As a breast cancer survivor and a person with cerebral palsy, staying healthy is very important to me. Exercise helps keep muscles conditioned and it is good for overall health. I am a member at my local YMCA, and I enjoy being active. Before my son came along,…
Being a parent to a child with cerebral palsy can require more involvement than parenting a child without a disability. Your entire world changes the moment you find out your child has cerebral palsy. Sometimes hearing the diagnosis can be difficult. Other times it can bring a sense of…
Preschool-age children are so much fun and their little minds race at full-blast. When a child has cerebral palsy, the fun doesn’t need to stop. In fact, children with cerebral palsy often need stimulation more than someone without it. Love, time, and creativity always go far. Being…
Coping with a disability brings a unique dimension to motherhood. Being a good, responsible and loving mother takes a lot of energy and time. Mothers don’t get a practice session or training on how to raise a child. You must learn as you go and turn mistakes into wisdom. With a…
Spring and summer are often a time for travel and adventure. There are places to see and things to do, so never allow your disability to hold you back. Having a disability can make doing things like travel a bit more complicated, but never impossible, especially if…
In the last few weeks, I’ve seen an increasing number of news stories about children and adults with cerebral palsy being horribly abused or having their rights taken away. Finding the right words to portray how I feel about these issues isn’t easy for me, but we must address this…
We often hear so many terrible things in the news that we want to turn off our radio or TV. Stories about people being unkind to each other, political controversy, violence, murder. So it was a breath of fresh air to hear a story about an actor…
As a young girl, one of my main goals in life was to be taught in a regular classroom. I longed for it, and grew jealous of my brother and sister who were in a regular classroom. I didn’t feel challenged enough academically in a physically handicapped…
Have you ever had a day when you forget that you have cerebral palsy? You simply wake up, do your normal routine and don’t even think about your disability at all. Then, when you least expect it, society reminds you of how people can view you. I…
April is Autism Awareness Month, and April 2 was World Autism Awareness Day — with many people wearing blue to show their support of autism awareness. Across the country, special events and educational workshops concerning autism will take place this month. Surprisingly, cerebral palsy (CP) and autism are…