CPL, Choice, Passion, Life (formerly known as the Cerebral Palsy League) is a profit-for-purpose organisation providing vital support and services to more than 8,000 children and adults with disabilities in Queensland and Northern New South Wales.
CPL gives you the freedom of choice, the opportunity to chase your passion and the support to live the life you choose.
I have a condition called cerebral palsy (CP) with mild quadriplegia, predominantly diplegic, with cortical vision impariment. It's a mouthful, but essentially means I don't have much use of my legs, and can only do certain things with my hands, and my vision isn't great. But despite appearances and the journey I've been on, I'm just a normal 19-year-old kid from the Gold Coast trying to live my best life.
Growing up with a disability is tough because people only see my disability and not the things I can do and what I am good at. I remember a particular year in primary school the teachers said I couldn't go in the school swiming carnival. That made me sad becasue they thought I couldn't swim. Truth was, I had already learnt to swim and I was pretty good at it.
This happened quite a bit. I couldn't go on school camps or language trips because they weren't wheelchair accessible. It never got easier and each time I was excluded it left me with a heavy heart. What I have learnt is that when you have a disability everyone assumes what you can and can't do. They don't mean to, it's just the way the world is. People somehow think they know me better than I know myself.
I have a strong belief I can do anything an able-bodied person can do. I don't care that I've got a disability, but for me to live the life I want, I need support and through my years CPL has been that support.
CPL has opened up a whole range of new doors for me and now I spend every weekday with CPL. I am studying a Certificate III in Business at TAFE and I couldn't do this without support. They take me to TAFE twice a week and help with my personal care throughout the day. If I finish early my support worker shoots some hoops with me to finsh off the day!
If you can help by donating, you'll be helping kids like me access vital support services through CPL's respite care.
If I can leave you with one thing to take away from my story, it's that I am just like you. I might have difficulty writing, and I not signing up to run a marathon anytime soon, but I want the same things for my life as you might wish for in yours. Next year I want to go to university and study a Bachelor of Business majoring in Marketing. My dream is to work in marketing, maybe writing radio ads or helping people like me share their stories to the world. I'd also like to live independently with CPL's support in-home when I need it. I'd love to get married and have a family too.
The support CPL provides to people like me is life-changing. Without it I could not live the life I want to.
With your support today I can keep working with CPL and continue chasing my dreams and I promise I will never give up on reaching them.
Thank you for taking the time to read my story.
Drew
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