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This book contains a collection of many of the poems, short
stories, essays, articles, and letters that Joe Hemphill wrote
between 1960 and 2011. Joe is a prolific writer, despite the fact
that he was born with cerebral palsy and has dealt with multiple
and profound disabilities all of his life. Joe hopes this book will
provide insight into one man's quest to live his life to the
fullest, even from a wheelchair. In Joe's writings, you will find
unusual insights. The stories, essays, articles, and poems in this
book reflect the experiences that have shaped who Joe is and how he
approaches life. Joe has faced life with determination and he has
made the best of every situation. He has reached out to both people
with and without disabilities. You will find humor, inspiration,
hope, perseverance, courage that will make you laugh and cry. He
started writing in elementary school and writing has been the focus
of his life ever since. He realized that he didn't have to be able
to walk in order to be able to write stories. Writing takes a great
deal of effort, time, and energy, but 200 words is just a warm up
for Joe. With the help of teachers, friends, and care providers, he
lives independently, listens to books on CD and on his computer,
writes a column for the local United Cerebral Palsy agency, and
submits letters to the editor. He also goes for long rides around
town in his power wheelchair and has friends who read his poetry
during local open mike nights. The author: I was born with cerebral
palsy. My folks decided early on that I wasn't going to use my
handicap to get my way. They wanted me to be independent and
experience everything I could. I lived at home until I was 17.
After that, I lived in institutions until I was 30. At 30, I moved
into my own apartment. Living outside of institutions enabled me to
attend college classes in writing. It also enabled me to meet
people all over my community, have a girlfriend, go on vacations
with friends, and manage my own life. I am currently in my late
sixties and live in my own apartment in a complex dedicated to
seniors and people with disabilities. I have been writing since I
was nine years old. Also published by Joe Hemphill, in 2010, is
Keeping Up With Jerry, about many of the people in Joe's life. It
Has Been A Great Ride and I am still out there cruising.
How do you let the world know that you have a strong personality
and ideas about many subjects? How do you express your opinions,
needs, and desires? You tell people or write them down. But, what
if you cannot speak clearly, cannot use your hands to write or pick
things up, cannot take care of yourself or do the smallest task on
your own? How do you then express yourself and get your needs met?
People with cerebral palsy face some or all of the issues above,
depending upon how severe their cerebral palsy is. Cerebral palsy
happens when sufficient oxygen does not reach the brain for a
prolonged period of time. This usually happens at or during the
birth process. Everyone can have a slightly or profoundly different
outcome and severity of disability. Some experience developmental
disabilities. Some with cerebral palsy are able to walk and some
are not. It is the same with speech and using their hands to do the
simple everyday tasks that most people just do without thinking.
This book is about Jerry who has had cerebral palsy from birth and
has faced the challenges of expressing himself and getting his
needs met from the people around him. It is also about all the
people who have come in and out of his life. The author of Jerry's
story based this book upon his own experiences of living life with
the challenges of cerebral palsy. During his childhood, his family
was there to help him grow up strong and independent. When he was a
young adult, the people around him quite often got in the way of
his growth and aspirations. In his later years, while living
independently, he didn't back down from the many challenges that
came his way. Jerry has insisted throughout his life that everyone
acknowledge him as the strong, involved, caring, and well-rounded
individual that he is. You will see the role that each person in
his life has played in allowing Jerry to have his personality shine
through his profound disabilities.
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