March 1, 2018

by: Guest Contributor

Four Ways Everyone Wins When We Celebrate Cerebral Palsy

Cerebral palsy (CP) is a relatively common condition, with over half a million people in the U.S. today living with some form of CP (source). And while it is most certainly life-altering, it is often viewed as a dire diagnosis.

But what if we celebrated cerebral palsy, instead of vilifying it? What if we talked about it not as an affliction, but simply a condition? What if we focused on people’s abilities, instead of their disabilities? What if we focused on what CP actually IS, instead of what it is NOT?

We can, and we should – because the impact can be profound. Here are four reasons why everyone wins when we celebrate cerebral palsy.

It creates awareness. There is a lot of misinformation floating around about what CP is, and what it isn’t. When we celebrate cerebral palsy we bring awareness about the condition to the greater public. This helps promote empathy, kindness, understanding, and most important of all, equality. It helps personalize individuals with CP as contributing members of society and reinforces their value in our communities. Further, increased awareness can result in increased advocacy and increased interest and funding for research, along with increased technological advancements that can improve the quality of life both for individuals living with CP as well as their caregivers.

It reinforces ability. There is unfortunately a lot of focus on what people with cerebral palsy can’t do. This negative messaging is damaging to the general societal perception and is not helpful to the advocacy and advancement of causes related to CP. When we celebrate the abilities of individuals with CP, rather than the disabilities, we help improve public opinion, inspire higher levels of achievement in (as well as greater societal contributions from) people living with CP, and remind everyone that a positive message is a lot more powerful than a negative one.

It highlights diversity. We’re all different in some way. Skin color, hair color, artistic ability, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, height…the list is nearly endless. Diversity is celebrated for nearly every reason these days, and for good reason – it prevents us from being cookie-cutter individuals, and brings to light the strengths and contributions of different types of people. Different abilities, different perspectives, and different experiences give us each a different view of the world, and with these collective views we can tackle problems and issues with a greater understanding. Diversity is an important part of our society, and CP is just another variation of it. We celebrate diversity, so let’s celebrate ALL diversity.

It highlights successes. When we celebrate something, we stop focusing on the negatives and start focusing on the positives. While challenges are a very real part of living with cerebral palsy, they often overshadow successes, or make success stories appear to be an exception to the rule rather than a normal part of everyday life. When we celebrate CP and highlight the successes of people who live with the condition, we create examples and inspirations for others. We normalize the overcoming of the struggle, and reinforce it as just another way to live life rather than making it seem like an impossible ideal. We show individuals with cerebral palsy what they can accomplish, and set them up for expected success in the future rather than expected failure.

While cerebral palsy is a very real condition with very real challenges, the abundance of negative messages and dire warnings do very little to enhance the lives of individuals living with it. Changing our perspective, our messaging, and our approach to how we speak about CP can have far-reaching positive effects on individuals, the CP community, and our society as a whole.

About the Author

Jenny Silverstone is the mother of two, the writer at Studyclerk, and a blogger for MomLovesBest.com where she writes about parenting and her journey through motherhood.

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