A lot of people get reflexively uncomfortable when they’re dealing with people with disabilities. If you just found out that your child has cerebral palsy, you and your child are going to deal with this a lot. It’s inevitable, so it’s best to learn some coping skills and, by learning coping skills, you can help those who are uncomfortable around people with disabilities to open up and relax.
1: They Don’t Understand
Realize that many of the people that your child will encounter won’t know what condition your child suffers with right away, but will know that your child does have some sort of a disability. The easiest way to overcome their discomfort is simply to tell the person that your child has cerebral palsy. Cerebral palsy is a group of disorders and the effects can be much more or less severe on a case by case basis.
2: They Don’t Know What it Means
People with cerebral palsy and their parents deal with explaining what cerebral palsy is all the time. It can be a chore. On the upside, you’re helping somebody to understand this disorder. Cerebral palsy affects almost 2,000,000 people in the United States. Surprisingly, many people don’t know much about it and, by telling them what cerebral palsy is about and what it means for people who have it, you’ll oftentimes find that they relax and are genuinely interested.
3: It’s Hard to Relate
For people with cerebral palsy, life is full of challenges that people without disabilities don’t have to deal with. Sometimes, it’s hard to relate to people who don’t deal with those challenges. It’s important to make certain that your child has an opportunity to be around other people with cerebral palsy. If they’re able to engage with other people, being able to talk with people who deal with the same challenges that they do on a day-to-day basis can be very comforting and can offer them a way to connect.
Just like any other child, a child with CP needs social support. Making sure that you and your child aren’t isolated because of cerebral palsy is vital to both the health of your child and your own.
I’m 62 years old and have CP, I try to tell people that those with this condition can do things, we aren’t MR. There are those who looks at me and think that i’am. I got rejected by so many ladies it was heartbreaking. They get uncomfortable around me. I can walk and move around. I live on my own and don’t need a wheelchair. I do struggle with speaking. I work volunteer and they aren’t too sure about whether or not I’m smart enough to do anything. I graduated from high school. I would just like to be normal like everyone else