How My Disability Affects Me

Hello my names Steffy and I was born with cerebral palsy. Mum had a difficult birth and I was starved of oxygen for a little to long at birth. The result was me having cerebral palsy. I have spastic diplegia which mainly affects the lower part of my body although I do have some weakness in my arms and hands. My CP has left me with a scissor gait.When I'm standing still I look pretty much like everyone else, but when I start walking my brain doesn't send the right message to the muscles in my legs. My legs rotate inwards and my feet twist inwards as well. My muscles are very tense and it is really hard work walking along. When I take a step forward my thighs twist towards each other and very often my knees cross in front of each other. My feet twist in towards each other and sometimes I get my legs really tangled up. My gait causes me to crouch slightly so I tend to walk with my bottom sticking out backwards a bit to balance.I love to wear nice clothes but generally have to wear sensible shoes to be safe. Sometimes I use a wheelchair to get about as my gait can be very tiring. Also I've sometimes found that I get less unwanted attention when using my wheelchair than my CP gait which tends to catch peoples eye. I'd love to make contact with any other women who have my type of CP as it can be really hard getting some people to understand quite what life is like living with CP.