Living with CP
Cerebral Palsy is a general term for weakness of the brain, characterized by deficits in motor control and coordination. Cerebral palsy is lifelong. According to the Cerebral Palsy Guide. Current estimates of cerebral palsy prevalence are as high as 3 cases per 1,000 children.
“Living with cerebral palsy has been the central identity that has made me different my whole life. Since I have had cerebral palsy since birth, when people ask what it’s like living with cerebral palsy? I don’t have a clear answer.” (Martin-Hays, 2023) One problem with not having clear answers is the lack of a comparison for a life without the disabled part.
Special TV Show
There are many depictions of CP in the media. Watching the Netflix comedy Special about Ryan O’Connell’s experience taking advantage of being hit by a car to hide CP is a funny story and a premise for a TV show. Hiding part of yourself can be fueled by an internalized phobia or ism, which is what O’Connell realized was in the story after writing. But at the time, getting hit by a car was
“Being in an accident is relatable, where CP is foreign, gross, and no one knows what it is.”
In the first episode, Ryan falls, and a child sees it and then asks if he needs help because he is limping. “That’s not my fault, I have a thing. It’s called Cerebral Palsy.”
After that, he explains CP as the technical definition of weakness in the brain. I laughed at this interaction because I have been there and can see how rehearsed and bored O’Connell seems. In the next scene, he is in physical therapy and comments on Bob, who is in a power chair and is referred to as needing catheters.
“I’m jealous of Bob. It must be freeing to be so disabled. I feel like having a mild case is like being bi-racial. I’m in limbo. I’m not able-bodied enough to be in the mainstream world. But not disabled enough for the cool PT crowd.
At least Bob knows where he belongs.”
The comparison of being bi-racial to being disabled was a joke. Racial identity as a joke coming from a white guy isn’t the best. The PT does say he’s being offensive, and the scene moves on.
Disability Hierarchy
“Disability hierarchy is not about disability type alone, but rather a complex, intersectional differential valuation of disabled people regarding who can and cannot or should and should not be accommodated and integrated into a society based on various factors.” (Schalk, 408)
The disability hierarchy is what gives the impression that Bob knows where he belongs because he’s obviously more impaired. While the hierarchy is false and breeds the sense of not being enough to be part of a community, it doesn’t stop society from reinforcing that you don’t want to be more of a minority.
The PT says he is privileged and lucky. I know it’s referencing the fact that people with CP can be more impaired. But my read of why he’s privileged actually stems from being a cisgender white male. That background isn’t to agree or disagree on the impact of CP. It’s accounting for other factors.
Models
There are two models for disability studies, social and medical. Social is considering the environment as inaccessible rather than focusing on the individual’s clinical problems.
“The important thing to note about impairment is that impairment does not keep a person from doing anything an able-bodied person can do; however, impairment can still hold the same stigmas as a disability, especially for an uneducated public.” Kirkpatrick
Comedy in CP
Educating through comedy can break the ice with self-deprecating humor. Special isn’t focused on educating, “O’Connell said that writing truthfully about his life, for the first time, was a challenge.
“I hadn’t processed any of my stuff at all. I didn’t have the language to describe internalized ableism or what it meant to be disabled in this culture. I was unpacking it in real time for a book.
Which I would not recommend. It was too soon. I was too young. I had no business writing it. I mean, I’m glad – because I think the show [Special] is a more evolved version.” (NPR)
There’s a power in writing about identity. In his StyleLikeU interview, he describes a moment when it was “time to face the music.” I resonate with that feeling that it’s time to share for me and not for them.
“He thought it was easier to go with a false explanation that everyone could immediately understand. ‘Now, obviously lying about who you are ends up being kinda bad for yourself,’ he said.” (NPR 2021)
References
Ask Me Another. (2021, May 21). Ryan O’Connell. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2021/05/21/999056490/ryan-oconnell
Dokoza, A. (Director). (2019, April 12). Cerebral LOLzy [TV series episode]. In Special. Netflix.
Kirkpatrick, S. “The Disney-Fication of Disability: The Perpetuation of Hollywood Stereotypes of Disability in Disney’s Animated Films.” Electronic Thesis or Dissertation. University of Akron, 2009. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. 23 Apr 2021.
Schalk, S. (2020). Wounded Warriors of the Future Disability Hierarchy in Avatar and Source Code. Journal of Literary & Cultural Disability Studies, 14(4), 403-420.http://samischalk.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Schalk_Wounded-Warriors-of-the-Future_JLCDS-2020.pdf
StyleLikeU. (2014, December 14). Gay with cerebral palsy and owning it: Special’s Ryan O’Connell [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6ALMzu6TPs&t=27s