[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 150 (Tuesday, December 20, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: December 20, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                        IT'S OK TO BE DIFFERENT

 Mr. SIMON. Mr. President, during the recess I read the column 
in Newsweek magazine under the title, ``It's OK To Be Different,'' 
written by a high school sophomore from Wayzata High School in 
Plymouth, MN. She is Angie Erickson, and the people of Plymouth, MN, 
ought to be very proud to have someone like Angie Erickson in their 
community.
  She writes about living with a disability.
  I read a booklet written for children about ``being different.'' As 
fine as that booklet is, Angie Erickson's simply relating of what life 
has been like for her is powerful.
  I ask that the article be printed in the Record.
  The article follows:

                     [From Newsweek, Oct. 24, 1994]

                        It's OK To Be Different


                    stop making fun of my disability

                          (By Angie Erickson)

       Why me? I often ask myself, why did I have to be the one? 
     Why did I get picked to be different? Why are people mean to 
     me and always treating me differently? These are the kinds of 
     questions that I used to ask myself. It took more than 10 
     years for me to find answers and realize taht I'm not more 
     different than anyone else.
       I was born on June 29, 1978. Along with me came my twin 
     sister. Stephanie. She was born with no birth defects, but I 
     was born with cerebral palsy. For me, CP made it so I shake a 
     little; when my sister began to walk, I couldn't. The doctors 
     knew it was a minor case of cerebral palsy. But they didn't 
     know if I'd ever walk straight or do things that other kids 
     my age could do.
       At first my disability did not bother me, because when 
     you're a toddler, you do things that are really easy. When it 
     took me a little longer to play yard games, because I 
     couldn't run that well, my friends just thought I was slow. 
     My disability was noticed when other children were learning 
     how to write and I couldn't. Kids I thought were my friends 
     started to stay away from me because they said I was 
     different. Classmates began commenting on my speech. They 
     said I talked really weird. Every time someone was mean to 
     me, I would start to cry and I would always blame myself for 
     being different.
       People thought I was stupid because it was hard for me to 
     write my own name. So when I was the only one in the class to 
     use a typewriter, I began to feel I was different. It got 
     worse when the third graders moved on to fourth grade and I 
     had to stay behind. I got held back because the teachers 
     thought I'd be unable to type fast enough to keep up. Kids 
     told me that was a lie and the reason I got held back was 
     because I was a retard. It really hurt to be teased by those 
     I thought were my friends.
       After putting up with everyone making fun of me and me 
     crying about it, I started sticking up for myself when I was 
     10, in fourth grade. I realized if I wanted them to stop, I 
     would have to be the person who made them stop. I finally 
     found out who my real friends were, and I tried to ignore the 
     ones who were mean. Instead of constantly thinking about the 
     things I couldn't do, I tried to think about the things I 
     could do, and it helped others, and myself, understand who I 
     really was. When there was something I couldn't do, such as 
     play Pictionary, I sat and I watched or I would go find 
     something else to do. A few people still called me names and 
     made fun of me, but after a while, when they saw they didn't 
     get a reaction, they quit, because it wasn't fun anymore. 
     What they didn't know was that it did still hurt me. It hurt 
     me. It hurt me a lot more than they could ever imagine.
       When I was 12, my family moved. I kept this fairy tale in 
     my head that, at my next school, no one would be mean to me 
     or would see that I had a disability. I'd always wished I 
     could be someone other than myself. I found out the hard way 
     that I wasn't going to change, that I'd never be able to 
     write and run with no problems. When kids in my new school 
     found out that I couldn't write and my talking and walking 
     were out of the ordinary, they started making fun of me. They 
     never took time to know me.
       Everything went back to the way it was before. I went back 
     to blaming myself and thinking that, since I was different, 
     I'd never fit in. I would cry all the time, because it was so 
     hard for me to make friends again. I didn't know whether I 
     should trust anyone--I thought that if people knew that I had 
     a disability they would not like me anymore. It took me a 
     long time to understand that I had to return to to not caring 
     about what other people say.
       People make fun of others because of insecurity. They have 
     to show off to feel better about themselves. When a person 
     made fun of me everyone thought it was just a big joke. After 
     a while I just started laughing along with them or walking 
     away. It really made some kids mad that they weren't getting 
     any reaction out of me. Yeah, it still hurt a lot. I wanted 
     to break down and start crying right then and there, but I 
     knew I didn't want them to get their pleasure out of my hurt 
     feelings. I couldn't cry.
       I still get really frustrated when I can't do certain 
     things, and I probably always will. I thought I should give 
     people a better chance to get to know me, but I knew that I 
     would probably get hurt. I never thought that anyone would 
     want to be friends with somebody who had cerebral palsy. At 
     times I have trouble dealing with kids making fun of me, but 
     these are people who need help figuring out things in life 
     and need to be treated better themselves. Maybe then they'll 
     treat others the same. They look disappointed when I walk 
     away or laugh when they try to make fun of me. Perhaps 
     they're hurting more than I am.
       It took a lot of willpower on my part and a lot of love 
     from family and friends to get where I am today. I learned 
     that no one was to blame for my disability. I realize that I 
     can do things and I can do them very well. Some things I 
     can't do, like taking my own notes in class or running in a 
     race, but I will have to live with that. At 16, I believe 
     I've learned more than many people will learn in their whole 
     lives. I have worked out that some people are just mean 
     because they're afraid of being nice. They try to prove to 
     themselves and others that they are cool, but, sooner or 
     later, they're going to wish they hadn't said some of those 
     hurtful things. A lot of people will go through life being 
     mean to those with disabilities because they don't know how 
     to act or what to say to them--they feel awkward with someone 
     who's different.
       Parents need to teach their children that it's all right to 
     be different and it's all right to be friends with those who 
     are. Some think that the disabled should be treated like 
     little kids for the rest of their lives. They presume we 
     don't need love and friends, but our needs are the same as 
     every other human being's.
       There are times when I wish I hadn't been born with 
     cerebral palsy, but crying about it isn't going to do me any 
     good. I can only live once, so I want to live the best I can. 
     I am glad I learned who I am and what I am capable of doing. 
     I am happy with who I am. Nobody else could be the Angela 
     Marie Erickson who is writing this. I could never be, or ever 
     want to be, anyone else.

                          ____________________