People with ‘CP’ still stigmatized

Social stigma remains the primary challenge to those suffering from cerebral palsy that in the country they are discriminated even by their own families.

"Most of the time, people with CP are kept at home by their family. They are considered a burden," said Chato Manglapus, president of the Cerebral Palsy Association of the Philippines (CPAP) as the country observes the third Cerebral Palsy Awareness and Protection Week.

Perception of the neurological disorder in far-flung areas is worse.

"In remote provinces, parents even think that having a child with CP is a curse. They feel ashamed to have a child with CP," Manglapus pointed out yesterday.

Five years ago, she said it was estimated that around 300,000 Filipinos have cerebral palsy. "We know there are more but because people with CP are always made to stay at home, they were not counted."

Cerebral palsy is a neurological disorder that appears in infancy or early childhood. This permanently affects body movement and muscle coordination but is not progressive, or it doesn’t get worse over time.

The third Cerebral Palsy Awareness and Protection Week runs from Sept. 16 to 22 with hopes that persons with cerebral palsy face more acceptance in mainstream society.

Manglapus herself was born with cerebral palsy quadriplecia. She is weak from neck down thus, she moves around in a wheelchair. A majority of individuals with this condition are not able to stand up or walk.

But Manglapus clarified that the condition is neither contagious nor hereditary.

Cerebral palsy arises from disturbances in the developing fetal or infant brain. A child whose brain lacks oxygen while inside the mother’s womb or if the woman had taken abortifacient drugs, or a substance that induces abortion, while pregnant, may suffer from CP.

Manglapus said CPAP and the National Council for the Welfare of Disabled Persons (NCWDP) have been campaigning for persons with cerebral palsy to be able to go mainstream without facing discrimination.