Spina Bifida Occulta

From ages 6 to 12, I suffered from epilepsy, contributing to my phobia of public places and anxiety. At 14, I was diagnosed with severe scoliosis and needed corrective surgery, which still affects my back to this day. From age 13 to now, I have experienced (in order) gastritis, gallstones, pancreatitis, gallbladder removal and have been diagnosed with a genetic mutation in my liver that causes stones to form. Needless to say, this has affected my diet and requires me to take medication. I have been hospitalized many times for treatment of my illnesses, the longest and most excruciating being three weeks for pancreatitis. Everyday, I wonder what it would’ve been like to have grown up healthy and lived without the constant stresses my conditions put on my body, my mind, and my family. As I got older, I only developed more problems as my personal life took a bad turn. The transition from one school to another in the eighth grade was incredibly difficult and my memories of the isolation and pain I felt are still deeply upsetting. It took me years to get accustomed to my new school and finally find myself in a place where I have made many good friends and feel comfortable with who and where I

Spina bifida is a neural tube birth defect that affects about 3,000 babies in the U.S. every year. Spina bifida comes from Latin terms that mean split spine. The disease occurs early in pregnancy while the baby is in the womb when the neural tube does not develop correctly (Lutkenhoff, 1999). Because the neural tube eventually becomes the nervous system and the spine, spina bifida affects the nervous system. It also indirectly affects many systems of the body because your nerves control everything your body does (Spina Bifida: The Facts, 2014).

As a congenital malformation commonly affecting children born with Spina Bifida, the Arnold-Chiari malformation, or Chiari Malformation Type II, involves the irregular extension of both the cerebellar tonsils and the brain stem tissue into the opening to the spinal canal – the foramen magnum (NINDS, 2013). Typically, the brain stem and the cerebellum sit above the opening to the spinal canal, where the brain stem houses most of the cranial nerves that supply the body. Providing the control centres for vital bodily functions such as breathing, regulation of the body’s internal environment through maintenance of heart rate and blood pressure, as well as providing sensory and motor control to a significant portion of the body (Joynt, 2014), the Arnold-Chiari malformation causes substantial problems for patients. Likewise, the congestion of these structures in the spinal canal limits the flow of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from the brain to the spinal cord (Medway, 2006), causing other medical issues that become regularly associated with Spina Bifida as a result, such as hydrocephalus (Columbia Neurosurgery, n.d.). Issues associated with the Arnold-Chiari malformation can only be relieved, rather than treated, through surgical processes that aim to eliminate or reduce these symptoms (WebMD, 2014).

Some family have stereotypical ideas about disabled, but for Amy Purdy and her family that motivate them to live their lives beyond their limits. Although, she lost some parts of her body. For example, she lost both her legs below the knees, the spleen, kidneys. Unfortunately, she became unable to hear in her left ear. Another person who born with disability, Maysoon Zayid which is cerebral palsy. However, she did not give up for this so she worked hard and persevere to get a scholarship which was from Arizona State University. From Amy Purdy and Maysoon Zayid, we learn that facing problems forces us to get creative, and we should be optimistic when we want to change a critical situation.

Spina Bifida is a birth defect where the spinal cord does not develop correctly, or is not closed all the way while still in the mother. Back many years ago people who were diagnosed with spina bifida were not expected to live very long. Their lifespan was only about 6-12 months and then they would die. From having the spinal cord not developed it can cause massive defects on the child. It can be as simple as just a limp in the walk, but it can get as bad as not being able to use their legs at all. These children still have the right to work out and become stronger individuals. The children may also want to be involved in a sport. Many people may think this is impossible, but with slight modifications the child can participate

Working in the physical education field can be both rewarding and challenging and it is important for the success of all students that physical education teachers rise to the challenges that they are presented with. One of the challenges a physical education teacher may face are different disabilities that may impact their students in the physical education setting. Two examples of disabilities that teachers may see are Spina Bifida and Cerebral Palsy.

Spina Bifida means that you have a split in your spine. Scientist say that there are about 8 babies that are born with spina bifida a day. Doctors detect spina bifida by using MSAFP short for Maternal Serum Alpha-Fetoprotein. Other ways that spina bifida can be diagnosed is prenatal screening, Ultrasound and Amniocentesis. Causes of spina bifida is obesity, exposure to high temperatures, exposure to certain chemicals. 2,000 babies of the 4 million babies are born with spina bifida. Children with spina bifida have more problems walking, can have kidney problems and can also have some levels of sexual dysfunction. Spina Bifida usually don't have treatments but certain types of spina bifida can be treated with surgery, prenatal surgery, ongoing

The most significant challenged I ever faced is being diagnosed with severe Wolff-Parkinson-White (WPW) syndrome my junior year of college. Receiving my diagnosis I was upset and negative about the situation. I knew financially I could not get the surgery, and I knew I needed to push on through college. Nevertheless, I never let my diagnosis get the best of me. My diagnosis did not get the best of me because I started to see it as a positive challenge. Additionally, I realized my diagnosis taught me important life lessons. One of the life lessons taught to me, by my diagnosis, was to not add constant stress to the situation out of my control. If a situation is out of my control, like being diagnosed with WPW, the worst response is constant

Throughout my entire life I’ve gone through numerous troubles & tribulations. Certain people take pity on me & think that my quality of life is lesser than their own. I believe that my disability barely hinders my life. And if it does interfere with my life, then I perseverance & then achieve my goals. I believe that through hard work & persevere anyone could achieve their goals.

Spina Bifida literally means “split spine”. It is the most common permanent disabling birth defect in the United States. It happens when the brain, spinal cord do not completely develop. It is the most common neural tube defect in the United States- affecting 1500 to 2000 of more than four million babies in each year. An estimate shows 166,000 individual lives with Spina Bifida in the United States. I choose this disorder because many people do not about the effects, causes, symptoms and treatments about the disorder and I wanted to know more about spina bifida.

A hardship that my family and I faced was my mother being placed on disability. When I was four years old, she stepped off a ladder wrong and slipped a disk in her back. To repair the disk, it required multiple surgeries. As a result, she is still on disability. During this time, my father was the main breadwinner in our house, so money was sometimes a tough thing to come by. On top of my mother’s medical issues, I have my own medical issues. I have always had some minor issues, but in the last couple of years they have started to become more serious. During my senior year, I was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome. This syndrome is chronic and so are some of the other issues that comes with it. Now that I am currently enrolled in college,

An average of 90% of all babies born deaf or with some type of hearing loss are born to hearing parents. Deafness can be caused by a variety of things both genetic and environmental. Upon learning their child is deaf, most hearing families try to find ways to fix what they feel is a defect. However, deaf families rejoice in their child's deafness because now they have another person to strengthen the deaf community and carry on the American Deaf culture.

Overall, people with disabilities can be just as successful as you and me they may just need a little more assistance and time to do it. This goes with physical education and normal classroom education. Their goals may be different than ours, but they are still valuable and can achieve their own goals. Our society may have preconceived perception about people with disabilities but with many of the individuals I have worked with prove this

It is frequently thought that Deaf People are not able to speak. Generally, the inability to speak is thought to be associated with the lack of hearing capability.

Within society, there are very rare instances where we truly hear or understand the experience of an individual who is disabled from their own point of view. In fact, the majority of the time, we tend to hear about the experiences of able bodied individuals who have family members or friends with a disability and how they go about helping these individuals with the things they need. Moreover, the dominant ideology in society influences people to believe that these individuals are incapable of living a “normal” life and therefore, are incapable of achieving happiness. Both articles by Oliver (1990) and Ladd (2005) place their focus on the medicalization of disabilities and how able-bodied and able-minded individuals hold the power to medicalize