Also the disability makes me invisible. I am not sure if people think that my cognition is impacted by the cerebral palsy but they take it upon themselves to often talk over my head to the person I am with. I will explain some examples of real life situations: when in college I went and did an additional certification in Microsoft office products at the training the receptionist talked over my head to my mom who was there acting as my ride home. I don’t know if I had a sign on my forehead that said yes I have a disability so feel free to treat me in a different way than you would others because clearly given my cerebral palsy I don’t a word you are saying to me.” Yet in order to do the tests I was there to do I had to attend mainstream school, college to be exact. Where did that woman learn it was an okay thing to treat me as different because of my disability? I went on to complete the tests and in September returned to complete my college education where the professor asked if anyone had gone and completed the optional testing I was the only one in my class that raised my hand the girl behind me turned to the girl beside her and said: “if Laura can do it, it must be easy!” Why do people see the fact that my disability makes me different and then because they clear don’t understand cerebral palsy choose to insult my intelligence? I must somehow magically have been smart enough to attend mainstream school despite my cerebral palsy. Do they somehow think cerebral palsy makes life easier? Life isn’t any easier or harder because of cerebral palsy the disability is all I know. I love that I had the opportunity to attend mainstream school

Technorati Tags: Cerebral Palsy, cerebral palsy child, childhood disability, Disability, school, understanding

Crazy Hair photo shoot (Photo credit: J Jackson Photography)

I have had the best of intentions this week of maintaining my normal blogging schedule but things had gotten a little crazy.

I am here now hopefully returning to my normal schedule pending nothing else comes up. I know that you all don’t expect me to be a work horse to this blog but I expect it of myself.  This isn’t the first blog I’ve started I dabbled in it years ago without success at all. The success came from doing this routinely and it is something that I thoroughly enjoy! Thanks to my loyal readers and new friends who found something of interest here.

You may be wondering why I chose that picture I feel it sums up how I was feeling these days trying to manage everything I have had going on!

Technorati Tags: crazy hair, feeling, overwhelmed

Technorati Tags: blog, dragon naturallyspeaking, facebook, idea generation, Speech recognition, Speech Technology

Mother's Day card (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I decided to write this as a way to say happy Mother’s Day weekend all. Spend some time this weekend enjoying family life. Just because it’s Mother’s day weekend shouldn’t change how you interact in terms of family life but simply acts as a nice reminder. Happy Mother’s day everyone

Now on to the bulk of my post. By sharing some of the things I have faced in my life with cerebral palsy it is my hope to help the children youth and adults that are going through things that I have already overcome: be it finding creative ways of creating social inclusion or talking about things that I feel could make daily life a little easier, or by asking a question in hopes of finding a solution to a current challenge I face; I built this site as a gathering place and I feel like my efforts are finally paying off.

This wish to help has taken me offline too, with the trip to Ottawa that I made to speak to a high school, I still find myself in awe that anyone finds any of what I have to say here interesting but than again people accuse me of being too humble about it as well. I started this two and a half years ago and as I stated in last Friday’s post I didn’t tell my offline world right away – even without people from offline knowing about it at all for the first year I managed to grow my blog to reach 20,000 hits. It was then that I decided to buy the domain and it is now what you see before you. I celebrate my difference and frankly the commonalities of life with cerebral palsy. We are all different and the fact that I use a wheelchair and live life with cerebral palsy only gives me a different perspective. People seem to think that life with cerebral palsy is hard. For me I wouldn’t say it is overly hard, this is the only life I know, a life with cerebral palsy. I offer this blog to the world remembering that my blog only reflects the life of one person and the people who impact my life. I blog as a way to share with people my story. I chose to blog because I love to write, I wanted a way to find out what I found creative in my life.

It is my hope that the family that has someone in it living with cerebral palsy realizes that their family life doesn’t have to stop because of the limitations faced by the person with cerebral palsy. Activities you may have once done as a family may have to be changed or simply adapted or new ones found that all can enjoy regardless of ability, family life is about family.

Technorati Tags: Cerebral Palsy, family, Mother's Day, Ottawa

Stop caring about the numbers

When I stopped looking at the numbers and started focusing  on better content, I feel I have started to create just that better content. Better content equals more readers equal improved motivation for me to strive to do better still. Do you think I should increase to seven days a week or do you like that I post five or is five itself too much.  I blog because I want to help others and your feedback would help me do you like the new related posts with the images?  How would you suggest I improve this blog? Your feedback is greatly appreciated

Technorati Tags: blogging

Muscles and other structures of wrist and palm (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Three things I have learned living with spasticity

1 it is easier to put my left arm into clothes first

2 the grip of my left hand feels strange to hold things

3 the spasticity in my hand meant that I learned to type at first only using the first three fingers on my left hand

Technorati Tags: Cerebral Palsy, Cognition, Disability, Mississauga, Parent

Moro reflex (Photo credit: kungfujen Via Flickr)

This post comes out of a recent comment I received:”Have your issues with (startle reflex) remained pretty steady, or do you notice fluctuations?” I thought that my answer would probably be too in depth to simply call for a response. I would first like to explain something before I actually answer the question. It is my understanding that the technical term for the above mentioned startle reflex is actually moro reflex, I use both terms interchangeably on this blog.

Now: to answer your question. Certainly this moro reflex is not something I have never lost, nor will I ever lose. But, I guess it is something I have learned to cope with as it is a part of cerebral palsy . remember that in reading this that cerebral palsy and moro reflex is all that i have ever known. moro reflex is one of those things that never left me since birth, it is just a part of me. I am not sure I can clearly answer that part about if it fluctuates as one thing I have learned about my life with cerebral palsy is that every day is different. I think something everyone needs to remember: is that cerebral palsy impacts each person differently. Therefore, I would assume than that everyone’s body then have different triggers for startle reflex. So to answer your question: The moro reflex will always be a part of me but I have better days then others both with issues of spasticity and startle reflex. startle reflex has to be one of the most annoying parts of life with cerebral palsy.

Technorati Tags: baby startle reflex, Cerebral Palsy, Conditions and Diseases, Disability, Health, moro reflex, Neurological disorder, startle reflex, Startle response

I had no idea when I started this that it would grow to what it is becoming before my eyes. I began with the idea that I had a voice and I could use it to help others but I had no idea anyone would actually read it. Well, anyone but people who already knew me offline. – I mean who else would be interested in reading about me – seriously? The best thing I did in the early days of this blog was actually to not tell my offline world about it that way the only folks that found it found it on their own and I felt like they found it because they wanted to know my story. They therefore in my head were looking for someone from someone who understood cerebral palsy – and in a sense this is a service I could give. This strategy would well for me I didn’t tell my family about it until 2010 when this blog was named one of the top blogs on the internet about cerebral palsy since then I have only seen steady growth. The one thing I have realized as humble as I am about all of this, is that people do want to read about me about my story and about cerebral palsy. I am just one story, one life, and if I can share it with others and in the process help the many youth, children and adults of the world that too live with cerebral palsy. I enjoy helping others and based on the emails, tweets I receive all the time from the people that read this my words offer support and that is what I set out to do, it only feels natural to share my story and the blog felt like the right way to do this. Because of all of this, I feel fulfilled.

Technorati Tags: Biography, Cerebral Palsy, Conditions and Diseases, E-book, Google, Health, Human, Nursing home, read, reading