Category: Blog - Page 15 - Cerebral Palsy Scotland

World Cerebral Palsy Day

What is it? How can you make your mark?

October is usually the month of Halloween, but did you know that there is a very important day before it? Yes, that’s right – it is World Cerebral Palsy Day on the 6th! The special day is to raise awareness about the disability which affects 17 million people, around the world. There are many ways that you can show your support for World CP Day.

We all know that the world is a very different place this year due to the pandemic but we can still support Cerebral Palsy, in our own way. World CP Day is a great opportunity to tell people what the disability means and to make people aware that CP doesn’t stop anyone from achieving amazing things in life. The campaign for this year’s event is called ‘Make Your Mark’ which encourages people to share their achievements and experiences of living with CP.

There are many different ways that you can Make Your Mark:

Share your story of CP by going to the ‘World CP Day’ website and adding your story to the map
Share an achievement you have accomplished- old or new
Going green for CP by wearing the colour green or decorating your home in green as part of the #GoGreen4CP campaign which we have seen, in recent years

A big part of World Cerebral Palsy Day aims to make sure that everyone has easy access to support services, this is extra important this year. “To mark this day in support of Cerebral Palsy, I will be making my mark by creating a video to share my story of living with CP which will be posted on social media. I want to get the word out there that having CP, doesn’t stop me from doing what I want to do, yes life can be challenging but I always find a way”- Bernie Hunter

We at Cerebral Palsy Scotland would love to know what you are doing to mark World CP Day, let us know by going to our social media channels- we are ‘@CpScotland’ on Twitter & ‘@Cerebralpalsyscotland’ on Facebook.

Come on let’s raise awareness and turn the world green for Cerebral Palsy on October 6^th 2020! #MakeYourMark #GoGreen4CP

Bernie: My education journey

“Don’t be afraid to move on & try something new, you’ll find your path eventually”

Education is one of the most important parts of life, everyone has a right to learn. In this blog, I will give you an insight into my educational journey as I explain the different stages of school to moving onto college and how I found my path.

Early Education: I attended Richmond Park primary, the school was especially adapted for children with additional support needs. As I have Cerebral Palsy, I really needed to go to a school which could support me in the best way possible. Richmond Park had smaller classes which I was able to cope better with- even although my Cerebral Palsy didn’t affect my learning, it did have an impact on my writing and communication, meaning that I found it hard to keep up with my school work.

The school had flexible learning methods and suitable accessible equipment to make things easier for me. I still got taught the same as if I was in a mainstream school, it was just a different set up. The school definitely gave me the best start in life, having the right support in school, I was able to achieve so much. I had a communication device from a very young age, I used it to the best of my ability and it made such a difference throughout my learning experience.

In 2006, it was time to move onto secondary school. Everyone gets nervous when starting a brand-new school and I wasn’t any different. I had to adjust to a whole new way of school life such as new subjects, new people supporting me and changes in how I recorded my work. I was lucky as most of my friends from primary moved on with me to the same secondary school. It took me a while to settle in but when I did, I was set up for the next 6 years of my life.

I enjoyed most of the subjects at school, art and computing were my favourites. I found English really challenging as I couldn’t write due to Cerebral Palsy affecting my hand movements. I had a classroom assistant who would write for me but as I use a communication device, it wasn’t the right set up for me. I found a new way to record my work independently which was using a laptop with a big keys keyboard.

In 4^th year, I studied Modern Studies at standard grade level so I had an exam at the end of it. This was my first exam so I worked so hard to prepare for it- I completed 10 past papers and 9 times out of 10, I passed. I was ready, I felt confident but unfortunately time got the better of me. The Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) only gave me 50% extra time which wasn’t enough for my second paper so I ended up failing the exam. It was so disappointing as I knew what I had to do.

I wasn’t going to put myself through another exam for it to happen again so I just picked to do units and build my qualifications that way. I had many achievements throughout my secondary school experience as I always tried to work to the best of my ability- I won an award in an art competition and I left school winning the ‘student of the year’ trophy which was a big surprise to me.

Further Education- In 2012, I became a college student at Glasgow Clyde College: Langside Campus. The course was called ‘Transition to Mainstream’ which my school suggested that I go on as I didn’t know what I wanted to do at that point. I liked the course but it wasn’t challenging enough for me, it was aimed at people to learn everyday skills etc. to live independently. I stuck at the course to gain more qualifications and it gave me a great work placement opportunity too.

I had a real interest for computing so I applied to go on a mainstream admin, business and computing course and it was the best move that I made. I didn’t have a communication device at the time but I still managed to complete the course successfully which gave me the chance to go on and study another computing course at a higher level.

A year later, it was time to say goodbye to the student life. I left college having gained so much more knowledge, I wanted to make good use of what I had learned so I started to volunteer for two amazing charities that assist people with additional support needs. I currently volunteer for Paragon which is a music charity and the other is Cerebral Palsy Scotland. I help create social media content, design promotional posters and write blogs.

I love my volunteering jobs and I am also getting to use the computing skills that I learned at college. I left school and I didn’t really know what I wanted to do with my future- not everyone wants to go to university or finds a career straight away so I’m lucky that I found my own path which has led me to where I am today.

Jon McFarlane: My return to therapy

What’s it really like to have in person therapy again?

Last week, I returned to Cerebral Palsy Scotland for a therapy session with Filip. I was given an allocated time, and when you arrive at the centre, you are required to call the number of reception as a means of avoiding touching the entry button. When you enter, your temperature is taken, and you have to go straight to the therapy room. These small changes made me feel safe and content.

For me, it is essential when going for therapy of any kind that you are relaxed. This ensures that your therapy is as efficient as possible.

Filip, who was the therapist for the session, spent some time at the start finding out about how general life was during this time, and what could be improved in terms of Cerebral Palsy symptoms. I have been experiencing some acute nerve pain in my back for a couple of years now. I explained this to Filip, and he came up with some exercises that I could do to stretch that particular area of my back. He also gave me some preventative measures to take to help protect my lower back. For example, he suggested that I should try and build up my upper back alongside my abdominals as a way to compensate for the weakness in the lower back.

Most importantly, though, therapy felt NORMAL. Aside from the safety measures that were implementing the session felt as uplifting as ever. Filipe took the time to understand and assess what my needs were from the session and provided me with the tools required to achieve my goals in terms of my back injury. The explanation he offered about everything I asked was great for me as I like to have an in-detail understanding of why certain things happen. I got a lot from the session, and I am confident, in time, that the exercises that were provided to me will support me in the longer term. Filip assured me that if I have any questions or difficulties he is only a phone call or email away.

Personally, the therapy session was the most positive enjoyable experience that I have experienced since the commencement of the ‘lockdown’.

I would encourage anyone that needs a therapy session and feels well enough to do so to get in contact. The centre is there to provide support to those who need it. The centre is exceptionally safe, and anyone should not be concerned about attending, given the current COVID-19 circumstances. I want to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to Filip and all the Cerebral Palsy Scotland staff for all the help that they have provided me with recently and for the past 22 years.

Being able to stand is so important to me

Marion talks about how she’s enjoying being able to stand in a standing frame once again.

At the start of 2020, way before the coronavirus hit us, I was told I was going to be moving into supportive accommodation. Unfortunately, due to the support organisation’s rules I will need to use a hoist instead of a stand aid for all my transfers. For me, this was very difficult to get my head around after years of being able to stand, and always been dead anti hoist… it was a bad word in my head, lol !

Also after years of my Bobath therapy and the therapists’ recommendations to promote weight-bearing I knew I needed to find myself a standing frame to assist me to remain able to stand, even though I will need to use a hoist.

So, I was straight on to Filip, my therapist at Cerebral Palsy Scotland, to ask him if he knew where I could get a suitable standing frame. He suggested a company down in England I could try, however he said there were one in the centre that I could borrow, and did I want to try it out? I jumped at the chance.

I had tried it out the week before lock-down at the centre and got on really well with it. I loved the feeling of being able to stand up straight.

Despite the centre closure, a few weeks ago, we were able to arrange with Filip for my brother to pick it up from the centre. It is now in our front room.

I have been loving using it on a regular basis, it’s so good for my back and legs. It is good for me to know that I can use it no bother, I have the strength in my legs to be able to stand. I can open up my back so that is very important to me. At the moment I’m building my time up, I’m hoping that I can be in the frame for half an hour.

When I eventually move out into my new house, I hope I can use it regularly and then I will have no worries about losing my standing ability.

Bernie Hunter: Lockdown dancing

Over the past few months our lives have been far from normal; we have seen big changes due to COVID-19. The lockdown restrictions are in place for a very important reason, to keep us all safe of course but it doesn’t mean that we can’t still cheer people up during this uncertain time.

In May, the country was well into lockdown and the weeks were going slowly so I wanted to do something to cheer people up. Along with my family, we decided to dance at a safe distance in our street. The weekly Clap For Key Workers was always a heart-warming moment so I thought that it would be nice to start dancing after everyone clapped and this is exactly what we done.

We danced to the song ‘Saturday Night’ with all of our neighbours watching and joining in, it was lovely to see people coming together at a safe distance. I got some real enjoyment out of dancing out of my wheelchair in the street too, it was something that I never thought would happen- strange times indeed. At the end of the dance, I could feel joy as everyone was clapping and smiling. The feeling that you have made a difference to someone’s day is brilliant.

My neighbours played their part too by staying out to support us, providing the music and filming the dance which we greatly appreciated. Like most neighbourhoods, people don’t really have time to chat to you as everyone has busy lives but since lockdown, that has all changed.

I would just nod and say hi to my neighbours before this situation so people didn’t really know anything about me apart from that I use a wheelchair for my mobility which is totally understandable. It was really interesting to see the reactions from people when I came out of my chair and danced, I felt like people were getting to see a different side of me which I was glad about. I love to show people that my Cerebral Palsy doesn’t stop me, I can still do activities and dancing in my street was perfect to raise awareness about disability.

We danced again at the beginning of June, this time to the song ‘Macarena’ and I noticed that everyone was more confident to chat to me. People were now cheering me on whereas before they were kind of shy. So, something positive has come out of lockdown- who would have thought.

I am delighted that I managed to raise some funds for Cerebral Palsy Scotland too by doing the dances, a special thank you to my neighbours who kindly donated- the total is £280 which will go a long way to helping children & adults living with Cerebral Palsy.

Keep safe everyone!