Personal History

Actually, my disability is called Phocomelia and Fixed Fusion of the Knees. I wanted to let people know that I do not let my disability stop me in my everyday life and in achieving my goals.

The two important terms that I want to help people understand better are Thalidomide and Phocomelia. They are the terms that describe my disability.  Thalidomide is a sedative and hypnotic drug_; it was withdrawn from sales after it was found to cause severe birth defects of the limbs when taken during pregnancy.  The formula for the drug Thalidomide, C₁₃ H₁₀ N₂ O_4, stands for 13 atoms of carbon C, requiring 4 bonds each; 10 atoms of hydrogen H, requiring 1 bond each; 2 atoms of nitrogen N, requiring 3 bonds each; and  4 atoms of oxygen O, requiring 2 bonds each.  This drug was used as a sleeping pill and to treat morning sickness.  Thalidomide has anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressant effects, making it ideal for these conditions.  However, taking this drug  produced side effects that could cause severe birth defects and the drug was teratogenic, meaning relating to or causing malformations of an embryo or a fetus.   It was found to produce skeletal defects in developing fetuses.  “Just one pill in early pregnancy could result in a baby with no limbs or flipper-like arms and legs, serious facial deformities and defective organs”.  The drug was marketed in Europe, especially in West Germany and Britain, from 1957 to 1961, and was thought to be so safe that it was sold without a prescription. The most prominent side effect of Thalidomide listed in Europe was peripheral neuropathy -- numbness and tingling in the hands and feet.  Other side effects included sedation, constipation, dry mouth, and dry skin.  Hypersensitivity -- edema, rash -- was also reported.  In 1961 there was an extremely high incidence of European babies with malformed, shortened limbs.  This correlated with the use of Thalidomide by women in their first trimester of pregnancy. 

            Thalidomide can cause partial to complete reduction of both arms and legs.  One of the common defects caused by this drug is called phocomelia.  Phocomelia is a word from the Greek word "phoke" meaning "seal," and "melos" meaning "limb"; the hands or feet (or both), start immediately from the main joint (shoulder/hip), like the flippers of a seal.  Other noticeable changes can occur to ears, eyes, spine, heart, kidney and gastrointestinal organs.  My hands are phocomelic: My hands are attached to my shoulders, and my knees are fused together.  The knees are at a 90^o angle, and they do not unbend.

            I have dealt with my disability very well.  Being disabled has taught me to be a better person inside and to look at life in a different way.  There is no such word as "can't."  I took that word out of my vocabulary a long time ago.  When someone says, "can't" to me, it is a challenge word.  After high school I moved into my aunt and uncle's house in Oak Park.  My aunt told me that I was not going to spend the rest of my life in my room, so she told me that I had to go to school or get a job.  So I decided to go to school; I went to Adult Education for two years to get my learning skills up to par because I wanted to go to college some day.  Then I went to Oakland Community College in May of 1994 in order to get a degree in Business Information Systems.  I would get into my wheelchair and wheel from Oak Park to Royal Oak to attend college.  Then a job landed in my lap; I was asked to be a computer tutor for the college.  I dreamed that some day that I would get my own apartment.  Then I had decided that I was not going to wheel from Oak Park to Royal Oak and back home to Oak Park.  So I chose to look for an apartment in Royal Oak so I could be closer to the college.  I moved into my first apartment in Royal Oak on March of 1995, and I have been in my apartment for four years.  Recently i moved to nearby Berkley. Being on my own has made me a stronger and very independent person.  Having a disability has not slowed me down.  I do everything that an able-bodied person can do and better.

            Attending Oakland Community College has helped me to achieve and overcome the barriers in my life.  I have been educating the college and instructors on how to handle a person with a disability in their classes by giving speeches, saying that we are just like an able bodied person and we want to be treated like a person.  I have been in magazines and newspapers.  I wish our world did not cast out people with a disability because people with disabilities are trying to do the best they can in the world today.  I got an award for Investing in Ability Week Education Day on October 13, 1995, for helping students with disabilities by tutoring them in computers.  I tell my students to take all the negative feelings they have about their computer classes and change them to positive ones.

            I have received my first certificate from Oakland Community College.  I completed the Word Processing requirements on Dec 1993.  Then on June 5, 1997, I got my certificate in Business Information Systems and I walked across the stage to receive it, which took a considerable effort.  But I was not satisfied to stop here. I continued with my studies and in June of 1998, I received my Associates Degree in Business Information Systems. Once again, I walked across the stage to receive it.   I have received recognition from others and have been featured in articles in the Oakland Press, Free Press, and the Royal Oak Mirror.   The Royal Oak Mirror did an article about me helping students in their computer classes. They called me the "Computer Whiz".  I don't think of myself as a Computer Whiz - I just have the background knowledge of computers.

I GRADUATED FROM OAKLAND COMMUNITY COLLEGE