4MyChild: Help and Hope for Life

February 22, 2007

Cry For Acceptance: When We’re in the Halls, Remember: I Can Hear You

This column was published in the December 2006 issue of Chancellor High School’s newspaper, The Lightning Bolt.
The teen, Chandler, really just wants to be treated like everyone else and takes this bold measure, publishing his thoughts in the school paper to tell his classmates how he feels.

When We’re in the Halls, Remember: I Can Hear You
By Chandler Pascale

You may have seen me treading through the halls, going down the stairs, or getting off of or onto my bus. You can instantly note that I have an awkward gait (way of walking) about me. I happen to have been born prematurely, and diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy. Cerebral Palsy (more commonly known as just CP) is a disease in which my brain doesn’t send its “messages” to my legs clearly, thus my way of walking is different than that of the average individual. This ailment also affects the dexterity of my hands and fingers. To think, I wanted to be a policeman when I was little!

Lately, I have heard people laugh at me, mock me, cuss me out (which I may add is an act of the purest cowardice) and plainly insult me right in my face. No, I’m not mentally retarded; in fact I’m pretty smart, and not in any Special Education classes. Many people stereotype someone who walks differently or has some other handicap as being mentally retarded or even un-human when, in reality, they are just like everyone else in all other respects. My disease is not contagious; you can’t catch my disorder by sitting next to me or at all for that matter. If you’re scared that your friends will make fun of you if they spot you talking to me, you have a choice: grow a backbone or keep worrying about your ego.

As for my affliction, I have undergone numerous (and extremely painful) operations since I was an infant. My father abandoned me when I was half a year old, gone forever, and my mother died when I was seven as a result of abuse that my young eyes both witnessed and received. I would never wish the pain that I have felt in my life upon anyone. To stab me in the back when you think I can’t hear or see you is like spitting in my face for all that I have weathered. I could easily turn around and punch you in the face (and I have pretty strong arms), but I absorb your blows without action, bearing my hardships in life as I have all the others.

Sometimes my wounds dig so deep that I don’t know what to do, but I am reminded that these people are the scum of the Earth, and have lost their honor and respectability. I just want to say that when you yell at me “Move faster!” or “Go!,” I can’t. I wish upon my soul that I could, but I can’t, it’s impossible. Oftentimes, my cousin is the only hope I have in all the world. Apart from that setback, though, I am just like you guys. I am a huge Denver Broncos, Chelsea FC and New York Rangers fan. I love listening to many different styles of music; Iron Maiden, Dream Theater, Jimi Hendrix, The Strokes and Incubus are just a few names that populate my iPod.

I also like watching numerous comedy, action and “drama” movies, (whether new, old, or VERY old). I’ve a great interest in reading different-genre literature, with Charles Dickens being my favorite author. WWII and Napoleonic War history has always greatly interested me, and I am currently writing a novel on the former subject. I always relish a good-size serving of authentic Italian and junk foods, especially when watching a game of European or American football, Family Guy or The Simpsons. A good joke always cracks me up, especially the old Chris Farley SNL skits and movies. I like playing video games, but not for hours upon end, and I’m not super-awesome at them.

As is the case with many of you, I have my own dreams and goals in life. I am going to move to London, England (one of my cousins lives in Southampton, a major port just south of the city from which the Titanic set sail) and become a barrister (the name of a lawyer in the United Kingdom), marry, and have a multitude of children. In short, I intend to start a new life for myself as a proud Briton. Yet I love all of my relatives to the innermost depths of my soul, and would readily die to save any one of them, no matter how distant they are from me on the family tree.

My religious faith runs very deep, but I don’t go to church five days a week. I know I’m not perfect, but just try talking to me about the things I’ ve mentioned, and we can come to be very good friends. Due to my varying interests, I’m likely found to be most agreeable. In short, I just want to make some good friends.