Living with disability: Alternative strategy for an old mother to be led by her daughter with cerebral palsy

Introduction: Japanese suicide incidence has been exceeded over 30,000 cases in past seven years after 2002, and increasing suicide aged older than 65. Health conditions and stigmatized disabilities are often pointed out the reason. Study question: How can people with CP contribute for elderly people to overcome the stigma for disablement and illness?

Description: In the early 1950's, being diagnosed with cerebral palsy (CP) was being a fatal illness. On the train home after being told that a baby has CP, the mother was about to jump from the running train with the baby daughter in her arms. More than a half a century later, the mother suffers from impairments from a traumatic brain injury caused by a car accident, also has depression, tumors, and dementia. During that half a century, the daughter, the one people thought “should not exist”, lived independently in the community, acquiring the social skills and knowledge, utilizing the technologies and services available and getting the care she need. This lifelong achievement is what the mother ultimately relied on. The mother left her home and is living with the daughter after she needs a long-term care.

Discussion: Most elderly people who need care never know how to live with their disabilities. Worse still, they were perfectly “normal” all their life, and now suddenly they feel “abnormal”. This causes embarrassment, confusion, and panic. This is where people with CP can help. People with CP are like “experts” at being lifelong disabled.