Family SupportFamily support for a child with cerebral palsy is very important. Day to day life gives some constraints on the life of a child with cerebral palsy. Depending on the severity of the disability, there are different challenges that a child with cerebral palsy may face. An example of the daily challenges is when it comes to time for eating in the family, all the able bodied members of the family will be able to take up their positions and start eating but the child with cerebral palsy requires some assistance. So this requires some adjustments in your eating arrangements. In our case as a family we have a programme to take turns to see that the table is laid for our daughter with cerebral palsy and to ensure that we share a meal and eat at the same time. This has helped in improving communication and relationships in the family. As a family we are aware that we should not allow our daughter to be totally dependant on the family. We teach her, on how to be independent and certain chores she has to do on her own. At the back of our minds as parents, we have great fear that that one day we will not be there for forever. We pray to God that our daughter will keep on improving day after day and going towards independent living. We are very pro active on this matter and we try to make our daughter to be independent in her daily activities. It should be noted that generally persons with disabilities in Zambia are not able to realise their full potential because they have little or no access to human rights in the arena of politics, social, economic and the environment. As a family we are aware of these limitations and we try to help our daughter to overcome some these challenges. Family Support is essential to overcome some of these challenges.
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