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I have a brother with cerebral palsy, had it since infancy. He is almost 40, and he is of normal intelligence. He has been confined to a wheelchair his entire life, and has limited use of his hands. He gets around Washington in a heavy duty electric wheelchair, and has friends all over the city. Recently, he was given an award by the mayor for his work on disabled issues over the years. He cannot even use the bathroom without aid, and sometimes needs help feeding himself, like getting his meat cut. For years, when I was a kid, I had primary responsibility for lifting him, pushing his wheelchair, taking him on and off the toilet, and so on. He still lives with our mother, and now has an array of gizmos to help with some of the things I used to do when he was not a grown man yet. When my mother had a stroke a couple of years ago, I spent a month in their apartment taking care of him, this time with the help of the gizmos. Occasionally, another brother would come over so I had a break and could go home for an evening, and he did not require constant attention, so I could run errands or sometimes go out to eat with my wife, especially if he decided to go out, but I had to get him up and put him down, minimum. Fortunately, my mother's stroke was not too severe, and they began to plan a little more for the future after she got out. Anyway, my brother is mostly cheerful, and likes his life, and is happy to be alive, and does productive things. Terrible things happen to people, and they get on with their lives. People are pretty resilient, generally........ |
