This page last updated May 11, 2006
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Organized 1995 |
on the Alabama-Florida-Mississippi Gulf Coast |
Organized 2000 |
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We participate in an award winning project! Hello to everyone! You may remember me. I am an eighth-grade student. I am in gifted classes. This year, students in our English class participated in a national contest called National History Day. It’s an annual competition for junior through high school students. This was my first year to compete. Each of us had to choose a person to research based on this year’s theme of “Taking a Stand in History.” I chose to do my report on polio related issues. Last November, my mom helped me send out e-mails to people we found by searching for “polio survivor groups” on the Internet. I was hoping to get a few people to respond to some interview questions that I sent out. I was amazed when over 70 people wrote me back! Your responses were a tremendous help when I wrote my paper. It helped me understand how polio and Salk’s vaccine really affected people. I shared your interview answers will my whole family. We all read each and every one of them. They were amazing to read. We usually just read stuff in our books at school—facts mostly. We never get to hear from real people what things were like. That turned out to be the best part for me of doing this whole project. I used your information to help write my research paper. We had to use primary sources (people and original documents with first-hand knowledge) and secondary sources (books about the subject). I definitely had the most primary sources of anyone at school! It took about two months to research, write, and edit my paper. The hardest part was cutting out things to fit the word limit. My original paper was three times too long! Then after Christmas break, we each had to develop a project to reflect our topic. I made an exhibit board. I cut out the boards, painted them silver, and added arm rests and bicycle wheels so the whole thing looked like a wheel chair. On the boards I showed the steps Salk took to develop the vaccine. I also had information about the polio epidemics, as well as pictures of survivors. I also put many quotes from you all on the board. I also printed out each interview and bound them all in a book that the judges could see during the competitions. In March, we held our regional competition. Of all the entries, I placed second for the region, which let me move on to the state competition. In April, we had our state competition. We all displayed our projects again, and just like at the regional event, each one of us was interviewed by a panel of judges about our topic. It was a very nervous day for me! At the state competition, there were 497 students with 293 entries from 81 junior and high schools in my state. I won third place in the state! Only the top two entries from each state go on to the national competition this June. As the third place winner, I am an alternate for that competition. My year-long experience with this competition is most likely over now, unless one of the top two finishers can’t make it to the national competition in June. But the effects of doing this project will go on for a long, long time. I learned that talking to people can be the best way to find out information, and that with any event, how it affects real people is the most important thing. At the regional competition, people were allowed to look at all the projects after the judging was over. One dad came up to me and told me that my project really touched him. His aunt had polio, and he said reading my board and looking at the pictures was like seeing her life story. He said I did a tremendous job showing others what the lives of people with polio were like. Regardless of how the final standings turned out, I knew at that moment that I had accomplished what really mattered at this competition. So, thank you all very, very much for taking the time and faith to answer my questions by e-mail. I hope I did justice to your stories and represented you well. |
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MOBILE AREA POST-POLIO SUPPORT GROUP meets the 4th Saturday each month except November & December at 1 pm West Regional Branch Mobile Public Library |
PENSACOLA POST-POLIO SUPPORT GROUP meets the 3rd Saturday every month at 10 am Baptist Towers 1717 North E and Avery Streets, Pensacola, Florida |
Notes from the May meeting....Vera Moore reporting Sylvia Bern facilitated the May 27, 2006, Mobile Area Post-Polio Support Group meeting with twenty-four people in attendance. The first item on the agenda was to pay tribute to Amanda Welsh and Kristan Evans. These two young women served as volunteers assisting with transportation to Camp ASCCA and were on hand when anyone of the group needed assistance at the camp. Sylvia pointed out they will receive no academic credit for volunteering their time but that their volunteer service would be a definite asset on their resumes. Several of those who attended Camp ASCCA shared bragging rights on having mastered the Zip Line and claimed this was the best camp ever! The meeting then turned into a general discussion with nearly everyone participating. Several shared scary experiences from recent hospitalizations. They encouraged polio survivors to fully prepare their doctors and nurses to our limitation and needs. Be prepared to communicate with each physician and let them know what other doctors have prescribed. Another recommended discussing your medications with your pharmacist as often they are able to provide precautions and assistance in comparing prescribed medications. Several people experienced difficulties during blood drawing procedures while hospitalized. One person shared that when the initial person attempting stick the vein has difficulty, he requests a lab technician be called to do the complete the procedure. Julie Ford remarked how much she appreciated the muscle spasms article in the May newsletter. The group offered general thanks to Larry Ready for taking time to write this most helpful paper. Shirley Neil commented that an article in the morning paper reported a vaccine for shingles has been approved by US health officials. The article reports Up to 20 per cent of adults who have had chickenpox will get shingles later in life. Something else to put on our “Talk to my Doctor” list. A demonstration on how easily a first time user could maneuver Richard Brown’s new Carex walker was provided by John Driscoll. Richard told that he had purchase his walker from RiteAid which brought about discussion of the joys of browsing and shopping from catalogs, both printed and online. Erica Jones told that she welcomes our inquiries when in need of a particular device or if you have a assistive device to be donated. Part of her position with Goodwill Easters Seals is to match needs to providers. We exclaimed over the beauty a wonderfully handcrafted staff Bennie Steele says he finds easier to use than a cane. Bennie admitted he is the artist and we begged to see more of his work. Laurence Byrd was welcome back to the reality on the Mississippi Gulf Coast after being displaced by Katrina to the Isle of Hope, GA.. He reports he has walls and will eventually have a restored home. Wow! We learned so much as everyone shared from their personal experiences. Just goes to show how important you are at each and every meeting! Thanks for making preparations now to attend the June 24 meeting. See you there!
Attendance May
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Notes from the May meeting.... Leigh Dethlefs reporting We had twelve people at our May meeting. We appreciate everyone who comes. We had tall tales about our visit to Camp ASCCA. It is always a surprise that they add new things every year. This time we went Geocaching with a GPS. Talk about up to date! We had a printed sheet with instructions and clues and were able to find our treasures with the GPS telling us where to go. We did it in groups and had great fun. We also played the new game of Bocci, which could be played from a wheelchair and was an easy game to learn. It was great fun cheering everyone that went Ziplining, including the ones that have never been before. We had a contest at riflery between the guys and girls. The girls won hands down. We really appreciated the volunteers who came to help us; Amanda and Kristan, from Mobile and Kim from Montgomery. Jim Hazuga spoke on being an advocate for Post-Polio effects. He had a stay at the hospital last month with problems breathing. He confronted the problem of doctors not wanting to consult and work with the doctors that we have found to be helpful with our post-polio. We have to ask for second opinions and depend on our other post-polio friends that may have found better doctors or better solutions to their individual problems. We were glad to hear that Pat Kaderly is doing better after her fall. She has recently had surgery and her fall complicated that healing process. We hope to see everyone at our next meeting. It will be summer time so we know some of you will be on vacation. Have a great time, but be careful.
Attendance May Catalogs you may find interesting:
ACCESS TO RECREATION
MOMS CATALOG
DR LEONARD’S
MAXI-AIDS, INC.
BRUCE MEDICAL SUPPLY |
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The next Mobile Area Post-Polio Support Group
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The next Pensacola Post-Polio Support Group
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Vera Moore - 251-639-2189 or e-mail Vera Moore |
Clara Norsworthy - 850-944-5834 or e-mail Leigh Dethlefs |
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These Post-Polio Supports Groups are supported by
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This page last updated May 11, 2006
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