Kimberley's Blog: Feeling More Productive

Kimberley has overcome a lot in her life. She was born prematurely on January 30, 1982 weighing a mere 3lbs 9oz. She had Cerebral Palsy and has been blind since birth.

When she was 2 years old her parents divorced and she was raised by her mother who never told her she couldn't do something. She credits a lot of her attitude that anything is possible to this.

At the age of 14 she finished all of the necessary coursework for the year in one term and left home to go to a school for the blind for a term to continue learning braille. While there she was continually sexually assaulted by another student and raped. She finished up the term before going back to her home province and continuing her education at a mainstream school where at 18 she graduated next to her classmates and friends with honours.

The summer after graduating high school in 2000 she went to the US to train with her new guide dog before University started in the Fall. She graduated with her guide dog Sophie at the end of August and had just enough time to go back home and pack before leaving the province to go to Dalhousie University where she majored in Psychology.

In 2004 she became a quadriplegic after an infection in her spinal cord. She was told that she would have to give up her guide dog, start using a power chair and move to a nursing home. She was determined not to let any of these things happen and after an 8 months left the hospital pushing herself in a manual wheelchair, guided by her guide dog Sophie on her way to their new apartment.

She is currently training her Siberian Husky, Keisha to become her next guide/service dog. None of the guide dog schools would train a dog for her unless she started using a power chair, so instead of giving up the independence of using a manual wheelchair she decided to train her own dog. Keisha will gradually take over Sophie's work so she can enjoy her retirement.

Now Kimberley wants to become the first and only blind wheelchair racer! When she gets her first racing wheelchair you can bet you will be seeing a lot of her! She won't stop until she is one of the best!

Feeling More Productive

>> Wednesday, November 5, 2008

I got up early today for a grocery delivery and decided to move my desk out into the living room. I don't use my office when I'm here alone because I like to listen to the TV while I'm working. I get more done that way. My office is only around the corner from the living room, but it's far enough away that I feel somewhat isolated from everything when I'm in there.

I moved my desk into a corner where the dog's bed was so I have access to the TV and radio. Now I can change the channel without having to leave my desk, or listen to my iPod while I work. I was always better at doing things while I multi-tasked. If I'm only doing one thing at a time I get bored with it very easily and quickly move on to something else.

It's only 8:38am and I feel like I've accomplished something already just by setting up a nice workspace. I've been using the dining room table, couch and an end table for weeks now. Of course this led to neck aches and having to stop what I was doing a lot.

I feel like I'm wasting space by not using my office, but what's the point of having my desk and everything in there when it's not being used? At least if it's moved into the living room I will use it and get more done!

Kim

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