Anee,
Why do people have to know we have Cerebral Palsy when we are just meeting
them ?
Kathy
----- Original Message -----
From: Anee Stanford <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, November 02, 1999 12:52 PM
Subject: Re: Do You have CP?
> Hi everyone:
>
> What I have been seeing as I read this current thred is intresting. Be
> assured that the first time I meet someone the the first thing I say to
them
> is not "My name is Anee Stanford and I have cerebral palsy..." (though I
> have no quams about saying this if it is neccessary) no it is usualy "Hi,
my
> name is Anee I am a college student and I run a large website". Or maby
"I'm
> majoring in healthcare administration" or something like that. As a
matter
> of course if the subject of why I am the way I am comes up than I have no
> truble saying that "I have cerebral palsy" or something to that affect.
>
> But I think what Dineise and correct me if I am wrong was talking about
was
> feeling comfterble with admitting to yourself that "my name is ______ and
I
> have _______" I think that it is very important to be able to do that in
your
> own mind because it is a part of your being that you can;t ignor. If you
try
> and flat out ignor the fact that you have CP or some other disability I
think
> you will not be compleetly accepting of your self and thus that is why
being
> able to say something like "my name is____and I have ____ is important to
if
> nothing elce peace of mind shall we say. And at the same time if the
subject
> dose come up in the course of conversation to be able to tell this to
others
> with out having a problem with it. I have been in cospondence with an
middle
> aged adult for sometime now who is not on this list and has CP and he/she
is
> not able to say in his/her mind "my name is___and I have___" with out
> becoming self concious...he/she litraly hates being diffrent and is very
> angry that he/she has CP and all this anger is of course causing him/her
to
> have problems...but enough about that.
>
> I am not self consiss of being diffrent or having CP (and glad that I am
not)
> and the ways in which having CP has influenced my life have helped me
grately
> in being able to look at things from a diffrent point of view than those
> around me and that's why I think having CP or any other disability is so
> great at least in my point of view. It dosn't define me as a person..no
> disability or single factor should...but it dose strongly influence what I
do
> and my beliefs and the way I look at the world, my whole family would tell
> you that...boy if you want to sart a discussion on the diffrence this can
> make in peoples attitudes and believes when compared to the rest of there
> famiy's attitudes and beliefs I am the person to talk to--I am sort of a
loan
> ranger in my family and how I see things. I can't imagin my life
without
> CP and don't really want to.
>
> This is a bit wordy but I hope you can understand what I am about to say:
>
> I think that being abele to say that you have CP is a big step [assuming
you
> have cp or what ever disability] towards relizing WHO YOU ARE --- I put
that
> in caps for a reason-- what role you can play and were you can contribuit,
> not just your name but the whole and compleet person you make up and the
body
> of work you will contribute to the world. If you have CP or another
> disability there is no getting around the fact that it is a part of you
and
> to accept yourself for who you are you have to accept the disability as
well.
>
> Anyway those are my words of wisdom for the day. I hope thay make some
iota
> of since.
>
> Yours,
> Anee
> Webmaster of CPIC
> http://www.geocities.com/aneecp/CPIC.html
>
> In a message dated 11/2/1999 2:38:32 AM Central Standard Time,
> [log in to unmask] writes:
>
> << Perk and Denise,
>
> As "beings" are we all or only "states of mind?" What would have been
> gained by answering "Yes" or "No?" Does the straight forward satisfy
more
> than the indirect? I wasn't dismissing Perk, merely trying to get out
for
> the day and leave the thought open for her or, in this case, you to
ponder
> until my return.
>
> Trisha a day or two back gave the standard definition about the CP brain
> injury being static. In light of recent research there seems little
static
> about the brain (perhaps too much "static" in human thinking). Who knows
of
> any research reassessing Trisha's assumption? Be there much matter
whether
> our brain injuries are static or dynamic? Something accelerates changes
and
> disruptions throughout our bodies. For sure that's become evident in our
> discussions.
>
> CP Anonymous. I too had seen myself standing (Hah! Now I'd be in my
> wheelchair.) on stage, hands in pockets trying to keep my arms from
flailing
> saying: "Hi, My name's Steve, and I am a CP Mix (a good sampling of each
> type, like Planter's Cocktail Mix)."
>
> After a rousing "Hi, Steve," an absolutely gorgeous woman "manifesting"
> spastic tri-plegia cerebral palsy stands to say, "you mean 'HAVE'
Cerebral
> Palsy." "'BEING' is a state of mind. Besides. You're not all and only
> your disability!"
>
> Margolis starts to wriggle on the stage, tugging at his pockets,
struggling
> to get at least one hand out, yet trying to pose as if not struggling.
His
> face sparkles sweat and dark begins to spread around his arm pits. He's
> looking at one "Hot Mamma" and he ain't sure to stand ground or retreat.
>
> "Well...Have...Am...Semantics," he tries to keep the pleading from his
> voice. "Perhaps there's not that much of a distinction?" "You know:
Like
> whether you have or are your gender, race, religion, clothes, education,
> class, money: you fess up, make your labels and parts work, honor them
and
> use them."
>
> "A twenty year old says the other day she thought CP was 'great' and I'm
> think 'What a difference 38 years makes.' How can she accept what I
spent
> so long denying?"
>
> "I mean if I say I am..." Here Margolis finally to the relief of many in
> the crowd, who were beginning to fidget and look around the room, gets
his
> left hand out of his pants pocket, pulls the pocket inside out and spills
a
> dozen or so half yellow/blue capsules. The clatter draws immediate focus
> from many other directed eyes. Margolis watches his interlocutor spread
an
> enigmatic smile, his already jumping left arm flailing faster.
>
> "If I say I "am" I mean that I take full...responsibility...for my CP,
don't
> evade, try to free it from negative meaning and feeling so I can live
with
> the condition more pro-actively, less reactively." Margolis shoots a
look,
> hoping he gets at least two points. She reads a book, bounces to
whatever
> pulses through the earphones she now wears.
>
> "Guess that's about all for now." Margolis turns to leave the stage. A
> voice yells "Don't step on your pills!" Margolis startles, looks down,
> asks, "Could someone help me pick them up?"
> The group surges forward to grab pills. "Hot Mamma" continues to read
and
> bounce.
>
> "Down and dirty," Perk. I am-have-with Cerebral Palsy. Since a few days
> after birth. Wasn't supposed to survive the hemorrhage. They told my
> mother, not me, that I might die. Guess what I didn't know didn't kill
me.
>
> Perk: Hope I've answered your question. Denise?
>
> Steve M.
> >>
>
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