I made it so far

My name is Denise Rouffaer and I want to write a story to tell everyone that if a person has a disability out there that they can make it in this world but they may just have different obstacles that get in their way. All my life I was told I would never succeed. When I was 18 months old I contracted meningitis. I was in a coma for 7 weeks. When I came out of it my parents were told I would never walk. Meningitis effects the outer layer of the brain known as the meningies. When this happens, the bacteria infects and creates swelling on the brain. The term itis means swelling or inflamation of some body part. After this happened, I was to learn all of what I lost again. Bits and peices of bacteria from the meningitis was scattered all over my brain, some of it was nerve damage, another part was short term memory loss. All the doctors told my parents that one leg would be shorter than the other because one side of my body was paralyzed. I went to therapy and regained most of the of my limbs that they told my parents couldn't work anymore. Sooner or later my legs and arms got stronger and today I can swim a mile. When I went to school there was another challenge I had to face. I was in special education classes most of my life only mainstreamed into the regular classes the rest of the time. I remember all through my life other kids teasing me about how I walked and because of the nerve damage I had I would have spasticity all throughout the day and kids would call me earthquake all the time. I remember crying because I could not stop it. Kids were just mean. Then in Junior High I joined a sports team called Wheels on Fire, which is a sports team for the physically disabled. My self esteam went up and I began to feel good about myself. There were other kids on that team with physical disabilities just like me. I felt good. I was on the swim team, baseketball team, tennis team and played archery. It was great. I swam so much that my wheels on fire coach thought I was good enough to swim on my able bodied high school swim team. That was a really fun time in my life. I even made it to college. I have now graduated with a BA in Human Development and am looking for a job right now. I am here to tell everyone that even though there may be things in life that hinder you or get in your way nothing would ever stop me from getting a diploma. Thats all I wanted and I got it. If I can do it anyone can and nothing could have ever stepped in my way. I have one now and no one could ever take that away.

My name is Denise Rouffaer and I want to write a story to tell everyone that if a person has a disability out there that they can make it in this world but they may just have different obstacles that get in their way. All my life I was told I would never succeed. When I was 18 months old I contracted meningitis. I was in a coma for 7 weeks. When I came out of it my parents were told I would never walk. Meningitis effects the outer layer of the brain known as the meningies. When this happens, the bacteria infects and creates swelling on the brain. The term itis means swelling or inflamation of some body part. After this happened, I was to learn all of what I lost again. Bits and peices of bacteria from the meningitis was scattered all over my brain, some of it was nerve damage, another part was short term memory loss. All the doctors told my parents that one leg would be shorter than the other because one side of my body was paralyzed. I went to therapy and regained most of the of my limbs that they told my parents couldn't work anymore. Sooner or later my legs and arms got stronger and today I can swim a mile. When I went to school there was another challenge I had to face. I was in special education classes most of my life only mainstreamed into the regular classes the rest of the time. I remember all through my life other kids teasing me about how I walked and because of the nerve damage I had I would have spasticity all throughout the day and kids would call me earthquake all the time. I remember crying because I could not stop it. Kids were just mean. Then in Junior High I joined a sports team called Wheels on Fire, which is a sports team for the physically disabled. My self esteam went up and I began to feel good about myself. There were other kids on that team with physical disabilities just like me. I felt good. I was on the swim team, baseketball team, tennis team and played archery. It was great. I swam so much that my wheels on fire coach thought I was good enough to swim on my able bodied high school swim team. That was a really fun time in my life. I even made it to college. I have now graduated with a BA in Human Development and am looking for a job right now. I am here to tell everyone that even though there may be things in life that hinder you or get in your way nothing would ever stop me from getting a diploma. Thats all I wanted and I got it. If I can do it anyone can and nothing could have ever stepped in my way. I have one now and no one could ever take that away.