On Living with Cerebral Palsy

[twop_tjl]

As most of you probably know, I suffer from Cerebral Palsy (CP). It isn't something I generally talk about, but I've decided to put down in words some of my past and present experiences of living with CP. I may have mentioned portions of this before, but I think this is the first time I've actually thought through all of this.

Comments

[beeker121]

Thank you for sharing this.

[eirefaerie]

I'm really glad you wrote this, and I hope you'll write more about the subject

[twop_tjl]

She has a camp that she goes to every summer with other kids with CP and is really popular and well-loved at school and church.

That's good that she has a place where she can be around other kids with CP. I went to an Easter Seals summer camp and a winter camp as a teenager, but those camps were for people with disabilities generally and I only met one other person with CP. I was fairly well liked in the first town where I grew up, but had many problems after my family moved to a much larger city.

But I still really worry about her, especially when it comes time to go to college, get a job, etc.

College shouldn't be a problem, but jobs certainly can be. In undergrad I went through a co-op program and each job I got through phone interviews. It's hard because people will automatically judge you just based upon appearances. I could see it in their faces before they even started asking questions.

I am impressed that you worked on the issues you had, like anger management, until they weren't as critical anymore. It was a serious

[dachelle]

Thanks for posting about living with CP. I didn't know this about you and am glad you shared.

[twop_tjl]

You're welcome. I wasn't sure if everybody on my flist knew or not about my CP, but in any case, I haven't talked about what it is like.

[tibby82]

I admire you a lot. Thank you for sharing all of that.

[twop_tjl]

Thanks. It wasn't easy to write, but I thought I should share since most people wouldn't have been around people with CP.