People often say when one of the five senses is compromised, another is heightened to compensate for the deficiency. Well, I know physical strength is not one of the five senses, but I do believe my ability to use words is better than average to compensate for my physical limitations, in the same sense.

Since I was a baby, Iā€™ve always been physically ā€œweakā€. I could never walk, get my own food or drink, or do much of anything independently. So, Iā€™ve always relied upon my speech to articulate my wants and needs. In fact, when my younger brother was just a baby, Iā€™d help articulate his wants and needs as well (since I still spoke ā€œbabyā€ at the time), to the point that his speech therapist said I had to stop for him to develop his own speech. I figured I was just prepaying him for the lifetime of support heā€™s provided me. Nevertheless, my point is that my physical limitations taught me the power of words at a very young age.

As a kid growing up, I began to use words to not only convey my wants and needs, but to share my reality with others through my perspective. I always loved to write, and even briefly pursued a career as a rap artist. Writing rap songs was my method of sharing my views with others in a way that my peers could relate. As my disease progressed and my lung capacity became even more compromised, it became difficult to rap. So, I put the microphone down, but I never stopped writing.

Even to this day, I continue to use my words to spread my thoughts. Exhibit A is this blog, Exhibit B is my childrenā€™s book, Will the One-Winged Eagle, Exhibit C is my Twitter account that Iā€™m just now trying to revive (GO FOLLOW @disablethebrand), and Exhibit D is the countless conversations I have with anyone who wants to know what my lifeā€™s like. It means the world to me when people read what I write or listen to what I have to say because, through my words, Iā€™m spreading the change I want to see in the world. So, thank you!