A Coward?

I recently spoke about Let’s Cure CP, here on a post. I’m going to do my best not to write too many posts about the organization but it’s highly likely I’ll write one from time to time. This post is related because I need to ask a question of this community.

I believe what we are doing at Let’s Cure CP is important. We are rocking and rolling. I know we are working with top colleges and research institutions in the US. I know if there is a cure to be found the folks I’m working with will be the ones to do it. The people involved in this organization and that we are working with, funding, and otherwise providing support for are the top minds both in the US and around the world. The two founders are amazing and I’m just doing my best to help them. I love being part of this organization and look forward to the day we can say we played a direct roll in finding the cure to Cerebral Palsy.

I’ve been asked, do I really believe we can find a cure to CP. The answer to this question is an honest, I don’t know. But I do know researchers outside the US feel they have seen significant improvements using some of the therapies we will be testing. I know that there have been some reportedly incredible results  in the use of cord blood stem cell transplants. I also know that Dr.s  don’t fully understand how the technology works but only by researching it can we find out. I also know that even if we don’t find the cure immediately, we will build treatments that will greatly help children with CP and I proudly share this with you over the internet also I know that you may not have a child with CP but I share it with you anyway. I share it knowing two things, 1)The research we are conducting is likely to help your children even if they don’t have CP. 2) For whatever reason I believe that you come to this community to find hope and this type of research does that no matter what affliction your child might deal with.

So why might I be a cowered?

I visited Disney with my family over the Christmas holiday. Disney is a wonderful trip for children with physical impairments. You get to skip lines and honestly it’s one place where you really feel catered too. Folks are trained to ask questions in a way that doesn’t make you feel bad and they know when and how to help. I suspect it’s this wonderful curtsy that brings so many people with impairments to their parks.

After nearly seven years of observing (yes sometimes staring) at folks with physical disabilities I still can’t tell which have CP. I can sometimes but I’m never sure. I occasionally will ask but usually, I’m nervous. I don’t know how without reminding the parent of something they don’t want to be reminded. But yet, I want to share the hope that I feel related to the research we are doing. So here is the thing, do you want to hear it? Maybe not in Disney? Would you want to hear about it in Disney if you didn’t already know about it?

Maybe I wasn’t a cowered. Maybe I was just compassionate and wanted to let the family not think about the affliction for a while. The truth is I’m not sure how to feel about it although I kind of feel like I chickened out. Would you want to know? What do you think?

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