Have you every realized as a abled bodied person what it takes for a person with cerebral palsy to do the everyday tasks that you as an abled bodied person does? There is more than meets the eye. It can be easy for an abled bodied person to get out of bed, shower, get dressed, communicate, go to work. It is not as easy for us who live with cp.
A lot of people do not realize what it takes in the life of a person with cerebral palsy. It is a fact that it take double of our energy to do one task that an abled bodied person does. Examples: dressing, brushing our hair, brushing our teeth, right down to communicating. Could you image have to take 3 to 5 minutes to just say i love you? Some do deal with this issue due to the muscles in the mouth and tongue. Statistics tells us the following: 1 in 3 use wheelchairs for mobility, 1 in 4 are unable to communicate verbally and one in four live with a seizure disorder seizing daily. One in two struggle with comprehension and understanding what they are told or read. one in ten have major vision problems.
Just as an abled bodied person has struggles daily so do we it only takes twice our energy to deal with those struggles. due to needing to use our muscles in our bodies. cerebral palsy effects our muscle tone which can be a challenge in itself. Can you as an abled bodied person imagine the frustrations one with cp goes through everyday. Example most people have broken an arm and has had a cast how hard was that to do stuff one handed? Some of us with cp deal with that daily cuz we only have use of one arm as cp has physically effected the other just as if it was broken. Another example typing. Has anyone typed with one hand? I personally type with one hand daily. my main keys are fghj . š
The point is life is a daily frustration for a person with cerebral palsy. I person do not know if abled bodied people realize what things they take advantage of daily that a person with cp struggles with. Have you every thought of that? Walking with out falling, being able to walk at all, Some with cp use devices to communicate due to difficulty speaking. How frustrating it is when you are reading something and are puzzled by what it means all because of brain damage.
Not only frustrating but creating anger constant challenges in a daily life. So the next time you encounter a disabled person, please slow down, be patient as they are doing the best they can and deserve the same respect as an abled- bodied person. thank you for understanding. Happy reading everyone!
Living w/ cerebral palsy 