The Hairy Cow

Welcome to Cerebral Palsy Week!

I didn’t know much about cerebral palsy...

And after reading about it

I’ve realised that it covers

 just about every problem you could imagine.

It can cause problems with

physical movement, learning,

sight, hearing, speech and spatial awareness. 

Cerebral palsy sure puts in an effort to be horrid!

Luckily, it’s 2011 and cerebral palsy no longer

 means institutions or limited expectations.

Cerebral palsy sufferers are healthy

in all other ways –

they are just people stuck inside a body

that refuses to work the way we would expect it to. 

Cerebral Palsy Week reminds us to recognise

the achievements and strengths of people

with cerebral palsy (CP),

to understand and accept their CP,

but not limit them because of it.

My baby nephew will more than likely

develop cerebral palsy.

 After the initial surprise, I learned that CP

is the most common form of childhood disability. 

Every 18 hours, a child is born

who has or will develop CP. 

That’s one in 400 babies. 

Between 600 and 700 babies

are born with CP each year. 

That means, that in the 18 hours

around my nephew’s birth,

another 399 new babies will develop CP.

CP is not contagious.

It’s not a disease.

It won’t “go away”.

It’s not hereditary.

It doesn’t get worse...

the symptoms might change,

or they may become more obvious later in life,

 but they don’t get worse.

The good news :

Most people with CP can expect

to be healthy over their normal life span.

They can learn. 

They can do anything they like –

they may just have to fight harder to get there.

And, most importantly, they can love. 

They can care.

And my nephew will be loved.

So, he may need glasses...

He may need hearing aides...

His speech may take some effort to understand

He may have epilepsy...

And learning may be a struggle...

...But maybe not.

We have to wait

until he’s bigger to know for sure.

Regardless, it’s Cerebral Palsy Week.

It’s time to celebrate the strengths...

The achievements...

The success...

...Of those with CP.

Enjoy your week!!