My sister has a disability and I want to share what it’s like with other people. I think the easiest way to describe it is to look at apples and oranges.

I like apples and oranges, but they’re different. For one thing, an orange has a thick skin that you can’t bite into. An apple’s skin is smooth and you can sink your teeth in. Most people are more like apples. My sister is like an orange—you have to peel off the thick bitter outer layer to get to the good stuff.

Secondly, an orange has seeds that are mixed in with the fruit—an apple has a core and you can eat around the seeds and avoid them easily. My sister is like an orange—if you accidentally eat the seeds, you’ll be okay, but most of us are like apples—and apple seeds are poisonous.

Thirdly, an orange is well—orange. An apple can be pink, red, golden, green, yellow, but not orange. Read More »

My big sister is “disabled.” When we were younger, other words were used-- most of them negative. As a toddler, I wrote letters to my Dad, asking him to fix things and signed them “your unhappy baby.” My Grandmother often told me to feel sorry for my sister because she was different. I didn’t and I don’t.

My big sister is my hero. She gets frustrated and sometimes she gets mad and yells at me or hits me and I get mad too. We don’t always like each other. But she’s my big sister and she loves me and I love her no matter what.

She is very strong. She can pick me up and squeeze the stuffing out of me with just one arm. She is pretty—she has always known how to do her make-up and hair and dress nicely—I’m more of a tomboy. She is also very clever—inside of a month she learned how to tie her shoelaces one-handed and she re-learned how to drive a car with just one hand. Read More »

The Challenge:

Tara’s family went on a picnic. Tara wanted to help her Mom pack lunch but she couldn’t open the jar of pickles.

The Solution:

Tara made sandwiches with her Mom. They made cucumber and cream cheese sandwiches on pumpernickel bread. For their drink, Tara went outside and picked fresh mint from the herb garden. She added the mint leaves to the pink lemonade (Tara and her Mom mixed lemons, strawberries, water and some sugar together and put the pink lemonade in a thermos).


Tara looked at the picnic basket and thought to herself, something is missing, but what?! And then she figured it out—they needed pickles. Tara loves pickles, especially the really sour ones that make your face pucker up and tears come to your eyes.

Tara go Read More »