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a new normal

Tonight we meet with someone in hopes of providing some encouragement as they learn to deal with a new normal. Changes are hard to deal with, regardless of what area of your life they impact. The challenge for me is reminding myself that it really doesn't matter how my life compares to anyone else's situation. We deal with our life; we're happy. When we start throwing other people's view of normal into the mix, things get choppy.

And even in the disability world, normals vary from person to person. Sometimes I head to the forums to find out what others are doing or how they're handling certain problems, and I always come away shaking my head at some of the staunch opinions. For example: wheelchair cushions. These air/foam cushions are the first line of defense against pressure sores in the worst places, yet every person has a different need in a cushion because of body types, wheelchair use, and mobility amount. The other day I read at least two postings ranting against Roho cushions and how awful they were. Bobby has used a Roho cushion for 32 years with very good results. I don't know how many years he used the low profile cushion, but when he switched to this wheelchair it didn't work quite as well. The tech said that particular chair worked better with the high profile cushion, so we pulled out his old backup cushion, which was high profile, and the problems ceased. I might share with someone the pros and cons of the Roho cushions, but I can't ever imagine myself telling someone not to try a product just because it didn't work for us.

Emotions, public reactions to disabilities, accessibility issues - those things are going to be very similar regardless of the situation. But once you get past that point, everything really varies from individual to individual.

So here's to Monday- a celebration of life with all its ups and downs, and a grateful spirit that the highs and lows mean no one has a handle on what is "normal".

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