Keeping My Balance

In 1973, complications during Stephanie Torreno's birth resulted in the diagnosis of cerebral palsy at the age of one. Educating themselves about the condition, Stephanie's parents sought intensive physical, occupational, and speech therapy for their daughter. These therapies in early childhood and throughout school assisted Stephanie in learning to walk and speak while having limited mobility, significant challenges with fine motor skills, and articulation difficulties. Stephanie's narrative chronicles her experiences growing up with a physical disability and her parents' advocacy for her, an above-average student, in receiving a mainstreamed education. She describes learning alongside typical classmates without handwriting ability and benefitting from her parents' continuous fight for academic modifications and individualized services. In a deeply personal memoir, Stephanie writes about traumatic family events, including her father's suicide. She illustrates her pursuits to become more independent while coping with additional loss. Stephanie takes readers through her quest to obtain a college education, her attempts to gain meaningful employment, and her emotional journey to live independently.