Personal Narrative-The Craniofacial Challenges Of My Life

Bernice Johnson Reagon once said, “Life's challenges are not supposed to paralyze you, they're supposed to help you discover who you are.” My life experiences have pushed me to discover myself. I was born with a rare craniofacial condition called Saethre- Chotzen. A craniofacial condition is an abnormality of the face and head. For myself, the bones in my skull do not grow properly; consequently, I have gone through six major skull reconstructive surgeries. I was hearing impaired until I was five. At an early age, I was diagnosed with a reading and decoding learning disability and fine motor issues. However, I have overcome the challenges life has thrown at me and I worked hard along the way. People often ask if I would be happier if I was born “normal”. My answer would be no since I would …show more content…
Throughout these assemblies, I inform the audience about craniofacial conditions, as well as my life experiences and myself as a person. The importance of the assemblies is to communicate that people with facial differences are just like every other person. People often react nervous or even scared when they see someone with a craniofacial condition because of their appearance. Children with craniofacial conditions are often easy targets for bullying since they stand out, so I try to explain that everyone is unique. During the assembly’s question and answer section, the attending students usually open up and realize that I am no different from anyone else. These assemblies give the students a chance to recognize that even though I look different, I still enjoy the same hobbies and have the same dreams. At these events, I hope that I am able to connect and teach others to be tolerant and kind not only to those with craniofacial conditions, but also for all types of people, even if they are a little