Category: CHALLRNGES
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Cerebral Palsy From the Inside- Part 5
I Was Born With Cerebral Palsy, But Acceptance Changed as I Got Older I was born with cerebral palsy. For most of my childhood, I accepted it because it was simply the life I knew. I didn’t know another body or another way of living. But as I got older, something inside me started to…
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Cerebral Palsy From the Inside-Part 4
What Is Spastic Diplegia? Let Me Tell You From the Inside If you look up spastic diplegia, you will probably find a medical explanation telling you that it is a form of cerebral palsy that primarily affects the legs. That definition is important. But it doesn’t tell you what it feels like. I can. I…
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Cerebral Palsy From the Inside-Part 2
Cerebral Palsy From the Inside — Part 2 Before It Was Called Cerebral Palsy: The Story of Little’s Disease For my entire life, I have known my disability by two words: cerebral palsy. But while researching the history of CP for this October series, I discovered something I had never known before. Before cerebral palsy…
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Meeting Disability at Different Doors
Our Beautiful Challenges — Marie Disability Pride series One of the greatest lessons I’ve learned is that not everyone meets disability at the same door. Some of us are born with a disability. Some acquire one through an illness, an accident, or simply through the aging process. No matter how we arrive, we all become…
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The Love I Never Expected
Disability Pride Seres Our Beautiful Challenges — Marie When people think about disability, they often think about doctors, therapy, accessibility, or advocacy. What they don’t always think about is love. Yet love is something every person hopes to experience. For many years, I wasn’t sure what my future would look like. I wondered if someone…
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I Wasn’t Meant to Be Fixed
Disability Pride Series Our Beautiful Challenges — Marie For much of my life, I believed my disability was something that needed to be fixed. Not because my parents ever made me feel that way. Not because the people who loved me believed I was broken. But because the world often acted as if I would…
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They See What’s Different-Not What’s Possible
Disability Pride series Our Beautiful Challenges — Marie There have been so many moments in my life when people noticed my disability before they noticed me. They saw my walker before they saw my smile. They noticed my cerebral palsy before they noticed my personality. Sometimes they made up their minds about what I could…
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The ADA Changed the Law-Not Every Mind
Disability Pride Month series Our Beautiful Challenges — Marie When the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) became law in 1990, it changed history for millions of people with disabilities. It opened doors that had never been open before, creating a whole new world for people with disabilities. It brought greater access to schools, businesses, transportation,…
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Accessibility Is Not One Size Fit All
Disability Pride Series Our Beautiful Challenges — Marie One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned about disability is that accessibility is not one size fits all. For years, people with disabilities have fought for equal access. The ADA changed our country in incredible ways, making schools, businesses, transportation, and housing more accessible than ever before.…
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The Generation In Between
Disability Pride Month Series — Marie W.O.W.C.P. Sometimes I feel like I belong to a generation that existed between two worlds. I was born after the disability rights movement had already begun changing lives, but before many of those changes fully reached everyday life. I was born after people had already started fighting for accessibility,…
