Cerebral palsy is a rare medical condition that affects around 17,000,000 people worldwide.
Symptoms normally begin to show themselves when a child is around 2-3 years old, indications your child may have this condition are if they:
- Are delayed in reaching early development milestones such as sitting by age 8 months walking by 18
- Their limbs seeming stiffer or floppier than normal
- They have weak arms or legs
- They make fidgety, jerky or clumsy movements
- They move uncontrollably
- They walking on tiptoes
- They have issues with swallowing, speaking, vision or learning.
The severity of symptoms varies from person to person significantly. Some endure a life of severe disability, while others may not.
Cerebral Palsy is a lifelong condition as a cure is yet to be found. Although treatments are available to help with mobility and speech these include.
- physiotherapy – Simple exercise designed to help maintain physical ability and improve movement speech therapy - to help your child communicate or assigns tasks to aid their swallowing difficulties
- occupational therapy – Occupational therapy involves a therapist suggesting ways to make difficult tasks easier to complete.
- Doctors often prescribe medications to reduce muscle stiffness or other difficulties
- Some children benefit from various surgeries, designed to treat movement and growth problems.
Various factors can cause you to develop cerebral Palsy such as:
- Bleeding to a baby's brain
- reduced blood and oxygen supply after birth
- Being infected by something the mother has caught during pregnancy
- the brain temporarily not getting enough oxygen.
In many cases, the exact cause is never identified.
When you have a disability it is easy to sit around wishing you could do all the things your peers can. Peoples' perceptions are based on what they see.
If you recognise a thing to be normal other your more likely to cast judgment on someone whose reality is different than yours.
I know many individuals who aren't expected to reach may of life supposed milestones, myself being one of them.
From the moment we begin our lives to the day we die we have so many milestones forced upon us.
Society is very good at pressuring you to believe you have to do things within a certain time limit, accomplishing things at designated ages.
One of the most challenging things for me personally is knowing and watching everyone achieve things I don't ever see myself being able to do. It's only when others flip these perceptions on their heads that you begin to realise what is truly possible. Even if you have to work a little harder to achieve it.
A prime example of this is comedian Lee Ridley also known as lost voice guy, who despite having no speech due to severe cerebral Palsy. Became not only the first comedian to win Britain's got talent, but also the first disabled person to win. As well as this Lee then became the U.K's first well-known comedian to use a communication aid in his performance.
If you know me and if you're reading this you most likely do you will know just how sensitive of a person I am, especially when it comes to my health. A lot of the time I feel people are making fun or judging me when they probably aren't, I also struggle with comedy because I'm so easily offended. But Lee completely cracks me up. Not only is he a funny person but I can relate to him whereas most comedians' jokes
either go over the top of my head. (I might laugh if others do because laughter makes me laugh but I won't get it)
After a few years of being ill, when I was out of the sleeping constantly stage I began to look back at my past and things I'd done, watched or read and I couldn't name one disabled person. Since looking hard enough I've gained tons of new idols but looking back that's upsetting. I say it nearly every blog and will continue to do so forever but it is so important to be able to relate to people or characters, it makes you feel so much less alone. I attended one of Lee's shows last year, it was clear to see how many others felt the same as I did. Seeing someone just getting on with life-defining all odd, despite everything brings it home that anything can be achieved no matter who you are, where you come from or what challenges you face.
Thank you for reading, I have two possible blogs coming up featuring people with cerebral palsy. Both of whom would have been in this only I feel it is now rather long and here is a good place to end.
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