attitudes

QUESTION: “Some people in my group seem to have very definite, strong and unwavering opinions. Their voices are always heard, because they speak up. Now, I am hesitant to open up any discussion because they dominate and others clam up. What can I do to create a better atmosphere during the meetings, so others can be heard (and want to come back to the meetings)?”

Complimented or Insulted?

Post-Polio Health, Volume 26, Number 3, Summer 2010.

Dr. Rhoda Olkin is a Distinguished Professor of Clinical Psychology at the California School of Professional Psychology in San Francisco, as well as Executive Director of the Institute on Disability and Health Psychology. She is a polio survivor and single mother of two grown children.

Close Encounters of the Post-Polio Kind

Nancy Baldwin Carter, BA, M Ed Psych, Omaha, Nebraska, is a polio survivor, a writer, and is founder and former director of Nebraska Polio Survivors Association.

It’s not as if we polio survivors never run into a glitch or two in a day. Let’s face it—dealing with the unexpected has become part of everyone’s routine. Developing the finesse to do that smoothly and successfully—well, that may be a different matter.

Racking Up Success

Nancy Baldwin Carter, BA, M Ed Psych, Omaha, Nebraska, is a polio survivor, a writer, and is founder and former director of Nebraska Polio Survivors Association.

A few years ago Hubby’s dentist gave him a scruffily pathetic Christmas cactus that wasn’t doing well under her tutelage. He brought it home, put in on his desk under the desk lamp, in front of an east window, next to the room’s heating duct, and here it is kept throughout the year.

Support Group Dysfunction

From the series, Polio Survivors Ask, by Nancy Baldwin Carter, B.A, M.Ed.Psych, from Omaha, Nebraska, is a polio survivor, a writer, and is founder and former director of Nebraska Polio Survivors Association.

Q: I am 58 years old and I attended a support group meeting recently. I will never go back.

Fear of Using a Cane

From the series, Polio Survivors Ask, by Nancy Baldwin Carter, B.A, M.Ed.Psych, from Omaha, Nebraska, is a polio survivor, a writer, and is founder and former director of Nebraska Polio Survivors Association.

Q: A friend who had polio told me that since he uses a cane, people give him more room so he has less fear of being bumped by others. He wishes he used it a few years earlier. Me, too! How can we help people “get over” the fear of looking disabled?

Best Post-Polio Advice

Q: We have known about the late effects of polio for almost 30 years. I've gotten a lot of advice during that time and wonder about other polio survivors. What's the best post-polio advice you ever received?