Story About a Disabled Person Essay Example for Free

Story About a Disabled Person Essay What is a disabled person? A disabled person is classified as any person who is unable to obtain for himself or herself, fully or partially, the normal requirements of an individual and /or is unable to participate fully in the community due to shortcomings either physically or mentally which may have occurred since birth or later in life. There are people who have overcome these shortcomings and achieved great success through self-reliance and diligence. One such person that comes to mind is none other than my Uncle John. Uncle John is my mother’s youngest brother. He was born on June 12, 1970, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Uncle John was not born deaf and blind. According to my grandmother, when Uncle John was 16 months old he came down with meningitis, which robbed him of both his sight and hearing. The sad thing about this was that my grandparents were not aware about this and only realized my uncle’s disability when he was only two years old. By then the damage to the nerves in his eyes were too severe to be rectified and there was nothing that could be done for his ears. With great determination my grandmother tutored my uncle at home in Mathematics, Language, Music and Art. My uncle was a fast learner and picked up well in all the subjects. But he showed tremendous improvement and excellence in Music. My grandmother decided to get him a music tutor although it took a toll on their livelihood as my grandfather was the only wage earner in the house and he had a family of five young kids to feed and educate. My grandmother decided to sell cakes to make extra money. My uncle progressed so well that he had completed all the 8 levels of music in just 5 years. When he was 15 years old my uncle decided to lift the burden of my grandparents by teaching music to earn a living. He was such a patient and caring music teacher that parents were waiting at the doorstep to enrol their children in his music classes. He had been teaching for about five years when he decided to further his studies in music. At the age of 21 he asked for his parents blessings to allow him to pursue his ambition of being a concert pianist in America. My grandmother was reluctant to let him go as she was worried that he would not be able to cope on his own. By then all his older siblings including my mother had graduated and were doing well in their respective fields. They talked their parents into allowing my uncle to follow his dream. With a heavy heart my grandmother gave in and my uncle left for America. While there, my uncle enrolled in the prestigious Julliard School of Music in New York City. Although he had saved enough money to see him through only the first year of college, that did not deter him. He gave his most and his disability was not an obstacle. He excelled in all his classes and was well liked by both his peers and lecturers. He was voted into all the committees as he was someone that could be depended on. At the end of the first year my uncle scored distinctions in all his subjects and was placed on the Dean’s list. He was given a full scholarship to continue his studies for the next year. He excelled for the next three years and was given a full scholarship for the rest of his college studies. At the end of his four year study he was invited to take part in a concert for budding concert pianists. At the tender age of 24 he played in front of an audience of 7,000. The audience was awed by his skills. He appeared in the newspapers and everyone was talking about this young talent. After this he was invited on many premier shows such as The David Letterman Show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show and even The Oprah Winfrey Show. He travelled all over the world giving concerts. He became a world renowned concert pianist earning a lot of money. After being away for 10 whole years my Uncle decided to return to Malaysia. Throughout the ten years away he never forgot the sacrifices his parents made for him. He set them up in a beautiful house with a maid to look after them. He made sure his parents and siblings were well taken care off. He also made sure that his parents travelled to all his concerts all over the world. Today he is happily married with two healthy children – my cousins Deidre and Antoine. He will always be my inspiration because he did not let his disability bring him down. He has taught me that one can excel in anything if one is determined.