United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Erdrix - Wish I'd been able to come up with that when I was a kid!

I was dubbed withered arm in grade school by an older guy who played basketball and softball with my brother and his friends (he's homeless to this day). I was young enough that I wasn't offended. As an adult My best friend called me Trex; I could never figure out why he came up with that until watching history channell one day, and I noticed this one dino had two gimpy arms, but was called a brontosaurus, and i LOL. The next time we bumped into each other I explained to him that i finally figured out why he called me that, and gave him a nickname.

GREAT posts for us all everyone. I still learn alot from You'all!
HUggz,
Carolyn J
LOBPI/74

as a person who was called r******* by my dad, i would probably embarrass the crap out of anyone who made derogaotry remarks about me or my arm. i learned how to do that many years ago and it is fun. my dad introduced me to people as his little r******* girl. one day he did that and i acted so silly and goofy, he almost dug a hole in the ground to crawl into. i started making silly noises, flapping my hands, rolling around on the ground, jumping up and down while squeeling like a pig, and all kinds of things. i did not stop till he quit talking to the guy. the man laughed so hard he almost fell on the ground with me. he knew what i was doing. dad introduced me that way one more time and got a worse reaction than the first one. i warned him not to call me that again. he did not listen. but after the second time, he never introduced me like that again. i suddenly had a real name. and it was not r*******.
so remember, if someone wants to play the stupid game, play right along with them, they will soon learn to not be so stupid.

good post,Joyce.
Carolyn J
LOBPI/74

I am so glad I happened to stumble upon this website. I have never met anybody with a brachial plexus injury and it's so nice to know I'm not the only one who deals with the stress that comes along with it. I substained this brachial plexus injury to my right arm at birth and luckily I have learned the tricks to getting as much use out of my arm as I can. Throughout elementry school people would always imitate the way my arm would just hang there. The nickname I hated the most out of all of them was Nemo. If you don't know Nemo is a cartoon fish with a deformed fin. although I do love that movie it bothered me so much when my peers would call me that name.

Hi Joyce,
Name calling by others can hurt alot
When I was little kids called me stud arm, my only defense was to get into alot of fights.
When Nemo came out I got tagged with being called Nemo because it relate more because I am a Scuba diver I guess nemo and scuba diving for me just fit being a Mater diver to When I start driving a semi ,with my birth erbs other drivers called me Lefty , But it seem that all the other driver had some crazy names to. In the world of semi driving being called a dumb name is normal
I think any name that mess with our self esteem because of our limitation is wrong
Some people will say DUMB thing but then again people who care about you enough will not call you nemo because it bothers you, But you should tell them it bothers you if they still want to call you nemo then they really are more interested in teasing you by name calling than really being a True Friend, I think
I hope this help??
Tom

Welcome to our UBPN Family, j_schaefer9 !
We welcome questions and there is NO dumb or stupid questions only the one not asked.

Carolyn J
LOBPI/74
ps. everyone is welcome on all message/ Forum Boards

There are many thing that did not work out no matter how I tried with my birth erbs. When I was little trying to do things like other kids. My mom inspired me to look past what I could not do but focus on what I could Trying to find a way to work was a huge challenge I had to find away to straighten what little I could and assisting my good arm. When I first wanted to learn to drive a semi , the first doctor would not con-cider passing me on my DOT physical to learn to drive a semi. I tried another doctor , He a least thought I should have a right to at least try to learn. I end up driving a semi for 25 years and retired. I had to fight a discrimination case latter in life to
Sugar coating does not help For -Sure, What does is in trying even if thing seem to be against you. I think the best way to get past things that dont work out is by trying some thing else. Everyone here gains ground and does so many Amazing things by Determination to persevere, I think. Some post I seen , I tried but could never figure out how to, I think it awesome when I read post like this ware I could never beable to adapt like others here I am 62 and looking back I remember more about the things that did work out than the ones that did not, But again you never really fail by trying, It takes alot of Guts to which we All have-!! by Post
I know Mr Positive
Tom

Zaar ,
We BPI-ER's find a way to do whatever we put our minds to. Example: I used my teeth alot when my son was a baby and had absolutlely NO support ot help from no one. Vision changing diapers using teeth to put on a clean diaper that it's tab broke and i used masking tape(that was 41 years ago).

FYI, The DVR/BVR ...Department/Bureau of Vocational Rehabilitation,every State has one.... can evaluate a person for a job/field of career of your choice and assist in connecting you.
As for self esteem, I had several years of counselling and i highly recommend it. However it did take 4 tries to find the right one so that too is a very big help.
Best Wishes,
Carolyn J
LOBPI/74