Dexter, that was very good of you. I didn't know what to say. Sorry about the delay. I can feel myself withdrawing from civilization again, even as my pain is getting better.

I don't know if I'll ever get over this social phobia. My mental health nurse wants to know when I'll get back in touch with my Dungeons and Dragons group. I'm like: "I don't know."

Isolating is like shielding myself from the cruelty of the world. I heard somebody in a coffee shop today yelling that people in wheelchairs shouldn't be out in the streets. I wanted to go over and punch out his lights. It really hurt. I have a hard enough time being social without hearing comments like "wheelchair b****" thrown around me as if I can't hear them.

My hearing is perfectly sound. I went to the same schools they did. I had a right to do so. Why shouldn't we be out in the streets? Comments like that leave me feeling threatened. It's pure hatred. I wish it would stop!

There is a thing more crippling than cerebral palsy: the prison of your own mind.