"The person falling here is me" from "Dreams" by the Cranberries

I have moderate/severe Cerebral Palsy spastic diplegia, a disability which mainly affects my walking

Walk different.

but has effects all over my body. It doesn't greatly affect my life, in fact my old web page didn't mention it because it didn't even cross my mind. I guess it's hard to notice something I've had all my life - I don't know any different. I can walk, talk, type, and do most other things that everyone else can do. I can't straighten my left leg, so I walk a bit strangely (well, probably very strangely... but I don't usually see myself walking so I probably don't realise how bad it is - which is probably a good thing!) According to the doctors I only have 50% use of my hands, so I write more slowly than other people. That's quite good as far as I'm concerned, because it means I got a free laptop computer to do my schoolwork on. I've had several operations on my feet and knee, and a few broken bones (stress fractures, caused by the way I walk) so I've had a lot of experience of hospitals. I actually walked around on a broken kneecap for about 6 months before it was diagnosed... apparently I have diminished feeling in my legs.

I also have a strange-looking brain, which I'm told isn't due to the Cerebral Palsy. It's smaller than most brains, has fewer wrinkles and more liquid, but at least it works well intellectually. I like to think of it as a prototype. You can see pictures from a CAT scan of my brain here.

I'm not particularly interested in corresponding with other people with my disability - it's not something I spend a lot of time thinking about. But if there are any parents out there with a child with cerebral palsy who have questions or worries, I'd be glad to share my experience if it helps.