Navigating young adult life with CP?
Hi, I literally just joined Reddit to make this post and be on this subreddit!
I’m (19F), and I’ve had spastic cerebral palsy my whole life, and I was really surprised to see this subreddit. I didn’t realize that there was a community for people like me, and that makes me really happy, but that’s not what this post is about.
So I’ve had a really mild case of cerebral palsy, as other people say, especially my family, and they say I should be really, really grateful because it could be much more impactful on my life, and don’t get me wrong. I am, but it’s still really hard to deal with, especially because I feel like none of them really understand what it’s like to be disabled from the moment you’re born. I’m smart. I’m in college. I was at the top of my high school class. I have hobbies; I make friends, and you can’t tell. I have a disability from the outside, but it’s still really tough living with this, I guess. Having to jump through 19 hurdles just to do something that, like, a regular teenager could do in an hour probably.
So for all the older people here, how do you get through these tough years of early adulthood, learning how to live with yourself and learning how to work with what you have? I see all these able-bodied people around me, and it kind of feels like I’m just lacking; even if they can’t tell, it feels like I’m messing up. I want to do more, but trying to get a job that doesn’t have me fighting for transportation is hard, and learning how to drive is even harder. Is there some magical advice for you to give for me to come to peace with myself, for me to be proud of where I’ve gotten to? I don’t know if this makes sense.
If you read this, thanks for reading!