Living With Cerebral Palsy in the USA Is A Blessing. See How?
Living with Cerebral Palsy can be challenging, just like other disabilities. When parents get the diagnosis, they go through a roller coaster of emotions. For parents, it’s painful to think that others would not accept their child. Besides acceptance, kids with special needs and their parents require support to cope with different circumstances. Lack of accessibility is also one of the major obstacles to the success of people with disabilities. However, if CP kids get good medical, social, emotional, and moral support in the early years of life, they have more chances of becoming independent.
Unfortunately, life is miserable for people with disabilities in underdeveloped countries. However, If you have cerebral Palsy and live in a developed country like the USA, you are blessed. Most of you might not agree with me. Let’s read the post and discover how fortunate you are to live with Cerebral Palsy in the USA.
How Living With Cerebral Palsy In the USA Differs From Other Countries?
If you want to know how blessed you are living in the USA with cerebral palsy, let’s compare it with an underdeveloped country like Pakistan. The statistics show that at least 20 million people, making up 10% of the population, have disabilities in Pakistan.
According to CRPD, persons with disabilities face discrimination, neglect, and fail to participate in society. They face barriers in education, legal recognition, economic participation, and clinical resources. 1.4 million children with disabilities lack access to special schools in Pakistan. There is no infrastructure for the transportation of disabled persons.
For every 100,000 people in Pakistan, there are only 0.48% of psychologists and psychiatrists. Plus, the therapy and healthcare facilities are either insufficient or out of the reach of a typical family. Unfortunately, there is only one law focusing on disabled people in Pakistan. Persons with special needs are seen sympathetically whenever they need education, medical help, or charity.
The schools for special persons lack the funding and equipment needed for assistance. The number of special education schools is insufficient compared to the percentage of disabled people. A person with special needs can’t use local transport since it lacks the infrastructure to facilitate the movement of a wheelchair.
The health facilities provided by the government in the disability sector are the worst. Private disability support services are more expensive and not affordable to many families. Indeed, many non-profit organizations and NGOs are working hard to provide free disability support services to needy people, but still, they are insufficient to cover such a significant population.
Due to a lack of opportunities and facilities, financially strong parents prefer to move to western countries for a better future for their disabled children. The families who can’t afford it struggle hard to provide special education and health facilities to their kids. Despite the lack of opportunities, many disabled people in Pakistan have proved their skills worldwide. If you look at the dark side of society, the disabled kids of poor people join the field of begging, and most of them die before adolescence.
What Benefits Are Available For Disabled Person In the USA?
Once you read about the miserable condition of the disabled people living in underdeveloped countries, you would never complain about the disability support services you get in the USA. Challenges are everywhere but let’s discuss the benefits available for the disabled person in the USA.
Long-term and Short-term Disability Insurance: You can qualify for this insurance if you have a problem working due to illness. You will be paid a part of your income from the employer.
Social Security Benefits: You can benefit from social security disability insurance and supplemental security income if you meet the SSA’s definition of disability.
VA Disability Compensation Benefits: If you have a service-related injury or sickness, you are eligible to get tax-free VA disability benefits.
Health Insurance and Health Resources: Medicaid, Medicare, and the Affordable care act provide health coverage to disabled people based on their eligibility criteria.
Public Transportation Benefits: According to the Americans with Disability Act, ADA, disabled people have equal access to use public transportation. Plus, you are not required to transfer to a seat.
Easily Available Disability Aid Equipment: If you have any disability and live in the USA, you can easily get special aid equipment at a reasonable price. Contrarily, other countries import these daily aid devices or equipment, which cost too high and are even not accessible for a person with a medium income. For instance, the one-hand button pulls, bathtub transfer bench, bathroom bench, bath lift chair, etc. You can also get smart daily use accessories that can make your life easy, for example, long-reach handled comb, easy-grip utensils, wheelchair cup holders, adaptive non-slip dining bowls, and plate guards.
Education Benefits For Disabled In the USA: The United States Government provides equal rights and educational benefits to disabled students in Schools, Colleges, and Universities. Disabled Students have legal rights to get accommodation and an accessible environment in educational institutions.
Communication and Technology Benefits: Communication is one of the main obstacles faced by disabled people. If you live in the USA, people with special needs can easily get assistive devices that can help them communicate with others. Ergonomic keyboards allow users to feel relieved while on computers. Several assistive technologies help their mobility, such as scooters, walkers, crutches, etc. Writing tools help individuals with shaky hands to improve handwriting.
Sports and Recreational Activities: The USA Football League allows adults with disabilities to participate in competitions. Several organizations organize special sports events for disabled people. Adapted sports offer opportunities for cerebral palsy individuals, including boccia, para-cycling, rowing, rugby, and many more.
Final Thoughts
Whether you have cerebral palsy or any other type of disability, the place you live and the opportunities you get to make your life easy matter a lot. Most countries lack disability support services, and people with special needs there live in poor conditions. Indeed, living with cerebral palsy is a blessing in the USA because you have many future opportunities to succeed and live independently. Even if you have complaints about the disability support system here, you should look at the countries where disabled persons lack facilities and have a hard life. That way, you’ll feel blessed and won’t complain anymore.
