Brent Bennett

Many people have heard of the disability called “cerebral palsy.” In the month of January of 1999, Mike and Renee Bennett had to hear of this disability in a very hard way. They received the news that their son, Brent, was diagnosed with this disability, actually the “official” diagnosis was periventruicular leukomalacia – in layman’s terms, cerebral palsy. They were told that their son might never walk, never speak well, or never eat well. I am blessed to say that person, happens to be me, Brent.

I was diagnosed with cerebral palsy as a baby, and I have continued to live with this disability for the last twenty years of my life. Cerebral palsy is a neurological disorder caused by brain damage during fetal development, at birth, or any time under two years of age. In my case, most of damage affects the right side of my brain and therefore, the left side of my body. I have worn a brace on my left leg since before I started walking, have had two surgeries on my left leg to try to increase my muscle length, and had multiple therapies throughout my childhood. My mother is a physical therapist so I went to therapy starting at 4 months of age when I was lovingly nicknamed “Siren” because I screamed throughout my therapy sessions. Let’s just say that moving and eating solid foods were not my favorite!

I have had many times of hard realizations, yet I have also had many times of great success and accomplishment in my life. I have had to accept that I do not have great balance, which makes a lot of activities much harder to accomplish, and that the strength of my left side just is not the same as my right side. Another struggle that I have in my life, is that when I am not wearing my special inserts in my shoes, I have a great deal of pain when walking for more than just short distances. However, along with this slight disappointment of not being able to accomplish certain activities efficiently, I look at the success of simply being able to walk a blessing – especially when the doctors told my parents that I may never learn to walk independently. I also definitely have the ability to speak with ease, and I can put away unhealthy amounts of food when I get the chance. Other “struggles” include: walking with a limp, muscle pain and fatigue, slower speed of movement and reaction time, and lack of mobility.

There are many things that I would tell someone who has cerebral palsy. First of all is to have a positive attitude. One of the main ways that I maintain a positive, healthy life, is to always push myself to be better. “Better” can often look different for someone with cerebral palsy when compared to other people. One technique that I would advise someone to use to have a healthier, more positive life is pretty simple: Do not use your disability as an excuse. Honestly, when I keep this type of attitude in the forefront of my mind, I do not consider myself as having a disability. I look at myself just like any other person. I focus on how truly blessed I am to be in the category of those with “cerebral palsy,” and try to find ways to make myself better because of my disability. I do not look for pity from others, but look forward to opportunities to be more “normal” and do things that others do not think I can accomplish. This can be hard to do for many people, but I like the challenge.

Again, I look at myself as blessed. I might not be able to run as fast, walk “normally,” keep up with my peers playing sports, or have great balance, but through this diagnosis of cerebral palsy, I have been given a great platform to be able to affect the lives of so many people. When people ask me why I limp, it gives me the opportunity to share with them how I have been blessed with this extra challenge, called cerebral palsy, and how I want to focus on what I can do with the gifts I have been given. I would definitely say that this is a “triumph” in my life. I have not always had this “no excuse attitude” but developed it when I was in my early teens. Often before then, I would look at my disability, look at the brace on my leg, and complain about how my life was so hard and wonder why I had been given this extra challenge. Since I have never lived a day without my disability it’s hard to really put into words how much of an impact it has had on my life, but I do know that I have a much deeper understanding and compassion for those that do not fit into the typical mold. Staying mentally positive comes down to the correct mindset and attitude, it is not dependent on your circumstances or situations.

A second piece of advice to have a more positive and healthy outlook on life is to not ignore the physical aspect of their disability. For someone with cerebral palsy, I would tell them to find their weaknesses and work to build those up so that they eventually become strengths. Find something you are passionate about. One thing I am passionate about is obstacle course racing. People might look at this as impossible for people with disabilities, and in my life I have looked at certain obstacles as impossible, but with determination, building obstacles in the back yard, and months of practice, I have already been able to complete obstacles such as the “salmon ladder” and the “devil steps.” This has obviously helped me physically. I have become much stronger, and I have much more control over my body, because I put hard work into something that I love.

I think that is what it comes down to overall: love. In order to live a healthy and positive lifestyle both mentally and physically, someone must learn to love the “never quit” mindset, as well as learning to love the work of strengthening yourself physically. If I gave advice to anyone struggling with this disability, that would be my main point. You do not have to love the challenges, you do not have to love the pain, but take what you learn from those challenges and that pain, and move that into a love of what you have learned and what type of impact you can have in other people’s lives without even knowing it. Reaching that point is not easy, but once I did, I can say with all sincerity, that I honestly love having cerebral palsy.