Story Joy
Joy was born on October 27, 1975. Due to oxygen deprivation during birth she came to this world eighty percent spastic. The doctors told her parents not to send out any birth announcement cards yet, since they doubted that she would make it through the night. But Joy is the living proof that doctors do not have a monopoly on the truth. She moves around in an electric wheelchair, is completely independent, has her own house, a husband, a beautiful daughter en earns her own income. She demonstrates that it is your own choice whether you stay in a pigeon-hole or not.
Everything starts and ends with yourself
Her parents taught Joy that she is responsible for her own life. As a consequence they have always given her the opportunity to find out things herself and to meet up to confrontations. They understood that growing up in an institute for disabled people meant that she would receive too little stimulation to develop into a self-reliant, independently functioning person. But they also said: “You will have to do it yourself.”
Because Joy has learned to make choices herself, she was able to exceed herself and therefore she is capable of much more than people thought she would be. All people have this vitality to be independent. When you keep hearing that you are incapable of something, you'll eventually come to a breaking point at which you give in. But when you are convinced that you áre capable of something, you'll find a solution somehow.
Source of strength
The question is: what is your starting point, your possibilities or your impossibilities? The impossibilities Joy encountered in her life have enriched her life and are her source of strength. Joy cannot image a life without her physical disability. And please note, she does not have a handicap. A handicap is located between the ears. A disability is located in your body. And you can do something about a disability. There are solutions. Devices.
