Transportation Complications

One thing I am learning from my latest excursion into rehabilitation is that it is important to have as many people as you can get in your corner. It makes the entire process so much easier. Living with Cerebral Palsy is challenging. So what is a person to do?

You have to have good resources of information. My family and I are moving to Florida any time now, and so I have been scrambling to find resources for Cerebral Palsy so that I won't be stuck waiting on people to be available for a ride. Going down there without having any friends or anything is going to be hard enough, right? I shouldn't have to limit my transporation too!

So for the last month or so, I have been trying to find the right resources for me for Florida. If I had done that type of stuff when we'd moved to Maryland I probably wouldn't be so hard pressed for a ride that doesn't stand you up, make you late for work (when I was working) or leave you if you have a doctor's appointment that is running late!

Mobility as the paratransit of Maryland is called has turned into the worst nightmare you could imagine. I rarely use them, and as a result, my mother often plays taxi right now.

Now, we all know what it feels like not to be able to do something that almost everyone in your entire circle of family and friends can do. It gets harder for me to watch even my younger friends get their licenses and drive into independence every year. Every time someone gets a permit, even, I relive the day I was told that I could not drive, even with adaptive equipment. That gets hard to deal with, as you can imagine.

When I start feeling at my worst about it, I try to think of all the good things I can do that most can't. One thing I have over my friends that ride the bus is that I can get on for free. And I can definitely take that.

See, the Mobility transportation program, in addition their Taxi Access II program, act like good deals, but in this day and age? Not really. The Taxi Access program, as a matter of fact, changed it's policy, and now costs MORE than it used to.

This forces me to deal with waiting for parents or friends to be available to take me to places that I can't get to by walking. And it's crazy. Why should those of us without transportation be treated like this? We're human beings, too. And I am not the only person to complain about this particular issue, but I am still searching for a solution to the problem.