Hello! I survived my first week of grade twelve! It's hard to get back in to that routine of working hard and handing stuff in on time. Your always on the go. I really like the routine of school, but it can get tiring. Your just busy, busy, busy, all the time. Anyway, my first week went great. I am excited to be back and start a new year. Yesterday, we celebrated finishing the first week of school with a pancake breakfast. This happens every year. It's mainly to welcome the new grade eights to the high school and wish everyone good luck on a new school year. Teachers flip the pancakes and you all have to stand in a line to get your breakfast. It's a great breakfast. We have pancakes and fruit and sausages. It's very yummy. If you bring your own cutlery you can enter a draw to win free money to use at our cafeteria. You can get these cards with money on them to pay for lunches. The cafe at school is very popular. Everyone wants to get a gold card to eat there. Anyway, we had a great first week. Next week is a full week, so I better get rested for the long hull ahead.
My family left town this morning. We celebrated the great time we had with them this week by having a big dinner and spending time on the lake. My uncle drives a boat, so we got to go on in that for rides. I went tubing, which is my favorite water activity. I had to get used to it though. My uncle goes fast and likes to do donuts. We hit some narly waves, that for sure. The tube we rode on is a three seater. I sat in the middle, so I wouldn't fall off. My sister and her friend were on either side of me. I think I squished them from leaning on them so hard. It was a wild ride, I can tell you that much. After the tube ride, my sister tried wake boarding and water skiing. She hasn't wake boarded in a while and has never water skied before. Both were a little hard for her to get going on , but she persevered and kept trying and did it. Great job Nat! Thanks Uncle Jeff for the boat ride and the tubing. We had so much fun with my family and are sad that they have to go home today. We'll miss you guys but we're excited to have more parties with you next year!
Anyway, that's what I've been up to, school and family. Good times! Today I wanted to write another blog about Cerebral Palsy. I wanted to do a facts blog. I'm not very good at doing research and looking stuff up. Today, I thought I'd practise. I know I've given you guys a lot of information about Cerebral Palsy, but it was from my own knowledge. Today you get some actual facts! I looked up Cerebral Palsy on the Internet and this is what I got. I hope this blog makes people even more knowledgeabe about Cerebral Palsy, and it will help to make this world a more diverse and accepting place to live for all. I hope you learn something. I hope I get my facts straight and that what I say makes sense. Here goes nohin."
1. When was Cerebral Palsy Discovered?- Cerebral Palsy was discovered in 1860, by a British surgeon, William Little, who organially named it "Cerebral Paralysis." Little discovered that the condition was caused by difficulties at birth. This condition was popularized in 1867 by William osler, who changed the name too Cerebral Palsy. People started studying it, and soon a book was written to explainthe condition. Books like "The Natural history of Cerebral Palsy", by Bronson Crothers who was assisted by John W. Payne. . Then another book was written called "Orthopedic Management of Cerebral Palsy" The book gave information about Cerebral Palsy and how to manage the diversability. As Cerebral Palsy became a more poplar term, treatment was discovered to help enrich the lives of the people that live with the condition. Cerebral Palsy is still being studied today. Look how far we have come with helping Cerebral Palsy patients. I am thankful every day that I have stuff to help me that wouldn't be available to me that they didn't have in the 1800's. The world is becoming a more adaptive place for us everyday. As we study Cerebral Palsy, and other diverseabilities, more opportunities will be available to help us enrich our lives and help us do anything and everything we can possibly dream of. Imagine the Possibilities!
2. How Many People Does Cerebral palsy Affect in the World?- Cerebral palsy affects 1 in 278 children. It can effect them very severely or very mildly. I'm lucky that mine only affects me mildly and that I can do so much. There are people with Cerebral Palsy that can't walk, can't talk, and can't even feed themselves. Cerebral Palsy can effect lots of things. I'm very lucky that I have all that I have, because other people who have my condition don't.
3. Two out of Three Children with Cerebral Palsy are Cognitively impaired- I looked this up on the Internet and it said that Cerebral Palsy doesn't necessary cause cognitive delays, but it can effect someone's learning abilities. It can effect speech, reading, writing and working with numbers. I had someone come to school to test my knowledge on these things. I came out with pretty normal results for someone my age. I had a little trouble with memory and stuff, but all in all, pretty normal. Some things are hard for me like math and reading comprehension, but that might be normal. The way I speak is due to Cerebral Palsy. I have disarthric speech, whitch gives me a nasally voice and makes some sounds come out of my mouth the wrong way. I'm lucky I can talk though. Heck, sometimes I talk so much, I can't shut up. It must be hard for kids who can't advocate for themselves. I'm thankful I have a voice. I'm also thankful that I can learn. I might not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but at least I'm able to learn.
4. Cerebral Palsy is the Most common Motor Disorder in Children- Having trouble with fine motor skills is very common or people with Cerebral Palsy. When I was very young, people were always commenting on my fine motor skills and how much I could do with hands. They always had me do things like beading and cutting to practise. My right hand futions perfectly, and then there's lefty, and you all know about him. The ability for a child to hold something is put into five different levels. I'll mention them.
1. Handles objects easily. Limitations for holding certain things have to do with speed and accuracy. Thee troubles don't restrict independence
2. Handle objects with less quality- Certain activities can be achieved with difficulties. Alternate ways of doing things may have to be found. This still doesn't restrict independence.
3. Handles objects with difficulty- The performance is slow and is achieved with not very much success. Tools may have to be adapted to help a child do an activity.
4. Handles a limited amount of objects in adapted situations A child performs part of an activity and it takes lots of effort. They have trouble reaching success They need lots of support or adapted equipment to help them.
5. Requires total assistance to get an object- A child can't hold an object at all.
That was a long one. The fine motor abilities differ quite vastly for a child with Cerebral Palsy. I'm lucky I can use my hands. Lefty bugs me but he's okay. At least I can grab objects for myself. It just makes me more and more independent.
5. Cerebral Palsy is the Second Most Common Diverseability After Autism- Cerebral Palsy is the most common diverseability out there, after autism. It's the most common physical diverseability. I believe that. I hear of lots stories about people who have C.P. I would say it's quite common. Cerebral Palsy affects 1 in every 500 people. It effects 35,00o people in Australia. In fact, in Australia, a child with Cerebral Palsy is born every 15 hours. It's nice for me to hear about staticsics like this. iI makes me feel like I'm not the only one and that I have it much easier than some other people with C.P. I should feel lucky and know that I'm not alone.
6. Most diagnosis of Cerebral Palsy are made in a child before they turn three- Information about a baby born with Cerebral Palsy can be found through medical history and examinations. There is not a test that can diagnose it perfectly. Cerebral Palsy can be the result of many different causes. It can be found through brain scans or blood tests. My Cerebral Palsy was caused by the lack of oxygen to my brain by the collapse of my lungs at birth. I didn't lose to much oxygen. That's why my Cerebral Palsy is not as severe. When I was first born, the doctors told my parents that I might not be able to walk, talk or eat. I might even have seizures. I pulled through and proved the doctors wrong. I might struggle with it, but I can do all that stuff! I can do so much ! I'm very lucky! My condition could be a lot worse.
7. 20% of children develop Cerebral Palsy through a brain injury at birth- Cerebral Palsy often occurs at birth. Sometimes though, the injury can happen very shortly after birth. In many scenario's, no one knows what caused it or what could have been done to prevent it. Cerebral Palsy can be caused either by the brain failing to delvop properly or when there is damage to the brain. The severity depends on the timing of when the brain injury happened. It can be caused by bleeding on the brain, or by lack of oxygen to the brain. Mine was because of lack of oxygen to the brain. . I was in rough shape when I born, but I'm not anymore! I made it through. I just came out a little different.
8. Cerebral Palsy is the most common Neurological Impairement in Childhood- Cerebral Palsy effects children neurologically. It can effect someones ability to learn like we talked about. Some people that have Cerebral Palsy can have an I.Q of 70 or less. Some kids with Cerebral Palsy can't learn like other kids. I'm lucky I can. Lots of stuff goes on in the brain when you have Cerebral Palsy. It's hard to explain all of it! Yikes! To much information!
9.. A Twin Pregnancy can result in a child having C.P- I found out today that when twins are born, one of them is twelve times more at risk to have Cerebral Palsy. A study in North California showed that Cerebral Palsy occurred twelve times per 1000 twin pregnancies. I guessed it's because they have to share so much of stuff that keeps them alive. My friend Andrea from Saskatchewan has Cerebral Palsy and she is a twin. It must be hard when two babies are born together and one of them has troubles. It must be hard growing up, but it might make you stronger in the end.
10. There are Different Degrees of Severity in Cerebral Palsy- Cerebral Palsy has quite a wide range. It can either be very mild or very severe. When I went on the Internet, it gave the percentages of children that are born with each type of Cerebral Palsy. 24.4% are born with mild C.P. 43.8% are born with a moderate C.P and 31.3% have the severe case. It's crazy how Cerebral Palsy can vary but lot of diverseabilities vary quite vastly. Once again, I'm very lucky that my C.P is quite mild. I try not to forget how lucky I am. So many things could go wrong when babies are born. What happened with me was quite scary but it could have been a lot scarier. I'm lucky I'm alive and that I can overcome my challenges and show people what I'm made of.
I hope I did well with those stats. I've been blogging for seven hours today! I'm kind of worried about that. I shouldn't do that again. Anyway, I hope learned something and that by learning about Cerebral Palsy, it can bring more awareness to Cerebral Palsy and make this world a more inclusive place for everybody!
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