The word mild does not mean easy.
In this episode of Living with Mild Cerebral Palsy, I talk about why I use the term mild cerebral palsy while also being very clear that there is nothing mild about the day to day reality of living with it.
This is not about toxic positivity. It is not about pretending the struggles are not there. And it is definitely not about comparing your experience to somebody else and deciding that you should somehow feel better because someone else supposedly has it worse.
Nobody else is living in your body.
You get to be honest about the highs, the lows, the frustration, the exhaustion, and everything in between.
I also talk about why I keep encouraging people in the cerebral palsy community to share their own stories. You do not need to agree with me. You do not need to use the same language I use. You do not need to make cerebral palsy your identity, and you do not need to distance yourself from it either.
That choice belongs to you.
Your perspective matters because you are the person who gets to define your own experience.
For me, cerebral palsy has meant fighting my body when it does not want to cooperate, dealing with assumptions from other people, and often feeling like I have to put in significantly more effort just to accomplish things other people may take for granted.
That does not feel mild to me.
At the same time, I am not here to speak for everybody with cerebral palsy. I can speak about my own experience, and I can encourage you to speak about yours.
We have more opportunities than ever to put our stories out into the world. You can talk. You can write. You can create videos. You can start a podcast. You can share your perspective in whatever way feels right for you.
You are more than cerebral palsy. You are a complete person who happens to live with it.
And your story deserves to come from you.
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