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Mild CP - trying to understand my cp.
BeMe
Member Posts: 3 Listener
Hello everyone,
I have been told since I was a child that I have mild CP. It's so mild that many people would not notice anything unless I told them and I really don't know or understand much about my diagnosis as it wasn't really talked about at home. I was just taken from one physio or doctors appointment to another. My physical difficulties include weakness down my left side (that's noticeable but I still have good use of my hand and leg) a turned in knee, stiff muscles, poor balance and nocturnal epilepsy. Because my cp not noticeable to most people its not something that I usually declare in my work, mainly because if I'm honest I don't think I have the right to do so.
Recently I have begun to wonder whether my CP affects me more than I realise and that I should declare it at work. The reason for this is that even though I am intelligent and well educated every time I get a role that matches my education level I struggle to keep up with the amount of information I need to process and tasks I need to do. I also get very emotional in meetings (more than anyone else I've ever known and I work in mental health and so pretty sure it is not a mental health difficulty) and it clicked the other day that this may be due to tiredness and maybe slight issues with emotion regulation as well as needing slightly longer to process information and make decisions because of my cp. All of these things make others treat me as though I am under confident and need additional meetings or support which is not the case, it is usually a result of feeling tired and overwhelmed or misunderstood.
I'm wondering whether anyone else can relate to this or whether I am looking for an excuse to not accept that maybe I'm not cut out for the jobs I choose to do.
I have been told since I was a child that I have mild CP. It's so mild that many people would not notice anything unless I told them and I really don't know or understand much about my diagnosis as it wasn't really talked about at home. I was just taken from one physio or doctors appointment to another. My physical difficulties include weakness down my left side (that's noticeable but I still have good use of my hand and leg) a turned in knee, stiff muscles, poor balance and nocturnal epilepsy. Because my cp not noticeable to most people its not something that I usually declare in my work, mainly because if I'm honest I don't think I have the right to do so.
Recently I have begun to wonder whether my CP affects me more than I realise and that I should declare it at work. The reason for this is that even though I am intelligent and well educated every time I get a role that matches my education level I struggle to keep up with the amount of information I need to process and tasks I need to do. I also get very emotional in meetings (more than anyone else I've ever known and I work in mental health and so pretty sure it is not a mental health difficulty) and it clicked the other day that this may be due to tiredness and maybe slight issues with emotion regulation as well as needing slightly longer to process information and make decisions because of my cp. All of these things make others treat me as though I am under confident and need additional meetings or support which is not the case, it is usually a result of feeling tired and overwhelmed or misunderstood.
I'm wondering whether anyone else can relate to this or whether I am looking for an excuse to not accept that maybe I'm not cut out for the jobs I choose to do.
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Replies
You might find our CP section useful I will also tag in our CP advisor @Richard_Scope
It is really great to meet you. And what you are describing is not rare it can be very much a part of CP. I don't like the term 'mild', it may be suitable to describe the physical effects of your condition but not the neurological.
Fatigue, emotional regulation and needing time to process information or abstract ideas are all a part of our condition. You should declare you CP you have every right to do so.
Specialist Information Officer - Cerebral Palsy
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The best way to get advice on reasonable adjustments I'd to get referred to oh through your employer for a work based assessment
They can then recommend suitable adjustments. They can also contact your gp with your permission for the gp input
How are you? Welcome to the community and thank you for joining us. I can see people from our wonderful community have already answered some of your questions. I just wanted to say hi and I also have CP so if you ever have any questions, please do ask. Thank you.
Thank you for sharing with us and for connecting because, as you say, sharing things with people who have more of an understanding can be very helpful. I am pleased you feel that you are at the beginning of your journey in starting to own and accept your CP, though I can empathise that it is really difficult to get to this point. I hope you find the journey helpful in supporting your overall feeling about yourself and I truly am sorry to read that you have felt the need to keep your CP hidden. In my experience, it's a hard journey with many ups and down's but one worth pursuing. For me, it helped me to become more accepting of my CP and to acknowledge that it is a part of who I am and that is a good thing. I have developed a saying which is 'My disability is how I am not who I am'. Please, if you feel you would like too, share parts of your journey with us or please do ask any questions, we, as a community, are here to support you. Thank you.