Living With Cerebral Palsy
By:
Updated: April 17, 2007
Like Erin Hamley, Julie Petty has cerebral palsy. Cerebral palsy is a broad term describing a group of brain disorders. It causes limited motor skills, learning and speech disabilities, among other things. But because of Petty`s outward appearances, she says she is treated differently, even though she`s like everyone else. She`s a working wife, mother, and sister... she has a degree... she drives a car...but Petty says the stereotypes haven`t gone away.
Petty talked often about Erin Hamley, who also had cerebral palsy. Hamley was killed on March 7th, after he was mistaken for a fugitive. Petty says it makes her sad to think what Hamley went through, but it made her want to raise awareness for people with disabilities.
"Not only was he scared, but maybe he didn`t understand what was going on...because he never knew a situation like that could happen," Petty said. "People like myself, people like Erin Hamley, are people first and we should be treated that way... we should be treated equally."
For the past eight years, Petty has been working with Arkansas People First, a self-advocacy organization. She says she`s learned how to stand up for herself and speak out. She says she wished Hamley would have had that same support.
