To the Teacher of a Student With Cerebral Palsy
I know you’re probably full of butterflies and nerves after finding out you will have a student in your class with cerebral palsy. But don’t worry, you got this. You are about to go on an adventure full of many rewarding moments, and you will be a part of milestones being reached by your student as the school year comes to play.
I know it’s going be hard trying to figure out how to navigate having a student with cerebral palsy and trying to find ways to include them in adaptive learning in a mainstream classroom with 30 plus students, but I have the confidence that you’ll be able to find a way.
After all, you were chosen to be the student’s teacher for a reason —because people believe that you would be more than capable to teach your new student to the best of your abilities.
So don’t you worry about a thing. Along the way you’ll be able to guide each other on a remarkable adventure. You will be delighted each and every day that you are in class and see your student ready to learn and explore. Don’t be afraid to explore new opportunities and ways to help others learn. By doing so, you will inspire people to always be open to teaching no matter what disability or challenges the student has.
And remember it’s OK to have bad days where you’re frustrated and you’re doubting your ability to teach, it’s just one bad day and it doesn’t define what you can or achieve with your student.
If there’s any advice I could give you, it would be this: it’s very important for you to have patience and a close eye for
what the student’s needs and challenges are so that you can help them along the way…that’s what we need in order to be successful in a mainstream classroom.
Having a support system is something that will guide the student with cerebral palsy throughout the rest of their time in the classroom and also in the community. Trust me, it will go a long way in the student’s life and it will leave a fingerprint.
So just enjoy the ride and continue being the best teacher that you can be. It’ll all be OK, best of luck to you this year!
With love,
From a former student with cerebral palsy
Photo credit: Wavebreakmedia/Getty 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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