What I Wish Doctors Would Tell Parents About Cerebral Palsy
It seems like the majority of doctors do not have anything positive to say about cerebral palsy when they share a new diagnosis with parents or other loved ones. As I think about this, my mind is just spinning and twirling, wondering:
Why in the heck don’t doctors tell parents about the bright side of their child’s diagnoses? I wish doctors would tell parents the positives, instead of beginning a sentence with the words “your child may never be able to…” However, I wonder if they even know the truth of the journey they and their loved ones are about to take?
I wish the first thing doctors told loved ones concerning their child’s cerebral palsy diagnosis is “your child will bring smiles to everyone around them and touch people’s hearts.”
I wish doctors would tell parents that each journey is unique. Each journey has its good and bad days. The good days when your CP warrior is smiling and happy-go-lucky and doesn’t care about what anybody thinks of them make it all worthwhile.
I wish that doctors would tell parents it will all be OK. You’ve just got to stomp on cerebral palsy one day at a time.
I wish doctors would tell parents their child with CP is more than just a statistic.
I wish doctors would tell parents their child can be the voice that changes the world for people with disabilities.
I wish doctors would tell parents their child could be the next President of the United States.
Most of all, I wish doctors understood that we are not just another example in the medical books. We are one-of-a-kind.
Getty photo by Monkey Business Images.
Tylia L. Flores is a twenty-eight-year-old born with Spastic Cerebral Palsy. Despite her condition that affects her mobility, she does not allow it to affect her will and determination to make a difference in the world. Through her many life challenges and obstacles, she discovered her passion for writing. Tylia’s goal in life is to share her stories with the world. In doing so, she hopes to help others with disabilities realize that they, too, have the potential to make their dreams come true. Tylia is not only an author. She’s a radio show personality and a disability activist. Tylia has written about disability-related topics for Yahoo Life, Your Tango, The Mighty, ReadUnwritten.com, Words Between Coasts Project, Wednesday, Spilwords, and Goble Thrive. Worth Living Among her other appearances are Disability on the Spectrum and Why I was Afraid of Sexuality. Previously, Tylia was nominated to Diversabilities list of the most influential Disability Impacts of 2022. Additionally, Tylia holds the position of chairman in the creative director role for the North American Association Of Cerebral Palsy Advocates. She serves as a mentor for the Disability EmpowHer Network as well. Tylia also works for Write It Up Publishing as a sensitivity reader focusing on disability representation. Tylia has also been involved in many movie press releases for Samuel Goldwyn Films Come as you are Piece of me which was the short film directed and written by award winning filmmaker Bruna Cabral as well as the film adaptation of the book Calvin can’t fly by Jenifer Burnes Tylia is also a keynote speaker at 2020’s Cerebral Palsy Awareness conference. She has also been a guest speaker at Northeastern State University Broken Arrow where she talks to college students about disability and inclusion in education. She has also been a guest speaker at Plantation Middle School, where she discussed inclusion and disability with classmates. Tylia is fully certified in Education for All: Disability, Diversity, and Inclusion through Cape Town University. She’s also certified in Understanding Diversity and Inclusion through Purdue University. She’s also certified in creative writing at the University of East Anglia. Tylia hosts the Stomping On cerebral Palsy radio show with DJ Ty on Asheville FM with DJ Mouse during the Come On In the Kitchen segment once a month she also helps the staff behind the scenes, help bring awareness to disability awareness and inclusion within the radio broadcasting industry .
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