Michael Graves Design Monthly Delight Feature: Meet Tashi

For October's Monthly Delight Feature we had the pleasure of speaking with Tashi! Read on to discover Tashi's story and what brought them to Michael Graves Design.

Tell us about yourself, what’s your story?

I was born with scoliosis and diagnosed at 12. However, nobody, including my parents or doctors, told me it was a disability. I was never told the chronic pain I was experiencing wasn’t normal or wasn’t my fault. I was simply sent to a chiropractor and told if I did my exercises I would be cured. This led me to think that the pain I was experiencing was a result of some fundamental failure on my part. I didn’t even realize what I was experiencing was chronic pain until I was in my twenties. I underwent surgery to correct pectus excavatum as a complication of my scoliosis when I was 15 to correct my severely limited lung capacity but still no one told me I was disabled.

The same thing happened when I was diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 13. No one told me it was a disability, I was simply given medication and told I was fine. No one told me about the social impacts of ADHD so I was left feeling left out and othered by my classmates. I was seen as weird and broken. And I believed it too. It wasn’t until I was 18 that I finally got my PTSD, anxiety, and depression diagnoses and began medication. It wasn’t until I was 21 that I discovered I was also autistic. Funnily enough, my mom told me when I was diagnosed with ADHD, the doctors suspected I also had anxiety, depression, and autism and recommended testing. My parents refused thinking it wasn’t necessary.

Now at the age of 25, I am finally aware of my disability status and find comfort and strength in it. What I’m facing isn’t my fault, I’m not a failure, I’m just disabled. Understanding my mind and body has been such a gift for me! While my body may be seen as broken by others, I revel in it’s strength. There are things I can not do and never will be able to, but I don’t feel any shame in that fact. It just is, and I love myself and my body regardless. Even as my condition has worsened due to Long Covid and POTS, I’m still very proud of my body and what it has overcome.

What is one thing you’d like our readers to know? 

That disability isn’t a bad word. That for so many it’s a sign of strength and independence. But more importantly, that disability is an inevitability. Aging is disabling. It is a fact of life. And even if you are young, you can become disabled too. I was mostly able-bodied before developing Long Covid and POTS. My average day on the pain scale was a 2. Now, it’s a 5. Before I could go up a flight of stairs without issue, now I spend most of my days in bed. Even if you do everything right, you can become disabled. Even if you get all the vaccines and eat all the right things, things can change without warning. Love your body for what it can do for you now, and prepare your mind for when it changes. If you define your worth by what you can do, you will never be in control.

What led you to MGD?

I knew even before my POTS diagnosis that I would benefit from a cane. I was grabbing onto railings and stabilizing myself on furniture to do simple things like putting on my shoes. I started looking for canes on my usual websites (amazon and Walmart) and found that everything was either boring or ugly. I’m not a huge fashion person, but I also didn’t want my cane to be depressing. I came across MGD’s C-grip cane 6 months into my search and fell in love. It took another 6 months to make the commitment. Typically I’m the type of person to choose the cheapest option, but I’m glad I splurged. The accessibility features on the cane and the sleek look made it all worth it!

What do you love most about the company Michael Graves Design?

I think a lot of people with disabilities are tired of sacrificing so much for accessibility. We’re tired of settling. It’s so exciting and refreshing to see a designer company that not only has accessible design options, but actually prioritizes them. When you’re so used to being an afterthought, it can be exciting to find yourself actually catered to.

If you use one of our canes, which do you use? The C-Grip Cane or the Quick-Fold?

I use the C-grip cane.

What do the Michael Graves Design canes bring to the table that others were lacking?

Most other canes are both boring and not truly accessible. One thing I was very excited to see in the MGD cane is how easy it is to adjust the height. Most canes have the tiny pins you have to press in, and as someone with hypermobile joints those always cause me pain and are just very hard for me to use. I don’t have any struggle or pain when adjusting my MGD cane!

Which color cane is your favorite?

I struggled choosing between the slate blue and sage green, they’re both such rich and calming colors. I went with sage green in the end!