Showing posts with label cerebral. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cerebral. Show all posts

Thursday, September 30

Keah Brown! The woman behind #Disabled and Cute!

 



She is a disability rights activist who created the hashtag #Disabled&Cute. Which went viral in 2017. Keah went to university at Freedonia in New York and is currently a journalist and author of “The Pretty One: On life, Pop Culture, disability and other reasons to fall in love with me.
I first found Keah Brown through Twitter and Maysoon Zayid @maysoonzayid. I had seen via Ted Talk


and resonated with her as we both have cerebral palsy. Keah Brown @Keah_Maria does too. So the same yet different.

Despite being disabled with the condition she does not let it define her. She uses a wheelchair as if it's a pair of comfy shoes that she can do almost anything in.

In her book, Keah Brown talks about coming to terms with the condition and loving herself. Even though she may never have love in a relationship.

She has the double whammy of being coloured. People would pity her but not her twin sister who does not have the condition. Jealousy and anger start within her life before working through things. Beginning to understand the disability does not define her but it is part of her. If people can’t accept that then tough because she loves herself and that’s enough. Even though she does want a partner.

I loved this reading. It really resonated with me because I have the same disability although it is different in many ways. It was the sense of frustration that I completely understood where she found things difficult to do. Because there have been times that I have felt exactly the same with things that I have found hard or been unable to do.

One of the things that I have also learnt from reading the book was that her wheelchair is like a comfy pair of shoes that she treats as her feet when she can’t use them. Which is something I have to realise is what I have to do at some point. Although I am holding back on that situation for as long as possible as I am more agile than her. But I know that my body is slowly wearing out.

This book is full of laughter and tears that really made me feel the same in many ways as I mentioned in a previous paragraph. This meaning I have the same thing in the sense that I need to love myself despite having a disability. And I have to accept that although the disability is part of me. it does not define who I am.

you can get the book here
and I really would recommend this book to anyone.

Looking Forward or Looking Back? With Cerebral Palsy

 



Looking Forward or Looking Back?
Ok so It's the 7th of January when I am writing this and some horrific events happened yesterday which you’ve probably seen either on the internet or the news. It shows the struggle as a different race, religion or any disability, such as cerebral palsy.


Are you struggling to mentally change your view of cerebral palsy?

Are you a person with cerebral palsy and struggling to think about it? Do you have the feeling of anger, self-pity?
Are you ok with the condition and wish others would get you?


Don’t worry about this challenge, I have cerebral palsy so I know what you mean.

I was born with cerebral palsy and this is what this blog is about how I deal with it. I am writing how to show people that having cerebral palsy does not define you. Or the people you know who have cerebral palsy and how you are around them.

Once you have finished reading this you will be able to understand to some extent:

  1. How to deal with cerebral palsy as a person with the condition.
  2. Explain how you want to be respected as a person with cerebral palsy.
  3. How to treat any person with cerebral palsy as a person rather than talk at someone.




Dealing with Cerebral Palsy as a person with the condition in all its forms.

  • I said at the beginning of this post the most horrific event happened yesterday in the United States of America where the House of Congress was stormed by people who did not want the new President to come in. And preferred that the outgoing president stay in charge and discriminate against people of colour. And this has been happening for a long time regards everyone different in race, religion sexual orientation or disability. A few years ago this was the scene for people who wanted the Americans who needed Obamacare disabled being dragged from congress. And all they wanted was the ability to have the care that they need as they are human beings.

  • You are one of them and it's ok to be frustrated at the cerebral palsy but you must not let the condition define you. Do not let people either define you through cerebral palsy either. Because you are worth everything. I do know what you mean though because I do suffer from letting cerebral palsy define me at times. And I hate it!!!



Showing how you want to be treated

  • You are shopping and doing things for yourself and through the corner of your eye, you see someone staring at you. There are two ways to deal with it. These are either to ignore their looks and carry on with your day. Or go to the person and say something about your cerebral palsy.
  • Ignoring the person will not get that person to learn about cerebral palsy as a condition. Yeah, I get it it's not easy in case they are the type of person who is abusive to you. But you know what it's their problem because you are worth it. You can say something like “I’m not drunk I was born like this! do you want to know more?” or if you are in a wheelchair you could do something relatable. But also it is how people perceive you as a person with a brain rather than someone who has a lower IQ. And it's not fair.
  • You must say something. It's important to remember that cerebral palsy is not a condition that means that you have a low IQ. it's muscle reading messages from the brain and back again. Meaning it's motor skills, not intelligence. It can be caused by injury or at birth. So in the simplest form, it's brain damage in a part of the brain where you control your body not what you think.

Treating People with Cerebral Palsy as anyone else

  • People with the condition of cerebral palsy are no different to you. Yes, they walk differently. Yes, they talk differently. But they don’t have a low IQ. Treat us as people who are the same as you
  • Just because we walk or look different doesn’t mean we are any different to you.
So what now!

Where do we all go from here?

Since starting to write this post yesterday the whole of the government of the USA, with exception of the president, declared that the people who stormed the building as homegrown terrorists. Because they were so wrong in what they did. Yes, violence is so not the answer but neither treating someone any different from yourself. Whether you have cerebral palsy or not.

What do you want?

Do you want to be in the past when cases of cerebral palsy were in care homes? Or do you want cases of cerebral palsy to be living in the community where even if we have limited abilities we still have some kind of value?

In my opinion!

Everyone in this world is to be treated the same no matter what. It shouldn’t matter if we have cerebral palsy or not. If you want to know more about cerebral palsy then check out more posts on my site.

A New Season ahead

Welcome to a new season of Life with Sweetestmoondust. And sorry for being away for such a long time. There has been so much going on for ...