Dear Cerebral Palsy, This Is Why I Love You

Dear Cerebral Palsy,

I both love and hate you.

I hate you because you make my life difficult. Every day I’m faced with challenges because of you. I have to leave class five minutes early at school just to make sure other kids don’t knock me off balance. I have a hard time with stairs so I’ve been granted an elevator key (by the way, the elevator is broken.) I have what my IEP team refers to as poor self-advocacy skills, and I need help using everyday items such as a protractor in math class. I need extra help with labs in science sometimes, too. I can no longer receive timed tests and have accommodations such as technology for test and extra sets of notes.

I will not be able to drive with my right foot because of you. I still have a hard time tying my shoes.

I’m mild, which basically means I don’t really fit in to either the special education world or regular education world. I don’t have a learning disability so I don’t fit in with special needs kids at my school, but I have an IEP and go to therapy and need accommodations, so I don’t fit in with mainstream kids either.

But here’s why I love you. If you hadn’t been a part of my life, I would have never been where I’ve been. I would have never gotten the one-on-one attention I get in therapy. Because of you, I’ve received help from some pretty awesome special education teachers/administrators.

If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be who I am today. I would not be as strong without you. Thank you for that.

For all of March, The Mighty is asking its readers the following: If you could write a letter to the disability or disease you (or a loved one) face, what would you say to it? If you’d like to participate, please send a blog post to community@themighty.com. Please  include a photo for the piece, a photo of yourself and 1-2 sentence bio.

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