ccadvocates
ccadvocates
| Forum role | Member since | Last activity | Topics created | Replies created |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Member | Apr 27, 2020 (6 years) |
- | 1 | 0 |
- Forum role
- Member
- Member since
Apr 27, 2020 (6 years)
- Last activity
- -
- Topics created
- 1
- Replies created
- 0
Bio
Hi my name is Sonja Baker, I am a paraplegic born with spina bifida and I use a manual chair and a power chair to get around in. I also use leg braces and a walker to walk when I can.
I attended the University of Northern Colorado in 2006 to 2011 with a degree in Special Education and minor in Reading. I lived in the dorms on my own while I was attending the University of Northern Colorado. While attending college I found out I had to advocate a lot for myself. My third year of college I moved into a new dorm room which I was told was ADA compliant but to me it wasn't. I had a twin bed in the room and it had to be against the wall so when I made my bed I had to transfer to the bed from my chair to make sure I could get the covers up against the wall. Then in my bathroom my shower had a slope come out into the bathroom so when I showered water came out of the shower around the wall and went under the sink and just made a puddle because the floor wasn't level enough for the water to go into the drain. Then my cabinet for my cosmetic stuff was up on the wall above my stool so I had to make sure I didn't let anything fall into the stool. I had to use a reacher to get things down that were to high for me to reach if I needed it. I found out later these things I had to deal with in the bathroom were a building code which to me doesn't make since but you learn something new everyday.
I didn't become an advocate for people with disabilities till 2015 because I had to deal with another issue two years after getting out of college. I ended up in the hospital in 2013 due to a pressure sore from sitting to much and not being overly active. So that put me in the hospital for about a year which was not fun. Going through the process of being in the hospital and a rehab to gain my strength back I learned a lot again. So much had changed from the last time I was in the hospital with the same issue. There was a lack of communication between the Doctors and Nurses I felt like a guinea pig because the doctors and nurses were trying new treatments on me every so often on my wound to get it healed after the skin graph surgeries I had. I felt the nurses didn't look at my chart to see what was being used on me. I had become more of an advocate for myself by being in the rehab then in the hospital. I had to be all the professions while in the rehab the nurse, therapist and doctor. This is why I became an advocate is because I want to be a support for those who have disabilities young or old to learn to speak for themselves and be aware of what is around them and help make life easier for them.
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