What I've learned is this, while the personality of the person with the disability is very important i think the most important thing is thier support group, there family and friends, these are the people that are going to decide what that person does. are they going to just let them sit at home and do nothing but feel sorry for themselves or are thay going to tell them, "lets go, lets get out of here and do something fun!", is thier mother going to baby them and say, "I'll do that for you." or say, "Get it yourself."
You can tell a person with a disability all kinds of things, "you are still alive.", "you can still do this or that, just different than before." but if you aren't thier best friend, a person thats known them for years it just doesn't have the same meaning.

David

i agree,i feel if i had the support of my sons id be a lot more ambitious

Friends and Family make my world go around. Strangers perspective isnt always a bad thing but my closest friends definitely know me best and know what I need to hear, when I need to hear it. Whether I like it or not.

Without them, I know for a fact, I wouldnt have come this far.

my family are awesome i know they find it hard sometimes when they think about me and my disability though i think my positive attitude makes them feel better

whynbe glum life goes on i say

Ag's

I totally agree. I wouldn't know what to do without my friends and family. When I first got hurt I was so scared that they were going to treat me different, but they treat me the same. They don't let the chair stop us from having fun. I have lost a few friends though but I'm sure most of us have lost a few.

Having good friends and family around has to be beneficial. That said, all they can do is support, educate themselves to the situation of the injured person so as to understand, to encourage pushing the boundaries as far as they can go. What they most certainly can't do is 'compel'. The injured person is the prime mover and they alone can make life easier or harder for themselves and those around them.

In our son we were fortunate that he developed a positive attitude early on and has maintained this, though it would be foolish to say that he didn't have his dark days along the way, as we all do SCI or able bodied.