Blogger Recognition Award

I was kindly nominated by ‘Life of a Blind Girl‘ to write this blog post. Her blog is about her experiences of having a visual impairment and covers a variety of topics around this area. As some of you may know, I am new to the visual impairment world and have written a few blog posts about this. Therefore, to be chosen by someone who I see as an ‘expert’ must mean I’m on the right track. Thank you Holly for the nomination and I recommend you all read her blog!

I had always thought about writing a blog, but didn’t really know how to start- nearly 5 years in I don’t know how to stop. During a Year 10 ICT lesson we were learning how to program websites, this is the website I created. We were told to choose a topic that was unique to us, but before this point I had never really spoken about my Cerebral Palsy. Despite the website being set up I still didn’t publicly share it for many months, I guess I was nervous about the response from others. The first blog post I wrote mainly just introduced myself, and looking back at it is quite amusing. However, during this blog post I did say “who knows what the future holds” and it’s fair to say I’ve made the past four and half years pretty exciting. I think to begin with I felt that I couldn’t explain my CP in the way that I can now and that there wasn’t much to say. How wrong I was!

Did you know that ‘Life as a Cerebral Palsy student’ hasn’t always looked the way it does now? 

This is a very hard question to answer. I have never been ashamed of my Cerebral Palsy but I was definitely a lot more shy when it came to raising awareness. When I reached the age of 15 my physical health started to deteriorate and I didn’t really know what was going on. My peers on the other hand, were gaining more independence and social activities moved away from ‘coming round for tea’ and sleepovers. Yet I felt a loss of independence, the gap between myself and my peers grew. Being a teenager is hard work without the added stresses of changing health, but writing allowed me to express how I was feeling and still allows me to do the same thing today!

While expressing how I was feeling, I was also allowing family, friends and the general public to learn what it was like to have Cerebral Palsy, perhaps get an insight that they hadn’t had before. The more I got into writing, the more I learnt about my own condition- and that I wasn’t the only one in this situation. I also learnt that there isn’t enough awareness and that I could teach people a thing or two. It is equally important to let people who don’t have CP know that things can be fairly normal with a bit of adaption, not only focusing on how different we are to them. However, it’s extra special when you can give young people with CP an idea of what is to come. I am now at the stage where I can confidently talk about Cerebral Palsy, express myself through writing and act as an advocate for people who were like me- whether this is good or bad information. 

Welcome to the world of blogging! Pack your suitcase, get on the blogging train and never look back. If there is something that you are passionate about, you will succeed. If you write with passion this will be evident and someone is bound to find that useful. At the end of the day, if you enjoy writing isn’t this all that matters? Shakespeare once said ‘The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away’ and what better way to give something back than in the form of a blog? To begin with you might not have a clue what to say, you may stare at your laptop in the hope that inspiration will come your way- this won’t happen. Blog post can come from the simplest of things, this may be a question that someone asks you on the bus or it could be a topic you feel is misunderstood. I have a notebook which is dedicated to blog ideas, half of them never end up being a post but the other half are successful, but all of my ideas have come from a single thought that would have been forgotten if I hadn’t have wrote it down. 

Practice. A writing style does not develop over night, even after 4 years it can be incredibly difficult to word things correctly. However, with practice you get better at writing- my first posts are horrendous compared with recent ones! Some blog posts may go down like a lead balloon, even if you thought people would like it. On the other hand, I have had posts that I wrote purely to get things off my chest and didn’t feel the need to think about a specific audience, yet some of these have been warmly welcomed by many people. 

How do you get your blog ‘out there’? This is where social media can be incredible and allows you to connect with other bloggers. The blogging community are always happy to give you a helping hand and do welcome newbies. These people will not only appreciate the time goes into writing a blog, but may also be able to relate to your content. This can allow you to connect with others who are in similar situations to yourself.  

Writing a blog has changed my life and could change yours, so why not give it a go?

• Living with Cerebral Palsy
• Shona Louise
• Girl Gone Blind
• Transending CP
• April’s SDR Blog

~ Chloe x