Laura Nunez Shares Her Special Needs Different Dream

by jphilo | Dec 11, 2013 | Different Dream, School/Education, Special Needs Parenting

Laura Nunez Shares Her Special Needs Different Dream

Today’s guest blog comes from Laura Nunez. She’s here to tell how she overcame obstacles related to her cerebral palsy, the misconceptions of others, and attaining her dream job. You’re in for a treat today, so sit back and enjoy what she has to say.

Pursuing My Different Dream

I have always been a dreamer. When I became a social worker, I wanted to make a difference. My goal was to impact the lives of differently-abled children. I wanted each child that I worked with to know that they are not defined by what they cannot do. You see, I was born with cerebral palsy, and I walk with crutches.

Life can be hard and there have been times I have literally been in tears. I know what it’s like to be judged by others and to have to overcome obstacles and stereotypes. I know that the world is not always fair. Even so, I’m going to admit something totally crazy, something that may not make sense to anyone at all. My disability, my crutches are a gift.

I have a new job. It’s my dream job. I work at Whitestone School for Child Development, a CPSE preschool in Queens, NY. I have always dreamed of working in a preschool because I love children and want to positively impact their futures.

I attended a CPSE preschool and know that I am where I am today, in part due to the services I received there. I remember I loved it! My teacher and my therapists were great. I had many friends who were just like me and no one made fun of me or left me out.

In elementary school, I attended Henry Viscardi School; a school for the disabled founded by Dr. Henry Viscardi, who also had a disability. I remember seeing him in the hallway, hoping to one day be like him and help others. As I got older and truly understood how much he had done to advance and advocate for the rights of people with disabilities, the more convinced I became that I wanted to be like him and leave a mark.

There’s something that I was not prepared for: being denied opportunities because of my disability. I was raised in a family where I was no different than my siblings. My mother has always been my greatest ally and advocate but she also believed in being honest with me. “You have to work harder and do better because people will judge you,” she’d tell me, followed quickly by, “but you can do anything if you work hard enough.”

While the first half of her statement annoyed me, I always believed she was right, that I could do anything. I grew up assuming that my dreams would come true as long as worked to make them a reality. Reality isn’t that simple; people are not always nice. I’ve been on interviews where people made it quite obvious that my crutches made them uncomfortable. I quickly learned that my mother was right. It seemed to me that my dream of making a difference would never come true. Every time I thought I’d found the perfect job for me, I’d hit a brick wall. My crutches always seemed to get in the way. Because of my naiveté, I had never seen my crutches as an issue. I am as independent as I can be and I have never let crutches stop me.

I was beginning to question if I was ever going to be able to make a difference. I was ready to give up on my dream when I got the phone call to come in for an interview. I was excited but hesitant. I was shocked when I was offered the job!

I have finally come full circle working at Whitestone School for Child Development. I’m finally in a place where people don’t stare at me or refer to me as the girl with the crutches. I walk into a classroom and all the children shout, “Hi, Laura!”

I may never know if I’m making difference in their lives but I hope that they understand that they are amazing and capable of achieving their dreams. I hope that in a way, I am giving back to those who helped me get to where I am today.

Now do you understand why I say my crutches are a gift? They don’t define me. They are not who I am. I hope that when people see me, they see the person I am; someone who is truly happy and grateful for the opportunity to impact others and just maybe, leave a mark…yes, I still dream big!

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Laura Nunez grew up with special needs caused by cerebral palsy. Today she talks about her big dream and how she achieved it.

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Laura Nunez has always had a passion for working with children. She is a social worker at Whitestone School for Child Development. She has also volunteered at an orphanage in Romania several times and hopes to return to Romania next year. She also hopes to one day adopt differently-abled children. If you enjoyed Laura’s story, leave a comment in the box below. She’d love to hear from you!

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Fitness and Exercise in Kids with Special Needs

Today’s guest blogger is Seth McNew, a fitness and exercise coach. He’s here to offer ideas about how parents can encourage children to become more active and stay fit.

Childhood obesity rates are growing at a dangerous rate, with one out of every three kids in America considered overweight. This is not just in the United States, this epidemic is in Canada, Australia, the U.K., and many other countries around the world.

Fitness and Exercise for Kids with Special Needs

Now apply this to the community of kids with special needs. With little research and nutrition data available specific to special needs exercise, and it being much harder for to participate in organized sports and group physical activities for many reasons, it’s no wonder that the rate of obesity is even higher among this population than in the general public.

However, through targeted exercise and play ideas, as well as healthy habit creation, we can change stereotypes and statistics and get our kids fit, healthy, and happy. This is not about special diets or one-stop cure-all exercises. This is about finding fun and motivating ways to exercise, with activities for special needs children.

Fitness and Exercise Sample Activity

Here is one example of a simple and fun exercise to do at home:

The Bear Crawl: Animal moves are a favorite for all kids and easy to learn. Start by bending forward and lowering the hands to the ground. Then, try to keep the legs straight as he or she shuffles back and forth across the room. Make it fun by growling like a bear! The more fun the activity, the more reinforced the movements will be. See similar activities for special needs children in this post.

Other Fitness and Exercise Activities and Resources

Do you and your child have favorite activities to encourage fitness and exercise? Do you know of other good resources on this topic? Please share them in the comment box!

Do you like what you see at DifferentDream.com? You can receive more great content by subscribing to the quarterly Different Dream newsletter and signing up for the daily RSS feed delivered to your email inbox. You can sign up for the first in the pop-up box and the second at the bottom of this page.

Top Photo Credit: www.freedigitalphotos.net

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I’m Seth McNew. I’m fortunate that I get the amazing opportunity to work with this incredible population and help our community to reach better fitness goals, encouraging lifelong health in kids with special needs. As a long-time youth sports coach, as well as a certified personal trainer, I have been working in athletics and fitness all of my life. During my early days of fitness instruction, I was asked to help with a local elementary school’s special needs class to facilitate an exercise program. I saw a need and a possibility and have been running the Play Through Autism program since then. Check out this video to learn more. I hope that you will be able to use this resource to acquire some fitness techniques and ideas that will help you and your child to exercise.