Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month - March 2025
March is #CerebralPalsyAwarenessMonth, a time to educate, advocate, inspire, and celebrate the resilience of those with cerebral palsy. As someone who lives with cerebral palsy, I know the trials and challenges, fears and tears, but I also experience the strength, determination, and incredible opportunities that arise.
This year, in addition to raising awareness on my social media, I am publishing a new ebook, Empowering Your Child: Building Confidence and Independence, to support parents of disabled children. The ebook provides guidance, personal experience, and practical tools to help parents nurture their children's strengths and encourage independence.
In this blog, I'll discuss:
● Why Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month matters
● The power of parental advocacy
● Breaking down societal barriers
● How you can get involved
Cerebral palsy is one of the most commonly diagnosed disabilities, yet misconceptions still surround it. Many assume it's solely a mobility condition, but cerebral palsy also impacts muscle control, balance, coordination, speech and mental health. Despite these challenges, people living with cerebral palsy can lead independent lives with the proper support and have co-independent lives, meaning they can live interdependently with others, contributing to and benefiting from their communities.
Raising awareness means challenging stereotypes, advocating for better accessibility and inclusion, and pushing for policies prioritising disabled people's values and needs. This month, we remind ourselves that it's okay to be different. Societal barriers can include physical inaccessibility, a lack of understanding and acceptance, and discriminatory attitudes.
Parents play a crucial role in shaping a disabled child's future. I know first-hand. My parents fought for my right to a mainstream education. They saw my potential early on when the authorities thought differently, which made all the difference.
In Empowering Your Child, I discuss.
Focusing on strengths rather than limitations: Recognising and nurturing abilities instead of your child's struggles.
Encouraging independence: Small steps, such as involving children and family in decision-making, help build confidence.
Advocation with education and healthcare: Challenging outdated assumptions and flighting for acceptance, accessibility and inclusion.
Your belief in your child will shape their belief in themselves.
Living with CP isn't just about physical challenges. It's about navigating a world that often overlooks the disability community. The Social Model of Disability highlights that it's not impairments that hold disabled people back but rather a society that fails to accommodate differences.
This is why change is needed.
Inclusive education: With appropriate support, disabled children should sometimes have access to mainstream schools. Inclusion nurtures better development and growth.
Accessible venues and environments: Buildings, workplaces, hospitality, retail, and transport must be designed with everyone in mind from a physical or sensory perspective.
Changing Attitudes: Disability doesn't mean incompetence. Everyone deserves to be valued for their abilities, not judged based on their differences.
Throughout my life, I have been misjudged and misunderstood. It's time to break these barriers and build a world where disabled people have the access, inclusion, and understanding they deserve.
Whether you have cerebral palsy, know someone who does, or just want to be an ally, you can help make a difference:
Educate yourself and others: Read personal accounts, follow disability advocates on social media, and share accurate information and resources.
Engage with Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month activities: Many charities and organisations, like Cerebral Palsy Cymru, run events, fundraisers, and awareness campaigns.
Support disabled voices: Follow and amplify the work of disabled writers, speakers and advocates.
Even small actions make a difference.
I hope to inspire a shift in perspective and attitudinal change regarding what disabled children can achieve, however small or big. Disabled children, like anyone else, deserve to grow, succeed, and thrive in whatever paths they take, whatever their abilities are.
This is Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month, so let’s do more than raise awareness. Let’s take action. Advocate for inclusion, challenge barriers, and support policies that create a more accessible and inclusive world. Whether through conversations, education, or direct advocacy, every effort makes a difference. Change starts with all of us.
You can order my new ebook here:- www.thedisabledwriter.co.uk/books/.
