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Paralyzed Teacher Writes Book Explaining Her Accident To Kids |
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By HOWARD KOLUS
LEBANON, Pa. --
White won't think you rude and may even hand you a copy of the delightfully illustrated children's book she wrote explaining that an accident left her paralyzed from the chest down with limited movement in her arms and wrists. As a learning support teacher, White is an inspiration to her fourth-grade special education students at Ebenezer Elementary School and believes she is a better instructor since the mishap on a sunny September afternoon in 2001. It was then that a powered parachute in which she was the passenger crashed on takeoff into a cornfield at a small Lebanon County airstrip. "The more people understand about these things, the less you have to deal with disability boundaries and roadblocks," said White as she explained why she's always ready to talk about the accident. In fact, the Lebanon Valley College graduate, who holds a master's degree in special education from Shippensburg University, said she will approach others with disabilities and ask "What happened to you?" then tell them how her head crashed into the pilot's helmet, breaking a vertebra in her neck and injuring her spinal cord. "It has helped me understand the needs of kids with disabilities a lot better," White reflected recently, relaxed in her classroom after her students had left for the day. "You can go through a million different courses and training but until you really have to confront it yourself, you don't really understand." Today she maneuvers her chair deftly among the desks, watching out for little feet and objects on the floor, often forgetting that she's not standing on her own. "I don't know that it's really ever set in," White said. "I know what I'm living with, I know that I do things differently (but) with the support I had from my friends, family and the school district, I never had the chance to become depressed. I'd lie in the hospital room (and also during rehabilitation) and every day there was a parade of people and I never wanted to let them down. You'd always get your hugs and kisses." As a means of explaining the injury to her young students, White spent two years writing "New Opportunities," a tale about Spiney the porcupine, who on "a beautiful, late summer afternoon" headed out with a friend for an excursion on a small craft just like the one in which White was riding. His story is her story and it's required reading in her classroom. "This adventure did not turn out the way Spiney and Flyer (the pilot) had planned," White says in the book. (The work, illustrated by Dorothy Thompson Perez, also includes vocabulary definitions and discussion questions for student interaction.) "(They) were handed a new life (and) Spiney and Flyer looked forward to the new adventures that lie ahead of them." And adventures they are. In addition to her self-published softcover and another book in the planning stage, White visits schools to speak about her experiences and teaches a weekly class titled "An Introduction to Exceptionalities in Children and Youth" at Lebanon Valley College. "It's me teaching teachers in training about differences, basically special education," White explained. "I love that (new) aspect of teaching (with) young adults now. ... The big thing is to teach that it's OK to be different." Her fourth-graders know that too. Ten-year-old Austyn Brandt says White is "awesome," especially when "she helps us sound out the words" during reading assignments. Devin Vanasco, also 10, said reading White's book was "good" and that he especially enjoyed "when the doctors were really taking care of her and stuff." "She's a nice teacher and she's a good teacher," he added. Seven years after the accident, White clearly enjoys the affections of her students, but even her classroom success has not dimmed memories of the crash. "I knew something was going to happen," when it became apparent that the tiny craft would never clear the fields surrounding the runway, she recalled. "The front wheel hit the ground. You could hear the parachute getting caught up in the fan, the cornstalks hitting the ground." A medical helicopter flew her to a hospital and therapy followed. Recovery took six months. Today, White lives on the first floor of a Rexmont townhouse adapted to her needs; her father, Vernon, resides upstairs. A personal-care aide provides assistance and a trainer stops by for weekly workouts. She also is a regular at the Lebanon Valley College gym. Relying on caregivers, hoping they'll be there when promised, "is the hard part about disability," White said. "Your life revolves around them (to help you do) things you normally take for granted. ... That's definitely an area of independence I gave up." Her father's ingenuity has been a blessing. Because White's fingers are immobile, he devised a simple device that allows her to move papers around and pull them towards her; it is especially helpful in the classroom. She uses a marker in a holder to sign her name. "When I first got hurt, (my writing) looked like I was in kindergarten," she laughed. "Now I write my own checks." White is quick to praise the school district and fellow teachers for facilitating her recovery and return to the classroom. The district provided a special projector that allows White to show learning material on a wall screen, and she recalls how teachers videotaped school events for her to watch while recuperating. "There are things that get frustrating (White's book shows Spiney in tears "on days that made her cry") but you just get around it," she said. Students often help in the classroom, she added, thus "learning a lot more by having to do what I need to do." "This has made an imprint on the kids ... who struggle with everyday things," she observed. "They see me overcome obstacles and they work much harder. ... I am a believer that things happen for a reason." Despite her injury, White lives a full life. She has learned to drive a wheelchair-accessible van, although she finds little need to use the vehicle. And her social calendar is full. "I do everything I've done before," she said. "I joke (that) I just get better parking spaces now. I go everywhere, I do things with my friends (and) I met an absolutely wonderful guy I share my life with." "He's my biggest fan," she said, her face breaking into a broad smile. ------ "New Opportunities," by Michelle White with illustrations by Dorothy Thompson Perez, is available through Amazon.com. The price is $15.22. ------ Information from: Lebanon Daily News, http://www.ldnews.com |