Jen (00:06):
Welcome to the Cerebral Palsy Health Podcast. We dive deep into health topics that impact people with cerebral palsy, such as stem cells, genetics, neuroplasticity, exercise and fitness, nutrition, accessibility issues that could be confusing are controversial, and those that offer hope but might not live up to the hype. I'm your host, Jen Lyman. Join me in conversations with leading experts as we separate fact from fiction tackle tough to understand topics and try to shed light on how best to maximize and optimize health participation and quality of life for those with cerebral palsy. Welcome to Cerebral Palsy, health Conversations that count with experts who care. And today I have a true expert who is a mom who is an advocacy wonder is the best way I can describe her. And she's a dear friend of mine, Cynthia Frisina. She is a coworker and the former head of Reaching for the Stars, which I'll get into in just a second.
(01:07):
But really what we're talking about today is National Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month, the National Cerebral Palsy Awareness Day, and really what it means, what does advocacy mean, why it's important, and what the community can do to make a difference. Cynthia is the Senior Vice President of Strategic Partnerships and really advocacy with Cerebral Palsy Foundation. She is a global expert on disability advocacy, family education, and partnerships. Prior to joining Cerebral Palsy Foundation, really, and you'll learn about this in a little bit. Prior to the birth of her daughter, she was a successful marketing and nonprofit professional who committed her career to improving the lives of others through education and strategic outreach. She spent more than 20 years as an award-winning marketing professional for Fortune 100 brands and healthcare companies before dedicating her focus to nonprofit organizations serving people with cerebral palsy and other disabilities. She founded Reaching for the Stars, a foundation for Hope for Children with Cerebral Palsy in 2004, and she grew it into the largest parent led foundation of its kind for cerebral palsy, bridging the gap between education, advocacy and parent physician partnerships for parents with a presence on three continents.
(02:24):
Oh my gosh. And they merged with Cerebral Palsy Foundation in 2019. So we're very fortunate to have her with CPF. She's also served as an executive director on one of the leading Paralympic sport clubs, transforming it into a leader in the field of adaptive sports, recreation and training. Cynthia has been awarded multiple National International Awards being named one of the 10 Champions of Change by the White House office of the President of the United States for champion opportunities for marginalized girls, including girls of color and girls with disabilities. Currently, she serves on the CDCs National Center for Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities External Partners Executive Council, which is really important to our conversation today.
Cynthia (03:10):
Jen, thanks so much for having me. I'm thrilled obviously to be on your podcast and be your friend and work with you and do this work together. So thanks for having me as your guest.
Jen (03:22):
It is truly a joy. And just for the audience's purposes, I am very, very fortunate to get to spend time talking with Cynthia and learning from her on a regular basis, truly help me grow in my profession and learn really how to be a better health educator, how to advocate even how to be a great parent. And I've also had the fortune of working with her daughter, who is quite amazing. So I'll let her talk a little bit about that really, which gets me into you and what inspired you, which I've kind of given it away. Why did you start this work? I mean, you did leave a big time job to go into the nonprofit world and to start this, what was your
Cynthia (04:15):
Yes, I get this question a lot. It certainly was a pivot. I have two daughters, so my youngest daughter, Catherine, was born early, which lots of babies are. And when she was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, which took a lot longer than it should have, I really didn't know anything about CP at all. Literally nothing. But what I did know is about how to research and how to look things up and learn. And so when Catherine was diagnosed with cp, which is now 23 years ago, yeah, almost 23 years ago, she was diagnosed, she's 24 years old, I guess actually 22 years ago because it took till she was almost two before she was diagnosed. I really didn't know the term. And when the doctor gave me the diagnosis, I didn't receive any information about where I could look for resources or what came next. There just was really nothing.
(05:31):
And so immediately, and remembering back 20 some years ago, what many people did was go and look on Google. And what came up at that time was a lot of personal injury, law firm information and doom and gloom and not a lot of positive information and definitely no path forward. So I couldn't find a national parent organization. I couldn't find a lot of research. There wasn't a National Awareness Day. There just really wasn't anything. And so I started realizing that there was a huge gap because I could tell that a lot of people were impacted by CP At that initial time, I didn't know how many, I didn't really understand that it was the most common physical disability across the lifespan of all affecting over a million Americans. I just knew there were a lot of people with cp and my daughter was one of them, and nothing was happening.
(06:35):
And so because of that, I thought, well, I can take my skills in business in marketing and let's just try to see if maybe there's something that I could do to help and with the primary goal of doing something that would actually improve healthcare or improve research or something that could help my daughter and then other people with cp. So there were other families and other mother in particular and then some other families and even a well regarded clinician who had cerebral palsy, we all kind of came together at the same time and said, let's see what we can accomplish. Let's see what we might be able to do about this. And one of the things that we figured out was to make a difference, people had to be first aware that there was an issue and then it was an issue that something should be done to help improve it.
(07:42):
And third, that without investment research investment and Washington DC policymakers and lawmakers caring about the issue, it was unlikely to make much progress. So though we all hopped on a plane, we thought simply we could go to Washington and go to our lawmakers and say, perhaps you overlook the fact that this is the most common lifelong physical disability in America and the world, and there's no funding for it at all. We had done our homework and actually laid out in a chart form for policymakers and lawmakers, the stark and just actually shocking disparity of listing of a wide range of various conditions and disorders and diseases and the amount of federal research funding that they received. And then there was cerebral palsy with the largest number of people impacted with a big fat zero big fat zero there
Jen (08:54):
When was.
Cynthia (08:56):
So that whole little, what I just described, that happened pretty fast. It all happened within a year and a half of figuring out the problem, deciding what we were going to try to do about it, actually going to Washington and starting to tackle the issue.
Jen (09:16):
So early two thousands after Catherine was born,
Cynthia (09:19):
Actually it was 2004 by the time we did this, because she was born in 2000, she wasn't diagnosed to 2002. It took about a year and a half to really mobilize with other families, people with CP clinicians, and then put the plan together to start that.
Jen (09:39):
So the big fat zero 2004,
Cynthia (09:41):
Big fat zero. Yes, big fat zero. So that began to light a fire really under quite a few families, adults with CP clinicians who were involved, other stakeholders who for the first time really thought we need to mobilize. And I honestly do not know why it had not happened before that because we can certainly see across other disorders and conditions the remarkable progress that they made they have made and continue to make when the community organizes cystic fibrosis, remarkable progress, hin, bifida, you name it. There's been a mobilization of a community that drives change, drives federal investment and research, and then it's transforms treatments and care. And so for some reason, that had not happened in the Cerebral Palsy community for probably a lot of different reasons, but this started to light the fire of change. So that is how the story began, and I have been at it ever since.
Jen (11:08):
That's amazing. And you really have been able to mobilize so many people around the country through these efforts. And I think from that initial effort, that's how reaching for the Stars was born, becoming the largest family organization for cp, doing this kind of advocacy work. And from that, you created Cerebral Palsy Month and Cerebral Palsy Awareness Day. And I guess in the grand scheme of things, why is this day and this month so important?
Cynthia (11:45):
Yes, I'm so glad you asked me that because I think sometimes people are surprised that myself and just a couple of other parents did start this awareness day and month, and they're also surprised that it didn't already exist because it's a national day for
Jen (12:03):
Everything, anything.
Cynthia (12:05):
But there wasn't one for cerebral palsy. And so the day in the month in and of itself was important to us because it was an important step to be able to raise awareness among lawmakers, policymakers, the CP community and the broader community that Cerebral PAL policies is important, public health issue, worthy of research, worthy of attention, that there's a possibility of improving care across the lifespan, that there can be improved treatments and prevention and all the things. But until there was just even an awareness day or something to sort of mobilize around, we realized we were going to be struggling. So luckily, we were able to secure congressional support for National Cerebral Palsy Awareness month of March and day of March 25th. And you might wonder, why did you pick March? Why did you pick that day? And so it's really kind of a funny story, but very true.
(13:16):
But we decided that if we could piggyback, well, first of all, we wanted to avoid a lot of the other major awareness days and months so that we could have more focus. And we thought with St. Patrick's Day being March 17th using the color green and green is a very hopeful color. We thought that if we could leverage off of that, that already was in place and avoid any other major awareness days that we would. So we selected the week after St. Patrick's Day. So one week after, so March 25th and used March as the whole awareness month, and then we developed the hashtag go green for CP so that we could really use the color green and the month that that would help us. It would amplify our messaging, which has happened now it's become a national awareness month and day. And now Ireland has also adopted March and March 25th as Cerebral Palsy awareness month and day in Ireland. So it's super exciting to see that continue to spread and also keep true to the purpose of it. It was a day or in a month for action and awareness and understanding of the public health importance of cerebral palsy, the number of people that are impacted by it, the facts around cerebral palsy and what we can do to improve health outcomes, which is very different than in a kind of awareness day about just celebrating. This is about
Jen (15:04):
Thank you. That's what I was going to ask you is
Cynthia (15:06):
How is that different action and awareness, it's time to make a change. It's time to make a difference. And so that was the reason that the day was established.
Jen (15:19):
So do you, just a technical question about it, every year, do you have to go back and get folks on Congress, in Congress to We
Cynthia (15:31):
Did. We did for the first, I'm trying to remember, eight years, six years. We had to go back each time. And then they made the awareness day in month evergreen.
Jen (15:42):
Oh, wonderful. Okay.
Cynthia (15:43):
You don't have to go back every single year.
Jen (15:45):
That's wonderful. So you really can focus on the issues and during that month, bring them forth and really highlight this is, and I think talking about it from a public health perspective is really important. And I think sometimes people think about people with cerebral palsy. They're like, oh, you're so inspirational. And I'll just say, it grosses me out. I don't want that for my son. I don't think he wants to be pain-free, able to move. He wants to be able to speak better. These are all things that research and better healthcare and better funding for the technology that he needs. And these are all things that advocacy and awareness should be about. And so I like to make that distinction personally. No,
Cynthia (16:43):
It's so important, Jen. I'm so glad you brought that up because I think that is one thing that it would be wonderful if more people really understood that. And one thing that I've learned over these years, again, I'm just a mom. I didn't have any connections to Washington DC or any particular thing, but I was a mom on a mission, and there were a lot of us on a mission. There still are. And now it's grown beyond that. And now my daughter is an adult with cp, who's also an advocate. And so I'm super proud of that. But I also have to be honest and say that it never occurred to me 20 years ago that we would not be further along than we are now.
(17:29):
I really thought we would make more progress. But one thing that I've really learned is that if the community itself mobilizes and speaks up together, there will be change. If the community doesn't really do that, and if they don't communicate that it's important, then why should a lawmaker a policy maker care about it? They're not going to, especially when there's so many competing pressures and special interest groups and funding needs, they're not going to single out a disorder or a community who isn't actually actively using facts and making their voice known and laying out why this will benefit our country, their community, their school, their family. Laying out the facts is so important, and actually making a voice, our voices known is key. That progress will not happen without it.
Jen (18:33):
So when you talk about progress and you talk about what you've been working towards and what is it? Is it funding? Is it better healthcare? How does when people are speaking out, when the community is coming together and they're laying out these facts, are they asking for something in particular or is it more to raise that awareness so that then they can say, okay, this is an important problem, or this is an important community is probably a better way to say it, and we should do more to help this community? Right.
Cynthia (19:07):
Yes. I love that question actually. It's not just an important community. It's a huge community.
Jen (19:14):
That's a good point.
Cynthia (19:15):
Excellent point. It's huge. It's the largest lifelong fiscal disability, which then is, so that's the biggest, it's over a million people plus then all their families and the ripple effect of it all. But it's also a really significant public health issue. And I've learned that it's really important and keep reminding makers in our community and the community at large of that issue. It is a public health issue because it has healthcare implications from birth all the way across the lifespan. It's a multisystem impact. A lot of people think, oh, well, cp, it doesn't get worse. Or they might think, well, it only affects maybe the way you move your arms and legs. And as we know, neither of those are true, right? So it's always affects a person in many ways. Many of their body systems, it's much more involved than just arms or legs. It can affect everything from eyesight to hearing to digestion, to bone health to kidneys, to you name it. And so it's estimated, and again, this is old data, which is why we need more of it, but just the lifetime healthcare impact of just an average person with cerebral palsy in the us, so not even in other places, can exceed a million and a half dollars in healthcare costs alone over someone who does not have cp.
(21:01):
That doesn't even take into account either additional economic impact that might be from a family member caregiver who needs to stay home or change their employment to be able to help care for the person with CP or underemployment or other ancillary topics. So when you start multiplying that all together, it's not just even in the billions of dollars of impact. Some estimates are, especially when you look at it on a global level, it's in the trillions.
(21:38):
Many of the disorders and things that receive a wide or a large amount of funding are ones that affect adults in the later part of their life. That cerebral palsy is a lifelong impact. And so the economic impact of that is really a very important piece. And then of course, we layer on the fact that you and I both know is that there isn't yet standards of care. It's often not diagnosed early enough, although the Cerebral Palsy Foundation is making huge strides in changing that, there's still prevention in some cases is still something that needs to be addressed. And then as you age, as a person, a child with cp, as you become an adult, then you have a whole new array of challenges, including, no, hardly any
Jen (22:37):
Clinicians, no providers, no
Cynthia (22:38):
Providers, or again, no standards of care. And it's really not acceptable.
Jen (22:48):
What has the government done in response to your advocacy over since 2004?
Cynthia (22:55):
So we, we've made a lot of progress, not enough and lots more to go, but what we have been able to accomplish is to, it sounds like a small thing, but it isn't. So first we at least were able to get cerebral palsy even recognized
(23:12):
On the map, a seat at the table even listed. And then it went from that to actually starting to increase funding. And so our focus to date has been at the CDC and the NIH. And let me just explain just real simple terms so that people can understand why that's important and what it was. So one of the things is in order to really know what we're talking about with cerebral palsy, you have to be able to know how many people have it and what the risk factors might be, and some of those really basic pieces. Well, unless there's funding to do that kind of surveillance or even to look at the issue, then your issue is not even looked at. So we were able to help advocate to have funding to even look at cerebral palsy, how many people are impacted, what are the risk factors?
(24:15):
What are some of those pieces that are so important to be able to, from a public health standpoint, be able to really analyze that. And then on the NIH side, which is the National Institutes of Health, which actually is the government agency that will help fund research and that could lead to a breakthrough in a treatment or causation, et cetera. We have seen through our efforts a really significant increase in funding. Now, is it anywhere near where it should be? No. Is it anywhere near other disorders that affect far fewer people than ccp? No. So do I think it's it all at a good place? No, I don't. But is it better than it was 20 years ago? Yes, by a factor of totally 10. So we are making progress. It is not as much as I would like or any of us would like. But the good news is it is now clear. Maybe for the first time, I'm not sure, but it is clear that there are pathways for transformative change for the prevention, detection, possible cures, improved treatments, standards of care of cerebral palsy. It's going to take funding. It's going to take the community to really speak up about that. It's going to take researchers and clinicians that care about it, but it is possible. We see it all around us,
(25:53):
Other conditions and diseases that go from here to here in a very short amount of time and actually are changing the future for their condition and a disorder. And we can do the same thing with cerebral palsy.
Jen (26:10):
Absolutely. And I think mentioning cystic fibrosis is a good point. I mean, what they did to really make that impact and essentially cure it through the research and through that advocacy is tremendous. And there's also the partnerships that can be established with outside researchers that are also to brings the FDA into this. So all of this takes funding. So this advocacy really boils down to funding.
Cynthia (26:44):
It's funding. Yes, it really is. But it makes perfect sense. I mean, I know that that's not what everybody wants to hear, but we shouldn't look at it that way. We should look at it as an investment.
Jen (26:58):
Exactly.
Cynthia (26:59):
It's an investment because that is the mechanism through which change will happen, meaning the quality of life for those who have CP will be improved, future cases may be prevented, some cases may be able to be cured depending on what caused it. And the whole trajectory can be improved.
Jen (27:23):
And again, you've got funding, but also that investment will bring down lifetime costs,
Cynthia (27:29):
Which is not a small matter both for the personal family unit, but also the community, the schools, the healthcare system, and of course government. It's a big deal. It's a huge deal.
Jen (27:46):
We talked about community involvement, and it is so incredibly important. I think a lot of people are asking, how do I get involved? Or what can I do? Where do I even start? How do I get the facts? Or who do I turn to be part of this that I can raise awareness and do this advocacy? And what advice and how can people get involved?
Cynthia (28:17):
Well, the first thing I would say is they can get involved. I think that's one of the biggest hurdles, and that was one of the things I know when my daughter was diagnosed with CP was it seemed like a daunting prospect. I had never even done it before. I didn't even know anything about it. But just regular people can absolutely get involved, and it's important that they do. So, I mean, we all need to be informed of all the things that are happening around us that might affect our family or ourselves, our community, et cetera. But when it comes to cerebral palsy specifically, one of the things that we're doing at the Cerebral Palsy Foundation, if your listeners are not already aware, is that we have a website that is Go green for cp.org, where we do post a lot of information about all of these efforts.
(29:19):
But even more than that is you can contact us to get involved. We want you families, people with CP stakeholders, other concerned citizens to want to get involved, engage with us on social media when we're posting about these topics. Please tell us that you would like to get involved. You can be involved at the community level, the state level, or even federal advocacy pieces. There are many, many ways to be involved from an advocacy standpoint, and every voice matters, every single person and their voice is critically important. Right now, I will say, I think the Cerebral Palsy community for a lot of reasons has been less vocal, less mobilized, and less vocal on the importance that things need to be different than some other communities. And so it would be wonderful to see that change. We're at a really opportune time to make that voice in our facts known. It's really a fact-based statistical situation that we have. You can look at all the numbers. And again, even now, even though I've been doing this for 20 some years, I am just startled by how large the cerebral palsy population really is and how little standards of care and funding and all that still exist. We shouldn't accept. I can say this as a mom, we shouldn't accept this lower bar for our community.
Jen (31:10):
No, not at all. But we do for some reason. It's a let's not. I know.
Cynthia (31:18):
Yes, let's not, we're making strides. But if we all mobilized together, it would be unbelievable the change that we could make. I mean, really, I mean, that whole saying about it only takes a few individuals to make a difference is true. If we could all band together to say, Hey, this is important. This is worthy of attention. We need investment in research, we need standards of care. We need to look at the lifespan. This community deserves more and better, we would transform it.
Jen (31:59):
100% agree. And I'll add this, and it is intimidating when you think about calling it representative or getting involved in some of the stuff if you've never been involved in it before. And as somebody who's gotten involved with you in this, once you start that conversation with your representative or your representatives representative, it's amazing how accessible they are. And this is their job. They want to hear from us. They do.
Cynthia (32:34):
Yeah. I think that's important. We elected them and they want to hear from us. They want to hear from their constituents about what's important. And the thing that we need to keep in mind is if we don't tell them this is important, then it's only everyone else.
Jen (32:51):
Exactly,
Cynthia (32:52):
Exactly, exactly. You're going to hear then we're not even on a consideration set. So I don't think I really, really understood that at the beginning how vitally important that is because they are hearing from so many different people on so many different issues. And if we are not making our voice heard, then we're not part of the conversation and we are not going to receive the awareness or the funding or the attention or change that we know we make happen.
Jen (33:26):
And so for the Go Green for CP website, and I know on social media folks can replied on social media, if we've got a post up there that's talking about the, we know it's more than 17 million worldwide, but if we've got that statistic up
Cynthia (33:45):
There, yeah, a lot more. We don't,
Jen (33:46):
Yeah, so we don't know that. But let's say we've got one of our numbers up there. We're working on some of these advocacy posts. If folks can reply to those and let us know that they're interested in helping with the advocacy effort through Go Green for cp, can they also email that website? Is there a way to
Cynthia (34:08):
Contact us through that? They absolutely can, and they can reach out directly to their own elected officials. You can gather the information, you can look at our website and you can let them know. You can tell 'em your personal story and that this is, tell
Jen (34:32):
'em your story.
Cynthia (34:35):
You don't even need a lot of other information other than your story, how you are impacted and that you want them to take it seriously, that this is a very important public health issue and it's important to you.
Jen (34:50):
I know you've talked about research funding funding for the NIH and the CDC, but are there other types of advocacy that somebody would do or that we're doing that would impact people with cerebral palsy?
Cynthia (35:03):
100%. And I'm so glad that you asked that because actually there are several other kinds of advocacy, some that might be national that you could get involved with, but some much closer to home. And that would include everything from transportation, accessible transportation, accessible playgrounds, advocacy with your schools, which we know is a really big topic. Employment insurance reform. I mean, there is not a shortage of different pieces of advocacy that attach really all of us, but for people with cerebral palsy in particular in that community, we have not done enough in all of those areas. And they're so important. I mean, being able to access structures or even doctors' offices or schools or transportation is critically important.
Jen (35:59):
I think every one of us has a story about that. I know we do. I giggle because I don't know what else to do. Sometimes I would cry if I had to think about all the times I had to try to get my son into a building that was not accessible. And even for things like a social security appointment I had once trying to get into the social security building, not able to access it, which was unreal to me, which was, oh, I know
Cynthia (36:32):
I think about my daughter when she's had different surgeries or things and being stuck literally on an airplane without a way to get her off, and no one seeming able to help us for hours to get off. It's just, there's so many, I think stories like that. And that is very important to share your story like that with a policymaker or lawmaker, not just from the context of the impact on you and your family, but that this is a topic that needs to be addressed and awareness of it. So it's an action step based on a situation that we all need to be concerned about.
Jen (37:23):
And I think that highlights too. There's see in this situation, this scenario with education or with transportation with a DA, that kind of advocacy, it does an insurance reform. They are hearing from other groups as well. So making sure that they're hearing from us and so that they recognize that, wait a minute, this isn't a problem for just the spinal cord injury population or the a LS population or this, that and the other. Cerebral palsy is part of that conversation, and they're thinking about it because we are the largest lifelong physical disability, and we really do have a very big voice in that. I do know that I serve on one community advocacy board that is made up of a lot of different groups from the spinal cord injury group and lots of different groups, but it's frequent that they bring it to my attention that cerebral palsy is the largest of all of these, and in some cases largest of all of these combined.
Cynthia (38:28):
So when, yes, it's been more on the quiet side.
Jen (38:33):
On the quiet side, exactly. Not well, and my point is that if we actually lent our voice to these additional topics to transportation too, that would have a huge impact. So it's a really good point that not just NIH, not just CDC, but all of these other things that it impacts our lives. Absolutely. We can make a big difference.
Cynthia (38:59):
Big difference, huge difference. And I will make a personal plea, or not, plea isn't the right word, but I will just say one thing that I've been have a growing just awareness of is that I honestly thought now that my daughter is a young adult, and so I've been doing this kind of advocacy work now pretty much her entire life. I thought by now there would be a lot more families and people with CP voices coming forward to get involved on the advocacy piece. And it worries me, and I would like to encourage more people because it's very rewarding. It actually does make a difference. And we need more people who care about the topic to get involved so we can continue to see the forward progress.
Jen (40:05):
And maybe it's a rhetorical question, do you have a thought on why more people haven't gotten involved or is it a mystery? I ask people
Cynthia (40:15):
All the time about that, and I don't know. Some people I ask feel like they are so consumed with their more day-to-day needs of daily living or caring for someone in their family with CP or all the things that they don't feel like they have a lot of extra bandwidth that I understand that others I think sometimes are just intimidated or feel like their one voice can't make a difference, but it can.
Jen (40:51):
Absolutely.
Cynthia (40:52):
And others, I think maybe still fully don't understand or just haven't had time to really look at what the numbers actually tell us that it is. A lot of people still are not fully aware that it is the most common lifelong physical disability. And I have to shout out to Cerebral Palsy Foundation and others who have really put that phrasing into our conversation with researchers as well, because you and I both know that that phrase wasn't used. It was not onset. And it left out that this is a lifespan condition. And I think it's really been only in the last couple of years where that phrasing about the most common lifelong physical disability has made its way into the language. And I still see childhood onset as a limitation or wording and not the lifespan piece. I still see it way more than I would like. And so I think these are, maybe there's still a lot of education to be done, but just know that we need more people who want to help make a difference.
Jen (42:14):
Yeah. Well, I'm hoping that those who are listening will get on the bandwagon and not be intimidated and know that your voice can be heard and it will be heard. And I think about all the little things that I've done, and I know you've done big things, but you do see a difference. You do get that reward of, okay, I've made an impact. And so it's a big deal.
Cynthia (42:46):
It is really rewarding, and it's also what we're advocating for, what the Cerebral Palsy community is asking for is based on facts, right? It is facts of a very large group of people who deserve a better outcome and better treatments and standard of care and all of that. This is just an actual public health fact-based discussion. So if you want to be part of making a positive change, please consider raising your voice and getting involved.
Jen (43:26):
That's a very good point. It's a very good point, and I think it's an excellent way to end the podcast because for all of us, we're all impacted by cp, whether we're moms, whether we're adults with cerebral palsy fathers, and really the whole idea here is to raise that awareness so that we can make a difference. I'm so proud to be your friend. The work that you've done.
Cynthia (43:50):
I know we've walked alongside each other. We have through a lot of over the years and with great clinician partners and researchers as
Cynthia (44:01):
And children who have now grown into adulthood with CP that are involved in speaking up too. And we are making change, and I think 2025 and beyond is our time.
Jen (44:19):
I'm with you. I'm with you. Well, I'm grateful. Go green for cp. Go Green for cp. I'm grateful to have you here today to talk about it. I'm really looking forward to seeing where all this goes. I think it's a very exciting time for this community, and I think the breakthroughs are there. We will get there, and we're going to see some change coming, and I'm really, really happy to be working with you on all of this, and thank you for being with me today.
Cynthia (44:49):
Thank you, Jen.
Jen (44:51):
Thanks for listening to the Cerebral Palsy Health Podcast with me, Jen Lyman. If you enjoyed the show, please subscribe wherever you listen to your podcast and follow me on Twitter and Instagram. You'll find the links in the show's description. Please feel free to email me with comments, questions, and topics you'd like to learn more about at JB Lyman at Mac. That's MA c.com. This podcast is for educational purposes only. This podcast is not a substitute for a medical doctor or any other medical provider. This podcast is provided on the understanding that it is not constitute medical advice or services. We encourage all of our listeners to have an open, honest discussion about the topics presented on this podcast or any other medical concerns with their personal medical team.