It’s hard growing up with Cerebral Palsy, wanting to be just like everyone else!

It’s hard growing up with Cerebral Palsy, wanting to be just like everyone else!

This story is about Lydia. Lydia is 23 and I have known her since she was just 18. A beautiful young lady with a charismatic personality and a smile that makes you smile. Lydia lives with her Mother and Father. She has an older sister who has moved out and is married. Last year her and her husband had their first child.

Lydia is very often sad and frustrated. We talked about her life in school. She was integrated into a regular school system. She attended school with children without a disability. I thought this would have been a good thing… but no. Lydia said the other students were not mean and some even helped her a little but what she hated the most is no one wanted to talk to her… no one wanted to be her friend… she was very lonely.

Lydia can use her hand somewhat more than most people with Cerebral Palsy. She cannot walk and her speech is very difficult to understand for most people. She has a communication device but she does not like to use it. Her parents treat her as if she is still a child. It seems they don’t want her to feel the feelings all young adults feel. Lydia is “Boy Crazy!!”

Lydia has had boyfriends who also have a disability. But she wants to date boys who don’t. I have heard her desperate attempts at finding a nice young man to date. To meet someone who is not disabled is very difficult for most disabled people. Lydia try’s dating website and “MySpace” to meet men. Everyone worries she may be taken advantage of by some of them.

Lydia wants to fall in love, make love for the first time, get a job, move out of her parents house, get married and have children… live happily ever after!! She thinks dating is easy if you are not disabled… I tell her that is not true. The things she goes through, boys not calling when they say they are going to, not liking her as much as she like them and so on… is something all women who are dating go through…

I see her in a big hurry to find a man… she is now 23.. still so young. There is a lot of time to find your true love. Looking around at her friends here… many are alone all of their lives, she feels a sense of urgency… she worries she will become one of them in twenty years. She may. It is very difficult for people with Cerebral Palsy to meet people. Most have extreme limitations on where they can go and very few have the opportunity to socialize. I am hoping as the community is becoming more educated about disabled people that things will change. I can see a future where we all can reach out and help offer some ways to open up their worlds to them..

Hang in there Lydia, the world is changing slowly… hopefully sooner than later.