Writings about Ataxia, being DeafBlind, family life. The best life can offer!


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Hello folks!

I hope you are well!  I am pretty good!

I really appreciate when people read, and more so, when people comment on my articles.  Some comments are really heartwarming and that warms my heart!  Others are equally important.  I want to capture those comments, and maybe reply to them.

For example, some people were telling me about “Typical” and “Normal”… some people did not think they were interchangeable.  But, I feel they are: On a typical Monday, on a normal Tuesday…

I remember in grade 12 English in spring of 1988. I was listening to my teacher, which meant I missed almost everything, prattle on about this and that.  I was actually watching a drop of sunshine creep its way across the floor.  When, out of the blue, the teacher approached me and asked me to explain my “Typical Domestic Warrior” comment I used to describe my grandmother, who never had a job but was a housewife.  My dad told me to use that.

The teacher, seeing that I was drifting into slumber, put the spot on me, “What do you mean by ‘Typical’” she asked, loudly.

I stammered and spluttered “It means common.”

“What’s common?” was her comeback line.

“It is, like, normal,” I retorted, finally cottoning on.

“So, Typical and Normal are the same thing?” she loudly asked, as she stood right in fornt of my desk.

“Sure, yes, I think, ah-hum, I guess,” was the essence of my reply, I was probably trying to find that drop of sunshine again, or craving a smoke.  Probably both!

Her reply was impressed on me almost 30 years later, “Yes, a typical,” glances at my paper, “domestic warrior is the same as saying a ‘Normal housewife’…”

So that is why I use both typical and normal to mean the same thing.

As in 1988 and again in 1998, university, and now 2018, my conclusions still suck the monkey wrench.

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About the author

Craig MacLean is DeafBlind with ataxia, a rare condition called CAPOS. He & his wife of 22 years have two sons, the oldest of which has CAPOS as well.

Craig uses American Sign Language to communicate. He is an avid writer, friend, Hot Wheel collector and intervenor advocate.

Craig sits on many committees, boards and associations as a DeafBlind rep. He graduated university with a BA in psychology in 2000.