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A toddler playing in the fountain at a park in Santa Fe, New Mexico—Photo LD Lewis. In August, we live through the Dog Days of Summer. It's hot and often humid, and those ...
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Cerebral Palsy (CP) is a complex, lifelong disability. It primarily affects movement, but people with CP may also have visual, learning, hearing, speech, epilepsy, and intellectual impairments. It can be mild – a weakness in one hand – to severe – where people have little control over movements or speech and may need 24-hour assistance.
People living with CP can experience a range of responses from others in their communities.
They face deep-seated but misguided sympathy or pity on one end of the spectrum. Though intentions are good, they infantilize the person with CP. They can be smothered with (too much) love and spoken to in a simple, childlike way. Others can subconsciously over-protect a person with CP and thus prevent them from having essential life experiences.
On the other end of the spectrum, CP is viewed through deep-seated cultural beliefs. It may be seen as validation of superstitions about the mother or wrath upon a family. Some even believe that CP is contagious or that a child with CP brings shame to a family. Mothers can be abandoned with their children, or a person with CP lives their lives in an institution.
And in the middle are thousands of fine people who still find it difficult to make eye contact or know how to communicate with someone who has CP. It is not that they feel ill will; it is just best—maybe even polite—to not engage.
There is nothing to be gained in blaming people for their ignorance about CP. Instead, we will work to put an end to it. We have the ability and the moral obligation to ensure everyone knows the truth and acts accordingly.
Bringing awareness to these issues and making tools available to those worldwide affected by Cerebral Palsy is the purpose of World Cerebral Palsy Day.
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