Dear Friends,
I was reading through the different messages on the thread watchingsports and found it to be very interesting. There is something about methat even as a child I wanted to prove people wrong. When I was in thefourth grade, I had a basketball coach who used to make fun of me a regularbasis because my coordination was terrible. I was so determined to provehim wrong that I practiced in my driveway day after day and by the 8th grade Iwas the best player in the school for my Catholic school team. I was also6’1″ at the age of 13, which helped, but I had a deadly shot from theoutside. It was more a set shot, than a jump shot. Just recently, Iwas with Vivian on New Year’s and we were in a Chinese restaurant in Washington,DC. I was using chopsticks, and Vivian wanted me to mention to the groupthat an NLD individual can use them. I guess despite my fine motorchallenges, I was determined to learn to use chopsticks, especially since I lovesushi. I know there is also the generalization that NLD individuals arenot flexible when it comes to different foods, but I love exotic foods.
When it comes to watching sports, again I am in the minority. I am really only a hockey fan when it comes to sports. Football andbaseball just do not have the same level of excitement. I just love theconstant movement and the continuous action of hockey. I think hockeyprovides a stimulant to the brain that the other sports do not have. Thecoordination level to play this sport is amazing, in addition to the fact thatthese individuals skate better than I can walk. I do not buy into thetheory that our visual spatial skills will not allow us to follow this sport. I once read about a New York Rangers fan who attended the games despite beingblind. You would not think that a blind person could follow the game, butthis person did not let their disability get in the way. I guess that Ihad difficulty following the puck and the fast movement of the players at first,but I just tend to focus more when watching. My friend Dianne who is afellow season ticket holder for the New Jersey Devils said that her father toldher to just concentrate on following one player until she got used to the fastpace of the game. Overall, I know I am a little bit different, but I liketo show that we can engage in many activities despite our disabilities and thatthe generalizations that are often made just are not true for everyone.
Al