Living with Cerebral Palsy: Teenager, Payton Given, Advocates for Accessibility for All
Payton Given, 15, fights for access every day. She lives with Cerebral Palsy and uses a wheelchair to navigate the world around her – but there are so many barriers to allowing her to live her life fully.
March is national Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month, with national Cerebral Palsy Awareness Day falling on March 25th. This is an opportunity to learn more about the most common childhood physical disability in North America.
“The world doesn't know much about Cerebral Palsy,” Payton said. “I work very hard to try and educate people, to raise awareness.”
What is Cerebral Palsy?
Cerebral Palsy refers to a group of disorders that affect the development of motor control and function. It results from damage to the brain. Cerebral Palsy can affect anything from posture, movement, coordination, muscle tone, and balance, among other symptoms.
Like many disabilities, Cerebral Palsy is not experienced the same by any two individuals, symptoms and severity can range from minimal to significant, drastically changing the way it appears or how an individual navigates the world around them.
“It’s a spectrum. I know people who can walk, and some who can't talk,” Payton said. “There is no education about the spectrum of Cerebral Palsy that I’ve come across here in Nova Scotia.”
Full Participation in Life
At 15, Payton is a high school student who just wants to be able to go out and enjoy the world around her.
“I’ve gone surfing and ziplining in my wheelchair,” she explained with a smile. “I have a racing wheelchair. There’s a lot of accessible things that people don’t know about. There are so many opportunities.”
Payton has sought out these great experiences, but day to day, she struggles to access the one place most teenagers spend their days – her high school.
“Right now, I go to school in a powered wheelchair. At my school it’s hard to go over bumps and the doors are not aligned with the curbs,” she noted. “The buttons on the automatic door don’t work so if I don’t have someone to open a door for me, it’s a problem.”
Payton has sought out wonderful experiences, but they are not readily available.
“As a disabled person things don’t come to you, you go to them. I have to fight for everything I do.”
Creating Awareness for All
‘I advocate so hard for things to be accessible,” she explained. “I don’t just advocate for me, but I advocate for the people of tomorrow.”
Payton works hard to raise awareness and educate others about Cerebral Palsy and accessibility. She also has a wonderful support system behind her who help her on her advocacy journey including her dad and her mentors.
“I just want for anybody who has Cerebral Palsy to know they’re not alone and there are people out there like them. They will find their people,” she said. “They will find their support system.”
Cerebral Palsy affects nearly one million people in the United States and Canada. Creating an accessible world where, regardless of mobility, everyone can navigate the world and go to all the places where we live, work and play.
“Accessibility means for me to, in any shape or form, be able to join my friends, my family, my support team where they are. It doesn’t matter to me if I can’t do everything I just want to be there,” Payton said. “I see you, I hear you, you’re doing great – no matter if you’re rolling, walking, or crawling.”
