Cerebral Palsy Support Group

EASY, YOU JUST LIVE YOUR LIFE. How often do you think about your height, the shape of your nose, the fact that you have ankles, per day? For most of us, we do not usually obsess on these things because it is just a part of who we are. CP is the same way or at least it should be.

For me, the only time I am reminded that I have CP is when a have to grab a stair rail or when walking by a large mirror or window reflection.

Dude I saw the family photos you posted, you have a beautiful family, kids, enjoying the pool, does it really matter if you have CP or Not.

Like me, you do not look 19-years-old. If you’ve made it this far with CP and accomplished what you have, I call that a success story. Any additional successes or failures are not really CP related but are just personal challenges and a normal part of EVERYONE’S life

So just live and enjoy your life. I say all these things in love and respect.

The only way i will ever deal with it is to become the best that i can be and if thats ripped and having excellent cardio with a limp thats good enough for me.

In my opinion a positive childhood allowing you to deal with and come to terms with CP helps.

i know how you feel. when i was little, i went through a period of being mad at god for making me this way. i was teased for having to go the special ed room to take tests, having thick glasses, ugly leg braces, and for speaking so sofrly. (i was born 3 months early, and have small lungs. i couldn't project hardly at all.) some kids even found out about my bladder issues, and that was pure hell.

after i began singing and people started to see me as Fallon instead of the little girl in the chair, it got better. i was still teased, but i learned with time and maturity that really there was nothing fundamentally "wrong with me". god made me this way because he knew i could handle it. my body may not be perfect, but neither is the world. my mom always told me "everybody has their cross to bear. yours is just more obvious."

on numerous occasions, friends have even told me that watching me has helped them, because every time they think about giving up, they think about me. they think if i can wake up with a smile on my face, so can they.

all of this is not to say that i don't have bad days or days when my cp and all that it stands in the way of doesn't stare in my face. i have days when i cry and scream and swear when i've fallen for the 5th time in 24 hours. days when my muscle spasms are so painful that i wonder if i ever will be able to teach. but as a whole, i have accepted it. and i just have to make sure that i always get up. worst comes to worst, i will have gone to school for 5 years to study music education and not be employable afterward. even at that, i can at the very least say that i TRIED to become a teacher. and i can always do private voice lessons in my home.

bottom line: i believe god made me this way because he knew i could deal with it. i am a child of god. he is the king of the universe. and that makes me a princess. that's the biggest self-esteem booster in the world.

so my advice is this:

1. COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS!

2. ALWAYS GET BACK UP!

3. MAKE SURE YOUR CP DOESN'T BECOME YOUR IDENTITY. YOU HAVE IT. IT DOES NOT HAVE YOU!

soory this is so long, but i felt telling you my experiences would be the best way to illustate my point.-fallon

"i believe god made me this way because he knew i could deal with it..."

I don't believe that at all. if we are suposed to be made in HIS image, does that mean HE has CP as well?

No Dude, God does not have CP and more importantly, God did not give you CP.

As I am sure you already know, CP typically occurs due to a brain injury/oxygen deprivation at birth.

I am a devout Christian and know God would not cause an innocent person to be harmed. Humans are fragile beings therefore physical problems occur as part of the human condition. In other words, stuff just happens.

The real question is: How are you going to deal with it? Are you going to excel at what you are good at proving your worth and excellence to yourself and the world or are you going to be sad and angry about self-perceived inadequacies.


I suck at ballroom dancing, but I am an absolutely outstanding therapist. Therefore, I opted for a life of suits and ties instead of leotards and tap shoes.


Its all about perspective and personal choices.

believe - intransitive verb think that something exists: to be of the opinion that something exists or is a reality, especially when there is no absolute proof of its existence or reality.
"I need proof"

Exactly as SEM4J said.. LIVE YOUR LIFE!! and don't just live it but love it. While sometimes it may feel like things aren't fair and you may just want to get angry it's important to remember that everyone deals with challenges. It may not be CP or anything physical at all but challenges none the less. Challenges that they also feel are unfair. I think too often we get stuck in what we can't do instead focus on what we can do.

I do not think of myself as disabled but rather differently abled. Yes, I use a walker to walk but I can still get around. I use hand controls to drive but I can still get from point A to point B. I often forget that I even have CP because it's just a part of me. I honestly believe you have to embrace it and make the best of what you are given. The best feeling is when someone asks if I need help and being able to say no I can do it! There are always to adapt things to make them work for you and so what if you do them differently then everyone else.. differences are what makes this world go round.

Just keep your chin up and remember all of the things you can do.

if god is a teacher he may give us cp to give us a challenge and to teach respect and empathy but if god is a father I don't think so I think realizing that everyone is different helps me

One day at a time and i have a journal a medical journal and a personal. I now have a cat.