World CP Day - #CPMakeYourMark

 Hello, 

I thought I'd write a short post to acknowledge World Cerebral Palsy Day 2020. The theme this year is sharing your story of how you managed to do things that once seemed inaccessible to you. There are many small things I can think of day-to-day that, like many people, I see if I can do through trial and error. I'd say the biggest achievement this year that once felt inaccessible to me this year was graduating from university. This was not inaccessible because of my disability alone, nor because of the tough nature of the study. The university was always supportive. But there were so many small things - routines, living away from home, workload that added up to become difficult and were complicated by CP. "Simple" tasks such as doing my makeup took great effort - time, dexterity and control. This is just one tiny example. I say this and in the same way don't want my disability to seem as though it is "getting in the way" of daily life. The reality is my CP shapes it. 

To me, it is about perspective. Society needs to have a more accepting perspective, while I need to have the perspective that achieving such a milestone is something to be especially celebrated because of the challenges I face. And this is not a reinforcement of the "inspiration narrative" so frequently associated with disability - whereby disabled people are seen as inspirational for merely existing. In the end, though difficult, my CP also made this experience better - because I could recognise both the magnitude of my achievement both personally and socially. Even if I am just one "example" - I am proof that disabled people (as a social group) can succeed in higher education. We should not be excluded from education by default nor should we self-limit our abilities to our detriment - we should try to really know what is healthy, safe and 'good' for us to do. #CPMakeYourMark

Note: this is my personal experience and opinion!:)