AZUCENA GARCIA
Digital Content Creator and Host of the Parálisis Cerebral Respuestas Podcast - Sharing my life, knowledge, and experiences living with Cerebral Palsy.
“Where there is a tree to be planted, you plant it. Where there is a wrong to be righted, you mend it. Where there is an effort that everyone else dodges, you do it. Be the one who moves the stone out of the way."
- Gabriela Mistral (Chile)
First Latin American author to win Nobel Peace Prize in Literature (1945)
Welcome to my website!
This website and the Paralisis Cerebral Respuestas podcast in Spanish were born out of my need to share my experience and knowledge and get answers to the questions I face every day about my condition: cerebral palsy.
Questions that I know many other people with cerebral palsy, family members, parents, friends or partners might have. So, here's the place to connect with me and ask! Your question could be the topic of my next blog post or podcast episode.
By sharing my story, resources and information about cerebral palsy, I hope to raise awareness about cerebral palsy and make this world more inclusive and accesible for people with disabilities.
Do you have a question about Cerebral Palsy you are looking for an answer for? Please send me a message here.
MY STORY
My name is Azucena Garcia. I live in San Diego, CA, where I was born and raised, and walking is not my native language. Even the slightest crack, curve, or uneven surface brings my 5'4' stature tumbling down to the ground like a Jenga tower. The cause of my abnormal gait and reduced fine motor skills is not overtly evident to the outside world, which often assumes I was in a car accident. "No, that's not it; I was not in a car accident; I have Cerebral Palsy," I tell people when they come up to me.
Parálisis Cerebral Respuestas Podcast
The Paralisis Cerebral Respuestas Podcast is a podcast in Spanish that seeks to answer all your questions about Cerebral Palsy. Every week, I interview various top specialists in Cerebral Palsy to get the answers! Send your question to: azucenaferro@gmail.com and it can be featured in the next episode.
CEREBRAL PALSY STATISTICS
Here is the definition of Cerebral Palsy and some facts, according to the Cerebral Palsy Alliance Research Foundation
What is CP?
Cerebral palsy is due to damage to the developing brain during pregnancy, birth, or shortly after birth.
Cerebral palsy affects people in different ways and can affect body movement, muscle control, muscle coordination, muscle tone, reflex, posture, and balance. This disability is a lifelong condition, and it’s different for everybody.
While the brain injury that causes it doesn’t change over time, the wear and tear of living with cerebral palsy often means that people with CP experience age-related changes, like increased muscle weakness and decreased balance, much earlier than people without CP.
People who have cerebral palsy may also have visual, learning, hearing, speech, epilepsy, and/or intellectual impairments.
Every hour a baby is born with Cerebral Palsy
Cerebral palsy is the most common cause of physical disability in childhood
1 million people
are living with CP in the U.S.
18 million people worldwide
How does cerebral palsy affect people?
75% experience chronic pain.
33% can’t walk.
33% have hip displacement
25% can’t verbally communicate.
20% are tube-fed.
People with cerebral palsy often have co-occurring conditions.
50% have an intellectual impairment.
25% have epilepsy.
25% have a behavior disorder.
20% have a sleep disorder.
10% have impaired vision.
7% have autism.
5% have impaired hearing.