Dressing and Disabilities

[Fiona123]

I was born in 1955 & contracted polio as an infant. I have a pretty obvious disability in my right arm. So my question is are there any sisters out there with disabilities? How does your disability affect your dressing? Q

[Lana Mae]

I do not have any disabilities but my wife was born in 1952 and at age 3 got Polio! She was in an Iron Lung but she had curvature of the spine and overall weakness but no specific disability! She did not wear anything with a back zipper or fastening. She preferred elastic waist pants and tee shirts. She would however wear a dress for special occasions such as weddings! She past away 2 years ago in March from COPD as she was a smoker! Your thread brought all this to my mind! Best wishes on your dressing and your journey! Hugs Lana Mae

[Laurana]

I have to use a pair of walk easy crutches due to a disease I have. The only way it really affects what I wear is that I can't wear heels. I can wear boots with heels just not high heels.

[sometimes_miss]

While I never really thought about it, having a facial deformity is kind of a disability. There's no amount of make up that can could ever fix me, so my early years were spent completely avoiding mirrors and knowing that I could never be pretty. Only surgery made me close to appearing normal, though a scar remains. Compared to what I did look like, it's still an improvement, but I still could never look attractive as a female. Where as, a little asymmetry and a well healed scar for a guy just makes us look tougher and more masculine, a survivor.

[StephanieM]

I had Bell's Palsy a few years back and half my face still droops. I wouldn't say it's a disability but it does make my smile look creepy.

[Fiona123]

They are all disabilities legally. I imagine all of us have felt ostracized to an extent especially as children.

[Allison Chaynes]

Maybe not along the lines of what others might think, as in visible, crippling disability. I have facial scars from an airplane accident at age 3, open heart surgery scars that make me not want to wear my beloved V neck shirts in public (thank you lifelong problems from Kawasaki's Disease!), permanent lung problems from the Army, and a permanent ankle/foot problem that started from a snakebite and was made worse in the military.

I think what you are getting at is, how do these things affect you as a CD? Well, obviously scars attract attention. If I wear shorts or capris and shave my legs, a gunshot wound on my left shin is highly visible. Obviously the heart stuff mentioned above means I would avoid wearing any type of drooping neckline in public. I don't really do makeup, but if I do, the facial scar on my cheek gets extra attention.

[JustineFallow]

I'm hearing-impaired. If I'm dressed out in public it's usually at a nightclub/fetish night sort of thing, so conversing with people is impossible due to loud music. Part of my particular ear thing is a problem with balance, so I've got to be really careful now about the height of my heels. I sprained my ankle something fierce last year leaving a nightclub because I started to lose my equilibrium, and I had only two drinks over the space of four hours!

[Stacy Darling]

I'm in the group. I lost the use of my left side for quite a while due to spinal injury. I have most of it back now. Appearance wise, most thought that I'd had a stroke.
My left hand still tends to drop things and I try so hard to not have a left leg limp. I'm off now because I'm getting emotional!
We Are Out There!

I've just taken a few deep breaths and will add before I go; I believe that the trauma and rehab really let the sensitive Stacy become Sensitive Stacy!

Stacy

[Anne K]

I'm in the club! I'll PM details.