priya's story

Priya has been swimming at the Betty Wright Swim Center since she was five years old.  Now, at 23, she still swims there, as a participant in the Abilities United Adult Day Activities Program.   Diagnosed at 2 months old with septo-optic dysplasia, she has had to deal with numerous medical issues all her life, including epilepsy, endocrine problems, visual, auditory and orthopedic problems, ambulance rides, surgeries and hospitalizations.  She is a champion pill-swallower!

Through all these challenges, Priya has rarely complained, in great part due to the kindness and caring of the many wonderful caregivers, doctors, teachers, aides, therapists, nurses, etc who have been such an important part of her life. Because Priya encounters frequent seizures, she needs to be supervised constantly. For her, this has been an opportunity to be close to her family and to her caregivers. Despite her disabilities, however, Priya lives a full life and is an inspiration and joy to her family and her many friends. She loves to swim, play the piano and take art lessons; she enjoys teaching herself about music using her computer or playing the keyboard and her drums; and she has a passion for making up rhymes!

Priya has had a long association with the Abilities United Aquathon. Five years ago she was recruited by her swim instructor, Ginny Langmuir, to swim on the “Barracudas” team of the Abilities United board members. By the next year, Priya had started her own team, “Priya’s Rhymers”, to swim with her friends and neighbors. Each team member had to contribute a rhyme to her rhyme collection, which by now is more than 1100 rhymes long, and is kept on a scroll on a rolling pin. Priya has been a prolific fund raiser,  successfully requesting donations from her friends not only in the Bay Area community, but also from all over the world -- France, England, Germany, Japan and New Zealand, spreading the message of her own success and the support she is getting to reach her potential.