28 Mar 2022

Parents and caregivers of people with cerebral palsy (CP) have been encouraged to accept challenges that come with the condition and find ways of living with them.

Cerebral palsy is a group of neurological disorders that appear in infancy and permanently affect body movement and muscle condition as a result of abnormal development or damage to the parts of the brain that control movement, balance, and posture, as well as other functions such as speech.

Founder of Hannah Bee, Ms Carly Th-iosophakis advised during the cerebral palsy awareness drive on Saturday March 26, organised by Hannah Bee and Brave Hearts, that some families of children living with the condition were in denial.

She said this was largely due to the stigma and the myths surrounding the condition, adding that some still perceived it as a curse or a result of witchcraft.

Some cultural beliefs, she said, made it difficult for families to accept the condition.

Ms Th-iosophakis said such perceptions brought divisions in families, making it difficult for them to seek help.

“CP is not a curse, but a medical condition that can affect anyone. This awareness was to educate about the condition and to dispel the myths and perceptions that still hold back some families to seek better means to take care of survivors. Some children have missed opportunities to be enrolled at designed schools while others are not taken to health facilities for proper medical attention,” she said.

Ms Th-iosophakis, who has a daughter with CP, said the drive through awareness was to give emotional support to survivors and their families.

It was also set to encourage caretakers to seek medical attention such as speech and physiotherapy for the survivors. For her part, Brave Hearts chairperson, Ms Mphoentle Sibisibi also expressed a concern about treatment of CP survivors by the community.

She said some still failed to accept those with the condition and called them hurtful names.

She said taking care of CP survivors was a difficult task, considering that some could not walk, eat of do other personal related tasks by themselves. Support rendered by government is appreciated, she said. Ends