Laura Vittorioso: In Our Own Words

Laura had polio at 20 months old. "I was told as a young child by the physical therapists that I would have to work harder and be better, than those who were not disabled. 'The world doesn’t owe you a living' I was told. It was an either/or situation. You either worked hard to achieve some type of normalcy or you were left behind to stay at home and not participate in society.
I never wanted to be my disability; I wanted to be like everyone else. I went about my life as if I wasn’t disabled; however, it would trip me up every so often as a reminder. Now it is a constant reminder. I have to make decisions every day about what I can and cannot take on.

Many of the ailments I’ve been dealing with for the past twenty years, I attributed to 'getting older with polio'. My primary care doctors didn’t seem to understand my symptoms either, often sending me for repeat sessions of physical therapy for the purpose of muscle 'strengthening' to build up my weakening muscles. PT always left me feeling more fatigued and spent. Instinctively I’ve realized over the years that I can no longer do what I used to do; that I need to slow down because of the muscle pain and fatigue. But this (Post-Polio Syndrome) is difficult for us who have built our lives on over doing to compensate for our disability."