Excerpts from I'll Do It Myself
As a child with cerebral palsy, I endured endless hours of therapy – physiotherapy, occupational and speech therapy. Good or bad, therapy did contribute to where I am today, although I did wonder how applicable some of it would be beyond the therapy room. Here is an example:
Speech therapy seemed rather bizarre to me. The therapist sat on a floor mat, with me lying on my back between her outstretched legs. My legs wrapped around her waist and her stinky toes in close proximity to my nose. She then proceeded to stick her fingers in my mouth to wiggle my lips, supposedly to loosen them. She alternated between her fingers and ice cubes. Then, for the actual speaking exercise, she pushed on my chest in attempts to improve my breathing capacity. After all those years of this hefty woman pushing down on my chest, I am convinced that was why I was such a late bloomer.
The thing that puzzled me, as I laid there on my back staring at the ceiling tiles, was what was I suppose to do when I met people outside as I got older? Was I to lay down on my back, on the floor, before speaking to them? I envisioned myself sprawled out on the ground when meeting a friend at the shopping mall or grocery store. Definitely not a dignified thought. Perhaps not surprisingly, pillow talk is some of my clearest speech!
…
After the speech therapist with stinky toes, I had one for a brief time who had me sit up for the entire session. What a concept! One of the most sensible things we did was make an alphabet card, small enough to carry with me, that I could use when people didn’t understand what I was saying. I simply spelled out the word on the card. Sometimes the low-tech solution works the best. I’ve had many variations of that card through the years.
© Glenda Watson Hyatt, 2006
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