Coffee Lounge - poems about disability

Justcheckingin15

I wrote this Poem today..about Disability..feedback welcome..?

Little Johnny stares at his book
He anxiously waits -for the Class to look
Trying to relax-he mentally counts to ten
Struggling with the words-as he fails again!

He sneaks a glance at his Teacher
With his head still bowed low
No place to run
No place to go.

He feels the kids all stare at him
The tension is almost electric
His Teacher comes to the conclusion
Little Johnny is Dyslexic 
..............................................................
Susan wakes up
Its Summer time
What will she wear
Today she wants to shine.

She opens her wardrobe door
Then slowly caresses her clothes
She feels for her fav dress
The one that flows.

She heads along the street
To meet her friend
A crowd stands at the corner
Just waiting to offend.

She hears the insults
Some vile indeed
She thinks..'I'm just like you
..I cut and I bleed'.

She then corrects herself
No..Im NOT like you..
I have empathy for others
And YOU should too!

She rose above the ignorance
Had a lovely day with her friend 
Gave her trusted Guide dog a hug
Assisting her journey from beginning to end.

Shes home now..proud of herself
That she did not buckle
Drinking in the smell of her garden now
With her favourite Honeysuckle.
..................................................................
Sally's alarm goes off
But shes already staring at the ceiling
Her body is exhausted 
Her mind is reeling!

She 'feels anxious'..about 'being anxious'
And everyone is so presuming
She is really struggling to 'Adult' today
And finds it all consuming.

She puts her head below the covers
And puts her hand up to her ears
But it doesnt drown out the noise
Of her kids fighting and then the tears.

She does not know how long
She will stay in this bed
Eventually she will paint on a smile 
As she serves the kids bread.

She has struggled with life
Since they cut the umbilical
But she suffers in silence
As her Disability is invisible.

She needs someone to hug
To tell her it's ok
If she just 'hangs in there'
Help will be on it's way!

But she needs to act fast
The depression eats at her soul
She feels a bit like Alice
Spiralling down that great hole!

She needs to reach out
And not be so stoic
Shes going nowhere fast
Pretending to be so heroic.

Oxonlady

Hi @Justcheckingin15, thank you for your insightful poem, it just shows that there can be as many different types of disability as there are people. And the fact that some people will pick on someone simply for being different, without thinking, without empathy or compassion. If they really thought, why would anyone laugh at someone just for being blind? People seek acceptability among their peers or neighbours but we are not clones or sheep so why should we all have to conform to other people's idea of "normality" in order to be accepted? I feel that people will sometimes discriminate as much about my excess weight, caused by chronic steroid use as my disabilities, being in a wheelchair. I think the answer is not to care about what others think. Though I know it's not always easy to be dispassionate. And it really is the people who have prejudices who have a problem, not the target of their cruelty. 

Justcheckingin15

You hit the nail on the head @Oxenlady....At times I think its 'they'who need pitied...as they can show such ignorance at times..Yea..weight gain is not always about calories consumed...Have a nice weekend..

chiarieds

Hi @Justcheckingin15 - thank you for your poem; I enjoy poetry, & used to write some myself. I think your poem celebrates the diversity of disability, but, at the same time, also illustrates the difficulties that can come with this. I often think thank goodness we're not all the same.....if only those without a disability felt like that too.

There are good, kind people about, & I must be fortunate to have nearly always met those. However, I have read so much on here that really makes me wish some non-disabled people (& one Dr I met) could just feel what some of us go through for 10 mins. Again, thank you for such a good poem.

Justcheckingin15

@charieds..Thank you for your comments on my poem.I just wrote it today...was wanting to finish it on a more positive note...but duties got in the way..Good to hear you enjoy..and also wrote poetry yourself...

Justcheckingin15

@charieds..Not totally blown away about your comment on a so called Doctor!?

chiarieds

I have both met, & been in touch with, the most wonderful Drs @Justcheckingin15 - bar one. Hmmm.....our family did not have a genetic disorder, & even if we had, my eldest daughter was expecting a baby girl, who wouldn't play rugby (!), so therefore wouldn't have any problems with hypermobile joints according to him. He got his Senior Registrar to lie to me, saying our youngest daughter's records were more than 10 years old, so therefore unavailable as they'd been burnt. I said that was strange as I'd requested them from Gt. Ormond St Hospital, & they were being posted out to me.

He said our family wasn't affected by a neurological problem (Chiari 1 Malformation), I asked if not that, which I was sure it was, what problem did we have? My son rather enjoyed the moment, as this Professor tried to speak, & was lost for words, then just left the room, leaving his Senior Registrar dumbfounded. She later told me there was a pencilled note on my son's MRI results saying not to report the neuroradiologists findings, nor include them in his medical notes. The neuroradiologist had also rang me saying that twice he'd been rung asking him not to report on his findings with my son's MRI. This Dr we'd seen wrote to all the Drs my son & I were due to see, saying our family didn't have a genetic disorder.....

He was later knighted; I'm too polite to say what I thought about that, & why I become incandescent when I see him on the TV. So, yes, I do wish he could feel what it's like to have our later confirmed diagnosis of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome + Chiari 1 Malformation for 10 mins., or much longer!

Justcheckingin15

No words @charieds!!!..I could write a good few words on how Drs treated my Mother...I pushed them..as I knew she was not right after a fall from the stairs...He did not note half of what I said..until I brought the matter up in Hospital(which he did not want to send her to)...but...I am shocked to say the least..about the Doctor you experienced!!.?

Oxonlady

Hi @chiarieds, the doctor you mentioned behaved abominably yer unfortunately doctors do get away with these things because their colleagues do not speak up.
I've been rather unfortunate in having met several doctors and surgeons who do not appear to care much about their patients and have huge egos. One doctor told me "all you have is Fibromyalgia and that's all in the mind and I will not allow you to have any more investigations". Well, I never saw him again but tests carried out more recently have found all sorts of things wrong with my spine, hips and shoulders! So he was wrong and thank God I don't have to see him again! Another two doctors kept saying that I have to lose weight, even though I'm still on steroids 17 years on and now virtually immobile! Anyway, the unpleasant doctors have just made me appreciate the nice, caring doctors even more! 

Justcheckingin15

Sorry to hear this @Oxenlady...Its reassuring when you get a Doctor who actually listens!

Sandy_123

Nice writing @Justcheckingin15

Justcheckingin15

Thank you @Sandy_123...I enjoy writing odd poem when I get the time.

Sandy_123

I've never been into poetry writing my self, I write fiction.

chiarieds

I'm so sorry @Justcheckingin15 & @Oxonlady - there's absolutely no excuse; it's dreadful that you had to fight for your Mum, &, as far as fibromyalgia goes, it amazes me how bad things can still be now. I remember researching it 20 years ago, as many with my neurological disorder (Chiari 1 Malformation) were mis-diagnosed with Fibro, & yes, in some it literally was all in their head; a neurological disorder that affects the brain. I'm truly saddened that Fibro isn't better understood by some Drs.

Thankfully there are some great Drs; my youngest daughter's paediatrician used to ring me 2 or 3 times a week when he realised I was looking into her problems, saying I've found this out, what have you found? This when we didn't know the cause of her problems. Without my physio background I doubt we'd have got a diagnosis, & it shouldn't be like that. I had to find out as my genetic disorder affected my children (& now my grandchildren) so I wanted it recorded in their medical notes. Drs do need to properly listen to their patients, else how can they understand their problems?

Justcheckingin15

@charieds, Sorry to hear this..Was 'all' your children/Grandchildren affected?

Justcheckingin15

@Sandy_123,Fiction?..That is interesting..

Sandy_123

@Justcheckingin15 I'm writing a book a present,  can't really say what. It's coming along, wish I had the motivation to dedicate more hours a day to it.

chiarieds

Yes @Justcheckingin15 - in theory with the kind of genetic disorder I had there was a 50/50 chance of passing it on, yet all 3 of my children inherited it unfortunately (& we lost our youngest daughter when she was 23 months old, which was why I had to find out what the genetic disorder was), & all 3 of my eldest daughter's children have inherited it. My son decided not to have children as he didn't want the risk of passing it on.

Justcheckingin15

@charieds, I'm so terribly sorry to hear this.You have certainly not had it easy at all..My heart goes out to you on the loss of your daughter..You must have went through a mixture of emotions with that blow. Do you ever visualise what you would say to the Doctor who dismissed you..if you found yourself sitting across a desk from him?

chiarieds

Thank you for your so very kind reply @Justcheckingin15 - it was incredibly difficult to research our genetic disorder some years after losing our little one when my eldest daughter asked as she was concerned she might have a baby as badly affected as her little sister, who had severe breathing problems at birth & had to have a trache when she was one week old.

No, I can't visualise seeing the one poor Dr......must admit to making bread some years ago, poking eyes into it, imagining it was him; quite therapeutic to then knead bread.... , but, no, there are no words I could say; sometimes there just aren't, & I got there diagnosing us all despite him. 

Justcheckingin15

@chariads,.I can picture you kneading..poking and pulling at that dough...Me?..I would def be hammering it severely with a rolling pin...whatever it takes..but..be proud of yourself..You were not going to be fobbed off...and that comes with a belief that 'you' knew that ..here was something that needed to be investigated more.?