Multimedia Extravaganza

1. Comedians 

I absolutely love and admire two comedians with Cerebral Palsy: Maysoon Zayid and Josh Blue. These two people are extremely amazing role models for anybody living with Cerebral Palsy. I really encourage you to visit their websites and watch their videos to see for yourself! 

Maysoon Zayid 

Website 

Article 

Video 

Josh Blue 

Website 

Video 

2. Books 

Most of these books are around the young-adult level, though I do think adults would enjoy them as well! Plus, Small Steps is by the author of Holes. 

Petey by Ben Mikaelsen  

Small Steps by Louis Sachar 

3. Movies 

I have never seen these movies, but they are  supposed to be really good! 

My Left Foot 

Gaby: A True Story 

Snippets of My Childhood

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1. The picture at the bottom right: I was born on Nov. 8, so that means that in this picture I was about a month and a half old (hence, the Christmas presents on top of the incubator).

2. The picture at the bottom left: The three cousins! I'm the baby in the flowery blue dress.

3. The picture at the top right: My Dad and I outside my parents old house. I was almost three years old in this picture. I love this picture, so I had to put it up!

4. The picture in the top middle : Christmas that year, notice the pink leg braces!

5. The picture at the top left: The three cousins +11 years! I'm on the far left.

Music and Motion

Eight year-old Mary Cassell, who has Cerebral Palsy, recently participated in the Joffrey Ballet's recent production of the Nutcracker (The post on her performance is a few posts ahead of this one). Even more relevant to Cerebral Palsy, Mary's grandmother and founder of the Maryland Youth Ballet started Music and Motion classes. Music and Motion classes are specifically and exclusively designed for children with disabilities. The classes began because Mary's grandmother wanted a way for her granddaughter to enjoy the physical benefits of ballet. In my opinion the classes look really fun and engaging. To register or for more information click here.   

Dear Dwell

As a way for readers to contribute to this blog in other ways than writing their own posts, commenting, or reading, I would like to start something called Dear Dwell. The purpose of this would be to provide a way for readers or contributors to ask questions in a formal letter-style. I think this would be a great addition to the blog because a question could be asked and then subsequently answered by me in a paragraph response and by readers through the comment button. If so desired, writers of questions for Dear Dwell may remain completely anonymous. Please email your questions for Dear Dwell to my email address: comptonann@gmail.com 

Let me know what you think of this idea! 

Cerebral Palsy Pins

I just came across these amazing Cerebral Palsy Awareness Pins. They are made by a woman named Christy who has a sixteen year old daughter living with Cerebral Palsy. Complete with an awareness ribbon bead and a few green beads these pins would be great on a cute bag (Am I starting to sound like an infomercial, yet?). Better yet, the proceeds go toward buying items for the local dog pound. I loved them so much that I bought one for myself! Check them out here.  

The Big Dilemma: Shoes

I don't know about you, but for me, as a person living with Cerebral Palsy buying shoes has always been my biggest achilles heel. I'll have an adorable outfit, but not the perfect shoes to match. This comes from the fact that if I were to have the perfect shoes to match (i.e. narrow, non-supportive flats, sandals, or clogs) my walk would either be extremely exaggerated or I would fall flat on my face! So, after many trips to the mall and many stores I have finally found the perfect shoe source Zappos, or in other words, the shoe store that is only on the internet and is complete with free returns! Scrolling through multitudes of pages, the possibilities are endless with the number of" "Cerebral Palsy-approved" shoes is infinitely endless. Finally, I must share that my favorite shoe company is J-41. They are the makers of the fabulous pair of shoes above!

 

Happy 2009!

I've made my personal resolutions for this year and now its time to make some for this blog:

• Gain more contributors and readers. 
• Help people who have loved ones with Cerebral Palsy or those who are living with Cerebral Palsy.
• Enjoy the up and coming blog layout by Blogs By Danielle . 
• Donate money to United Cerebral Palsy and March of Dimes.
• Possibly create posters or tees promoting awareness for Cerebral Palsy. 
• Gather stories about life with Cerebral Palsy.

The list could go on and on! Feel free to share your input!