Pretty for a Crippled Girl

Pretty for a Crippled Girl is an uncensored, honest, at times painfully raw, and yet, funny and entertaining memoir by Teri Siri who lives with Cerebral Palsy (CP). The doctors advised her parents to institutionalize Teri as a baby because she would most likely be a "vegetable." Fortunately, the family didn't listen to the experts!
Instead, Teri Siri grew up with her twin, Traci, and her older sister, Tami, attended school, and went on to live a full active life as an independent woman of independent means who lives life on her own terms. She achieved financial independence through challenging work. In addition, she has had a love life filled with good sex, heartbreak, marriage, divorce, and now, a long-term meaningful partnership that includes long motorcycle trips. Along the way, Teri has traveled internationally multiple times, skydived, bungy jumped, sailed, and successfully tried just about anything she was told she couldn't do because of her physical limitations. If someone told Teri she couldn't achieve something, she would prove them wrong.
Alongside describing her full productive life, Teri writes about the tremendous prejudice she has faced as a person with a physical disability. She describes the constant oblivious comments, jokes, questions, and downright hurtful things people have said and done because she has physical differences. Thus, the title of her memoir: Many people have said directly to Teri she was "pretty for a crippled girl." They've also said this behind her back, but within earshot.
Teri doesn't tell these stories as a victim or a whiner, but rather as someone who wants the world to understand the constant barrage of demeaning and dismissive comments that people with disabilities, both physical and mentally, face on a daily basis. One of Teri's favorite words is "fuck." She embraces this word in all its grammatical forms and in all the places and circumstances where Teri sees fuck as the most appropriate expression.
Teri's memoir is a testament to what an individual can accomplish despite naysayers' discouragement and dismissive societal stereotypes that dehumanize people who face disabilities. Once you read Teri's account you will find insight into what it might be like for a person facing the challenges of a disability. This memoir is the real deal, a firsthand account beyond medical descriptions or assumptions. If you face physical or invisible challenges, you will find camaraderie in this book with someone who knows what it's like.
Teri's memoir is an excellent read for anyone facing the challenges of a disability, whether physical or otherwise. This is an important read for family members, medical professionals, and the world at large.

Teri Siri and her twin sister were born in Portland, Oregon in September 1964. After a few months, it became clear Teri's physical development was not on par with her twin's. Doctors soon determined that Teri had cerebral palsy (CP), a physical condition that would become a defining factor in her life. A strong spirit and invincible determination proved to be some of Teri's greatest strengths as she grew up and has lived a full productive life, shattering any early predictions that she would probably be "a vegetable."
Teri spent much of her early life moving frequently with her young, divorced mother, her twin, Traci, and an older sister, Tami. Teri's father decided he was not ready for marriage and family, so he left. The maternal grandparents were key people in Teri's life, and it was her grandmother, Nana, who was determined that Teri would succeed in life and be treated “normally.” Nana defied the “experts” who recommended institutionalizing Teri. Nana was Teri's biggest inspiration and number one cheerleader for years as Teri endured multiple surgeries, rehab, and daily struggles coping with CP.
Ages and dates are sometimes a blur for Teri because she moved so many times as a child. Teri groups her childhood memories around where she was living at any given time. A part of the frequent moving was due to Teri getting the medical help and surgeries she needed. Moving was also part of the family's lifestyle. When Teri was a young child, her mom married again, her husband a musician and singer in a band. For a couple of years, they moved often, living in Oregon, Northern California, and Florida. During her grammar school years, Teri never stayed at any one school for more than a year, and sometimes a couple of different schools within a year. It all became a blur to Teri.
When Teri was a pre-teen, her mom remarried Teri's birth father, and the family moved to Arizona where he lived. Teri went to two different high schools in Arizona and then returned to California to finish high school after her parents divorced for a second time. Teri was 19 when her parents split.
As a young adult, Teri chose to move back to Portland, Oregon, in part to be near her Nana and Bapa. She went to college for awhile and eventually got a job working for Bonneville Power Administration (BPA). Teri began as a clerk typist and over the years rose to a high-responsibility, high-pressure job as a Scheduler. In this position, Teri bought and sold electric power hourly in what is called “real time.” This job was similar, in ways, to working on the stock market, but buying and selling power for BPA. Teri's other jobs at BPA included Revenue Analyst and Senior Revenue Analyst. She was good at every job she took on. After 24 years at BPA, Teri decided to retire, tired of the hustle. She eventually moved to the greater San Diego, California area.
While in Oregon, Teri married and after 16 years she decided to divorce her husband, amicably. Along the way, she traveled internationally several times, went skydiving, bungee jumping, snow skiing, sailing, and fell in love again. Any activity that someone declares “off limits” for Teri because of her physical limitations, Teri will do it, and prove the naysayer wrong. Now, she regularly takes extended, cross-country motorcycle trips with her partner, as well as sailing on his boat. “I like anything that gets my adrenaline pumping,” Teri says.
She loves music, especially Steven Tyler and Aerosmith, and she has attended many concerts in different venues. Teri's story defies people's perceptions and prejudices about those with physical challenges. Teri rejects those biases and the limited, stereotypical thinking about "disabled people." “What can people with disabilities do?” Teri asks in her memoir. “Read on, I'll tell you what I can do.”