Michael

I have used a wheelchair all my life.  I was born with Cerebral Palsy in Highland Hospital in Oakland, California.  My family has lived in Oakland my entire life.  When I was young, we used to have pillow fights.  My uncle often came over to my house and barbequed.  We had lots of good times and we still do.

In my spare time I like to talk to my neighbors. I have gone to Disneyland about five times. I like watching car racing and going to movies.  I like the cartoon character, “Charley Brown”.  I like to go shopping, ride AC-transit buses, and go to the donut shop to get myself a donut. I like to see the Raider football games, because I love sports.  I like to watch baseball, hockey and wrestling.  I would like to go to the Lawrence Hall of Science in Berkeley. 

I have been at the Cerebral Palsy Center for quite a while and I love to coming to the Center.  I like to check my e-mail every morning at the Center, because e-mail is fun and exciting.  I like to collect cans for recycling and I like to make ceramics.  I like the Advocacy class, because I like the guest speakers we get and I like to hear everybody speak out about their rights.

My wheelchair is my legs and I like cruising around in it.  It gets me where I want to go.  I like Cindy, she is my counselor and Dick is my favorite teacher.  I’m glad that Dick helps me a lot and I’m happy that I get lots of support from others too.  I’m glad that when I need help, my friends are always there for me. 

I like everybody at the CP Center and it is just like home to me.  I like Coco, because she is my adviser.  I am happy that Coco is my adviser, because she keeps up the good work.  She is just like a big sister to me and we work together as a team.  Bill Pelter is just like a big brother to me.  I like the computer room, because I like to keep busy and I like to write my journal on the computer. 

I like all the classes at the Center and I like my little brother, Ted.  I like helping the people in the men’s group where I bring up some good topics to discuss.  I like Hoi-Shan who is helping me to write my autobiography and she is my friend too.   

When I first came to the CP Center we had a fundraiser called carousel capers.   There was always lots of food for this event and it was a lot of fun.  We had entertainment, hotdogs, hamburgers, and cotton candy, plus we raised lots of money.  I used to go on the merry-go-round every night. 

I’m going to miss Alice, because she going to move to another job.  She is always easy to talk to about anything.

My goals are to get better at using the computer and to go to church more often.  I would also like to collect more cans this year for recycling, so I don’t have to keep bugging my sister to give me some money.