… Or, why do I identify as one? And what is essentially my abbreviated bio.
Let it be known from here on that my use of this word (“Crip”) has no connotation or any sort of reference to any type of gang activity whatsoever. I say this mostly as a “tongue-in-cheek” statement but with people not being able to take humor these days and who get bent out of shape over “inappropriate appropriation”, I put this here for you.
So this is where I do the previously mentioned uncomfortable part.
I do not consider it uncomfortable because I am embarrassed of my disability. It is usually just very secondary to me and I try to not make it an issue in my everyday life and interactions. However, I completely understand if this seems extremely contradictory now that I have a site called “An American Crip”.
Joke’s on me, huh?
Anyway, some detail about my disability and my past:
I was born on November 9, 1978 and eighteen months from that date I was involved in an automobile accident with my mother. It was the days before the use of carseats / child restraints in vehicles and from what I’ve been told, we were on the way to buy my grandfather a birthday present when another vehicle pulled out in front of us. A collision was inevitable and in that process, I hit the back of my head and bruised my brain stem. I believe that my mother and I were both rendered unconscious but upon getting to a hospital, she eventually came to while I was receiving critical care.
For Atlanta locals, I was eventually transferred to a hospital by the name of Georgia Baptist ( now Atlanta Medical Center) where I ended up spending eight months. When it was eventually decided that there was nothing more that could be done for me, I was sent home. Now considered an incomplete quadriplegic (a person with impairments in three or more limbs but maintaining body sensation) and ventilator-dependent, my family began taking care of me and a new norm was developed.
After a few years, the development of this new norm came to involve me starting school. At this time I was put into special education classes because I was the first person in my school system who was ventilator-dependent. They eventually grew tired of me though (heh) and I was put into “regular” classes where I remained until I graduated high school, by the skin of my teeth. Long story short to this is that I had too many friends. Extra special thanks to Brandon, Bryan and Nathan.
After high school, I had no guidance and no clue what I wanted to do but I eventually followed the college pattern. I’m not going to tell you how long it took me to get my Bachelors degree but let’s just say if all of my years were focused successively, I could be a doctor. *Cue “Tommy Boy”* …and if you don’t know that reference, you should be ashamed of yourself.
After obtaining my Bachelor of Science degree from Atlanta Christian College in “Organizational Leadership” (the Christian college term for “Business Management”), I went on to hold a handful of paid positions that you can see in my résumé. However, I started working full time for my family’s real estate business when the man I consider my father was diagnosed with brain cancer. This and his death was obviously a devastating blow and a life-altering event.
I continued my work in this arena until the business was sold and the property was no longer ours to tend to. In an effort to always try to keep busy with something, I ventured into volunteer tutoring for adults achieving their GED and I found success here as well. This led to a short stint in teaching which I really enjoyed but that I had to give up for insurance purposes.
So, that pretty much leads me up to today with the exception of leaving out some events that are important but that involve other people to which I wish to keep private. To learn more of who I am, please go here and as stated earlier, you can also view my résumé.
Bryan Ridarick
Click image to go back to homepage