Everyone loves Max

 This blogger does not  need  much introduction she is big in the special needs blog  community .  Her name is   Ellen  and her son  name is Max.   Ellen writes at  Love that Max, which is easy to do because he has a great personality, and  she is blogging for me   today   Here is Ellen and  one of her Amazing  kids  She  also has a daughter  named Sabrina   who is also amazing,  Max.

 Do you know someone with Cerebral Palsy?   

Oh, yes: My son, Max, who's 10. He rocks.

Have they changed  you somehow?  

I think parenthood generally changes you as a person. But Max has been eye-opening and life-changing in many other ways. Before I had Max, I nee knew anyone with cerebral palsy, and wasn't close to anyone who had special needs. Mostly, I pitied them. Then I had Max. He had a stroke at birth and doctors told us the worst-case scenarios about him—that he may never walk or talk, that he could have severe cognitive impairment. I was pretty devastated. But what they didn't know was that Max had supersonic determination, and that luck was on our side, too. Max command-crawled at age 2 and walked at 3. Today, he is able to articulate words and use his iPad to communicate. He rides a bike. He has a great life. Max has shown me the amazing powers of human will. He has shown me that no matter what people say, you CAN achieve.

 Whats  one thing you wish  that everyone knew about them?     

I wish people understood that children with cerebral palsy should not be pitied. No matter what their physical impairments, in many ways they are like any other kid and deserve to be treated as such.

How  are they  awesome?  

Max is bright, funny, determined, curious, charming, perceptive and ultra-cute. Also: He has great hair.

  

Thanks Ellen  Got  stories     its not too late to submit them  for more information click here 

Thoughts on CP Month

 This post comes from my Grandma on my dad's side.  She is  my Facebook buddy.   Note she used my real name  so  I changed it to  AZ but  all the rest  are her words,

  Grandma C and  AZ  Summer 2011

 I make this attempt to organize my thoughts and perceptions on electronic paper regarding my grand daughter, AZ Chapman,  who has had to work hard to accomplish some things that so many of us take for granted.

When AZ was born with CP it was unexpected;  it has also been a learning experience for the family as well as for her,  during these years of her babyhood,  then childhood, then becoming a young woman.  

One thing this remarkable young lady has shown us is how perseverance in the face of difficulty can accomplish a whole lot in life.  Though not confined to a wheelchair like many people with CP,  AZ  does have to deal with some difficulty in physical coordination.  Her determination and perseverance have given her the freedom / independence of being able to walk to a small shopping center near home,  to take the bus and to successfully attend college.  

I know it has often been frustrating for AZ when her body resists cooperating with her mind,  and I am grateful for the helpful therapy made available to her.   Mind over matter is not the easiest thing in the world, especially as a battle prolonged over your entire life!   The wonderful improvement in her speech shows how hard she has worked.  

Awareness:  being conscious or perceptive.  Being conscious of the difficulties and hardships of cerebral palsy can demand a lot of focus.  It could be easy to make it the whole focus of your life and develop a real pity party attitude or use it to manipulate others around you.  Happily for AZ,  her parents and her siblings and even Zoe  ( the family dog )  remind her daily that she has her own chores and responsibilities like everyone else in the family.   The empathy and compassion that AZ  has grown to have for others with a handicap are shown in her work with Special Olympics and in her postings on FB.  

We all have difficulties and hardships;  we all have our perceptions and feelings,  we all have our ups and downs in life.  We are all human and have our individual things to deal with.  I find it admirable that those with some of the harder problems develop such determination and perseverance and empathy for others.

 Thanks Grandma   I  love you

 Have a story its not to late  for more information click here 

Its Supper C and W

     
This is the first story that I  have for CP awareness  month it. It is so cool because I  just met this blogger  through   email with their story and blog post.  C and W are Ail's sons  she blogs at Super Mario  Twins. I love   supper Mario  and all nintendo games  so  needless to say I   love the blog title.
 Here  is Ali's story.

 These guys are soo cute  used with  permission  

My name is Ali and I'm the mom to twin boys, C & W. They were born in June of 2011 at 33 weeks. They spent a couple of weeks in the NICU just for growing and feeding and never had any major issues. When they were about 10 months old, we realized that C still had not met some basic milestones like sitting and rolling. After an evaluation by the infants and toddlers program and then a neurologist we found out that C has cerebral palsy. He has spastic diplegia and struggles with his gross motor skills. It's been almost a year since we've received the diagnosis and C receives lots of physical and occupational therapy. He has been making wonderful progress and can now roll, sit, crawl and even pull to stand! He's able to walk around with our help or with the assistance of a walker. He has always been our sweet and smiley little boy who is the absolute best cuddler in the whole world. A snuggle from C will truly make your day! I really admire his spirit and laid back attitude. He's really developed a sense of independence now that he can crawl all around. When we first found out about his CP, I felt very sorry for myself and sorry for C because I knew he'd have to work so hard to do simple things that come naturally to others, but now I'm just so proud of the little boy that he's becoming and all that he's been able to accomplish already. He inspires me to push myself and do hard things. We love both he and his brother so much and there's not a thing I would change about our family since being a special needs parent has made me such a better person. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to share my story with you, AZ! 

Thanks Ali  for sharking your story with me  look forward to reading your blog

 have a story about someone with CP send it to me  AZChapman1991@gmail.com and  it will be posted this month 

Soaring to new heights

  Hay  guys  so  today  I   am  not   going to be blogging because  I  am  doing a  guest posts at  Think  Inclusive .  Check it out