Growing Up Crippie

Ohai!

First off, "Crippie's Corner" has reached over 20,000 page views! HOLY FREAKIN' CRAP! Thank you guys so much. When Crippie started blogging I was shocked to see that I had 20 views. I cannot put it into words how much it means to me that you guys are interested in what I say (my piggies are in the background saying "um... mom... all those people just wanna see our faces"). Gotta give a special shout out to Mary, Mario, & Chris for their awesome comments :D

Since we are dealing with a special occasion here, Crippie figured she should answer a cripple question of awesome caliber... "how did having a disability effect you growing up?" Where to begin...

When Crippie was just a lil Crippie, let's say under 10, I knew I had "bumpy bones" and that they made me suck at gym, but that was about it. My disability had a relatively small impact on my life. I had some really good friends, went to birthday parties, did well in school, all that normal jazz. The only time being a cripple really had an impact was in gym. I was horrrrriiiiiibbbbbblllllleeeeeee at most gym activities and kids would pick on me for it. Again, relatively minor in the scheme of things.

Crippie had surgery when she was 10 make my leg straight, and I wound up with massive complications. This is when my disability had a profound effect on me. I was in constant pain, couldn't walk, and couldn't attend school. My "friends" along with damn near everyone I knew opted to no longer associate with me. Fun, right? So Crippie spent the next few years with minimal social contact. Being visibly crippled and being in Middle School do not mix... at all. I was never invited to "hang out" with people, never attended a birthday party, nothing. No one wanted to associate with me so I became very used to being alone. I focused on my studies, I figured winning tons of awards and whooping everyone's butts in class was a subtle "screw y'all".

In high school most people still wouldn't associate with Crippie, but I figured ways to better select friends. Crippie opted to hang with people who wouldn't shun me for being a cripple... these people were other cripples and members of a local religious commune. I had a handful of friends in high school and at age 17 I was finally invited to a birthday party! Still, I had very limited social interaction. My summers were consumed with surgeries, so I couldn't exactly go "hang out" with people. Crippie compensated for the general physical sickness and social inadequacies by being insanely smart. Crippie did insanely well on all of her exams, and graduated in the top percent of her class. I never missed a day of high school and won a bunch of scholarships and awards!

I guess it's safe to say that being a cripple had a massive effect on my life, especially my social life. This is why Crippie doesn't take a lot of her "autistic tendencies" terribly seriously... hard to tell if they're actually autistic tendencies or a result of being treated like crap by damn near everyone outside of my family. It was definitely challenging growing up with a disability. It was very painful, very frustrating, and very isolating. The more I think about it... the more I realize that my life really sucked from ages 10-18. Alas, no point in dwelling on that... now Crippie has to acknowledge the crap, learn from it, and move on.

Crippie's Tippie - If your friend is sick, having surgery, anything... don't act like they fell off the face of the Earth. Hang out with them, call, text, post a message on their facebook wall, ANYTHING to let them know that you do in fact care. 

P.S. Anyone interested in hearing about growing up with a disability from my mom's point of view? I know she certainly has some tippies for the normals

On Bullies & Being Bullied

Hey Y'all

I figured I'd discuss a "hot button" issue tonight... bullying. Bullying has definitely been a hot topic issue for the past few months and rightfully so. It's become an issue because we allowed it to happen. Damn near all of us have been bullied at one point or another, so we are used to it and numb to it. We don't always see how bad bullying can get, especially with the onset of social media, and kids are paying the ultimate price of it. I figure I might as well share my experience with bullying.
When I was in Elementary School I was mainly teased for being slow in gym. It wasn't anything Earth shattering but it made me hate gym. Most of my experiences with teasing stem from Middle School. I was teased because I had "bad hair", "bad clothes", and the whole "cripple" thing. I got the occasional snarky comment and some genius tried to trip me once. Most of the people I knew opted to shun me for some reason or another, mainly because I was very sick in Middle School and the little normals couldn't deal with it. In hindsight most of what I went through wasn't terrible but it had a profound effect on my life regardless. When people stopped talking to me I stopped talking to them. I became socially awkward. This was the point when I started missing milestones. To this day I am what some might consider "socially retarded". I don't look people in the eye and I am insanely quiet. I pretty much useless in social situations with people I don't know, I just sit in the corner and keep to myself. So yeah, I have deep seeded feelings that being sick and stupid little normals ruined my childhood. I'm trying to "get over" all that stuff, it's a process but I feel I'm making improvements.
In High School I figured that bullies are just assholes and should be treated as such. Whenever someone would try to say something rude to me or to my friends I would critique their form and lack of originality. I recall one time when I was senior some little twerp was trying to say something rude to me (I think he was calling me a bitch, I don't remember) and I responded with a simple "You're a sophomore... why the hell are you even talking to me?". It shut him up.

So what can we do about this? Here's a special edition of Crippie's Tippie!

Crippie's Tippie for kids being bullied- 
-Remember that bullies are assholes, you cannot let them have any power over you
-Be a wise ass right back to them, SHOW NO FEAR
-What goes around comes around. I recently found some of my old tormentors on facebook, they now lead lonely miserable lives! 
-People tease others to feel better about themselves, chances are the bully has issues
-Remember that Middle School sucks for everyone. 
-The whole "it gets better" thing is true. What happens in Middle School and High School is so insignificant in the long run.
-Please do not harm yourself or anyone else. If your bullying situation is that bad that you feel you need to do one of those things, please tell an adult. There is someone out there who can help you.


Crippie's Tippie for kids who pick on other kids to make themselves feel better-
-Grow the hell up, seriously
-R-E-S-P-E-C-T find out what means in general


Crippie's Tippie for Parents
-Teach your children to respect everyone
-Your child is not perfect, if you find out your kid is bullying others... PUNISH THEM. Let them know that what they are doing is beyond horrible and cannot be tolerated. 
-If your child is being bullied remember that it might not seem like a huge issue, but to a pre-teen EVERYTHING IS A HUGE ISSUE
-Remember that its not "just" bullying, it can have very severe consequences.


What do you guys think about the bullying issue? What should we do about it? Feel free to post your opinion in the comment section.