Not able to feed my body

by Lena
(Ohio)

Many of us as an adult know what children have yet to figure out, how to work in the body we have.

When in school, I coped pretty well. I was a drifty kid but grades and everything were fine. One of my teachers took all of my things out of my desk because I was "fiddling". I always knew what we were doing and I was on task.

After a degree in Occupational therapy I know why. It fed my brain and body and kept me on task and alert. Many adults do things like chew gum to adapt. To this day I prefer to have my hands occupied with repetitive, brainless tasks. Knitting, macrame, etc will help me be alert and with it and keeps me from picking at my skin which I will do if my hands aren't busy.

At work I was knitting when there was down time. Many of my co-workers read the paper or do crosswords in down time. I was told that while those activities are fine, knitting is not. The sad thing is it keeps me more alert for when an inbound call comes in. One would think that the skills we use as an adult that make us better would be accepted if they are not harming anyone. No. There is discrimination.

You can do traditional things like reading the paper but you can't do something with your hands. Sometimes we just don't fit in. Ever.