Tag: independance living
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What I Wish People Knew About the PCA Waiver
Living Independently: The PCA Journey — Part Eight Our Beautiful Challenges — Marie W.O.W.C.P. Throughout this series, I’ve talked about what having a PCA means to me, learning to be my own boss, choosing the right people, building trust, setting boundaries, asking for help, and redefining independence. But there’s one more thing I want to…
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Why Independence Doesn’t Mean Doing Everything Alone
Living Independently: The PCA Journey — Part Seven Our Beautiful Challenges — Marie W.O.W.C.P. For a long time, I thought independence meant doing everything myself. If I could do something without help, I was independent. If I needed someone to help me, somehow that felt different. As a woman with cerebral palsy who spent years…
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Seven Things I Look for in a PCA
Living Independently: The PCA Journey — Part Four Our Beautiful Challenges — Marie W.O.W.C.P. Having a PCA is about much more than having someone come into my home and help me with certain tasks. This person becomes part of my everyday life. They may see me when I’m having a great day and when I’m…
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Building Trust With My PCA
Living Independently: The PCA Journey — Part Five Our Beautiful Challenges — Marie W.O.W.C.P. Trusting a PCA can almost be like trusting a partner. That might sound like an unusual comparison, but when you think about how involved a PCA can become in your everyday life, it makes sense. Depending on what kind of assistance…
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The Challenge of Being My Own Boss
Living Independently: The PCA Journey — Part Three Our Beautiful Challenges — Marie W.O.W.C.P. Being part of a PCA Waiver program has given me something incredibly important: choice. I have the ability to choose the people who help me and have a say in how that help is provided. That freedom is a huge part…
OUR BEAUTIFUL CHALLENGES 