Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month-31 things I love about my CP!

Hey my lovely readers, hope you are well

As March is Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month I thought I'd write 31 things I love about having Cerebral Palsy and how it defines me as the person I am today.

Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month was created to spread more knowledge about the type of disability it is and allow people to learn about the condition. There is approximately 17 million people worldwide living with a form of Cerebral Palsy and each of them will be affected by CP in their own, unique way. Cerebral Palsy affects each person in a different way, each person will have limitations on what they can and can't do and will have their own way of figuring out daily tasks. Life can be challenging with Cerebral Palsy but we find our own paths through life and  achieve our best everyday.

31 things I love about having Cerebral Palsy 

1. Cerebral Palsy allows me to feel confident to try new things and put all of my strength and effort into the thing that I am trying to do independently.

2. Cerebral palsy has had a big impact on my family and I wouldn't be as strong and as Independent as I am today if it wasn't for my family, especially my mum and dad. My family always help me to feel confident and strong to try new things and become my own person with their support. 

 

3.  Cerebral Palsy helps me to make decisions and I need to listen to my body and fatigue before making decisions because if I'm tired or sick, I might not be as quick or strong enough to do something independently. 

4. I love having Cerebral Palsy because I can pick out cool wheelchairs and equipment. I would love to be able to walk and not rely on a wheelchair or a walker but I get really excited when I get to choose new equipment.

5. I love the way my emotions are emphasised like when I'm really happy I get very excited and people can really tell that I am happy. I think this is part of having Cerebral Palsy, the emotions that I feel can really be shown more that what a non-disabled person would show.  I show how i'm feeling really easily. 

6.. Having Cerebral Palsy allows me to feel confident to teach people more about disabilities through talking to them, through my blogs and on social media. I always like to help people to understand more about CP.

7. I love being able to experience new things that will support me and make my life easier for the future. Experiencing lots of different therapies, equipment, new places and meeting new people helps me to be stronger, grow in confidence and be proud of my disability.  

8. Having Cerebral Palsy myself allows me to understand other disabilities, I might not know all of the difficulties that other people have,  but many difficulties are universal, so I love the way I can connect with people who have a wide range of disabilities.  

9. I love having Cerebral Palsy because it allows me to solve daily issues with a unique point of view of someone in a wheelchair that other people without a disability would do everyday without thinking for example tying shoelaces.

10. Having Cerebral Palsy enables me to have a deeper connection with my partner as we can understand each other more and help each other out the way other people wouldn't have to do.

11.With Cerebral Palsy, I have to plan ahead when I want to go out to make sure it is accessible and I can use all of the facilities with being in a wheelchair. I love being able to plan ahead because it allows me to know what I need to take i.e can I take my electric chair or would it be easier to take the manual chair and be pushed . So planning ahead is necessary when going out with a disability. 

  

12. I love having an electric wheelchair which means I can be independent. I like having both manual and electric wheelchair but I am mainly in my electric wheelchair. My wheelchair helps me to get around and live day-to-day as independently as I can. 

13. With my cerebral palsy, I have to do lots of exercise to be able to be strong and independent.  I love doing exercise because it keeps me being Independent and being able to do more for myself. I love going in my walking frame and going to the gym because it helps me to be strong for now and for the future.

  

14. I love that my Cerebral Palsy  gives me lots of challenges as it gives me a opportunity to grow and achieve. Everyday I  face different challenges but I don't see this as a negative, I think it is a chance for  me to grow, become stronger work on my independence. 

15.  I have many goals and I always try to stick to them. I love having Cerebral palsy as it makes me strive to be the best that I can despite my disability. I feel that I need to work extra hard to make everything little bit easier for myself and when I have achieved something big that I have been towards for a while. 

16. With my Cerebral Palsy, I like to take my time with somethings I want to do independently. If I take my time and not rush, for example getting in and out my walker from my wheelchair, I can do this independently because I have learnt to not rush and work out the steps that I need to take to be able to tasks independently such as transferring from my wheelchair to the walking frame. I can do this independently because I have took my time and learnt the steps of how to do it. Breaking things down and doing it step by step helps me to become stronger and independent.

    

17. Cerebral Palsy makes me proud of what I have achieved and it helps me to prepare for the future. I need to work hard to achieve my goals so I am able to do more independently.  It makes me feel happy knowing how far I have come.

18. I love my disability as it has allowed me to meet so many amazing, wonderful people that are willing to help me and support me with all of my goals.I love meeting new people that are going to help me as it allows me to learn new things or learn a different way of doing something. Many people I have met throughout my life has supported me in different ways, which has helped me to grow as a person and learn how to do to something better or easier. I am so grateful for peoples support.

 

 19.I like being able to provide support and give information to other people with a similar disability to me and suggest tips to anyone who is struggling or in need for advice. I like helping other people and making them feel positive. I love meeting other people with cerebral palsy or other disabilities. 

20. Having Cerebral Palsy allows me to learn from other people with CP or different disabilities, for example knowing other people with similar disabilities helps me to find classes or support in which will help me now or in the future. As well, it is nice to know people with similar disabilities as me as its nice to know people that understand each other on a another level. 

21. I like the way I have tried so many pieces of computer accessibility equipment as this has taught me different ways to use a computer and different types of technology. With having a physical disability, my dexterity isn't always the best so using a computer or a mobile phone took some time to learn and figure out the best way to be able to use a piece of equipment and be independent.

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22.  I love being able to raise awareness for Cerebral Palsy and disability in general. I use my blog and social media to raise awareness about the disability by teaching and giving people useful information that they may find helpful and may feel more confident talking to or supporting a person with Cerebral Palsy. I write my blog to help people who may have a disability or know someone who does and share some helpful tips that might support and raise awareness.                  

23.My cerebral Palsy has allowed me to shape my studies and  job opportunities. It  has 

allowed me to realise what I am capable of and what I wouldn't be able to manage due to my disability. I feel that I might had a few dream jobs when I was younger, but as I got older I have realised I might not be able to do things I thought I would. For example, when I was younger I wanted to work in childcare but as I learned the job I found it quite difficult so this was when I got blogging and social media.   I feel  I am able to do this independently and I love writing about things that matters to me as a disabled adult.

24. My Cerebral Palsy makes me feel lucky because I am able to have many opportunities to learn something new which will help me to be independent.I like to be given opportunities because it may be something I haven't thought of yet and may be a great lesson for me to try a new adventure or being able to work towards a new goal.

25 I like how my Cerebral Palsy makes me feel confident.  I still sometimes get nervous about things, we all do but my Cerebral Palsy gives me a boost and I have realised with Cerebral Palsy I will make mistakes at times. I  just need the confidence to try again. 

My Cerebral Palsy makes me want to have a go at things, even if I have to practice again and again I love the experience of trying new things.

 

26. .Sometimes I do have to realise that I might not be able to do something, this might be due to accessibility,  fatigue, speech barriers etc. Sometimes this really gets me down but I always try to turn it into a positive and look into something else that is fitting to my ability.     I  love that I have learnt over the years to adapt and keep trying with my goals.   

27. As I have grown up and got into more things like make up and skincare, I have had to try lots of different products and test that I can do it myself. Sometimes I find if something is heavy or a awkward shape, I struggle more than I would with a lighter or easier product that I can grip better. I love trialling things out to see what's best for me.

28. .I love that I have learnt to be independent in shops and restaurants. Again, with being in a wheelchair and having the speech language barrier. I found it hard to be confident to ask for help in shops or order my meal in a restaurant. I am able to face these challenges now, and I feel pleased when I have done something independently but it has taken me a lot of practice to do so. 

29. I love over the years, I have tried lots of amazing different therapies. I love trying new exercises and different ways of doing things. I feel that doing a wide range of therapies helps me to see what is right for my body and to help me to feel stronger and be more independent.

30. I love having Cerebral Palsy simply because it makes me happy. I appreciate the little things that I do and achieve like its the biggest thing I have accomplished. I love being positive and working towards my goals as this keeps me happy. I feel like when I am happy and looking forward to things and I am more than likely be more Independent and be more proactive like going in my walker etc. I feel like when I am positive, I get more achieved.  

31. I am proud to have Cerebral Palsy as it has taught me a lot about myself and how I navigate the world around me. It made me set my goals and always aim high to be able to live the best life and be able to learn things that will help me in later life. My Cerebral Palsy doesn't hold me back, it prepares me for my future! 

I really hope you have enjoyed reading my blog, I hope it has taught you something about CP. 

Thank you for reading as always, Happy Cerebral Palsy Month!

   Abbie xx