link or give:

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