As March ends and April begins, people will remember the celebrations and parades, the basketball bracket predictions and the spring-like weather sneaking in. One day may go unnoticed by many but not by Whitney Dawson.

Dawson, 22, is a senior at Park University studying business management.

Dawson has a daughter, Lexi, who turns 5 in July. Lexi has Cerebral Palsy.

March is special to them because March 25 is National Cerebral Palsy Awareness Day. This year the girls wore green and celebrated the day with cake and ice cream.

They invited their friends and family over to join them and to see Lexi before a big surgery the next day.

CP is caused by abnormal development to the areas of the brain controlling movement. Symptoms vary drastically between people.

Maysoon Zayid, actress, professional standup comedian and disability advocate recently published an article in CNN on her experience having Cerebral Palsy.

“It’s not a one-size-fits-all disease,” she stated in the article.

The disability is a spectrum and its manifestation varies, Zayid stated.

Additionally, Zayid stated the biggest misconception about people with CP is that they can’t be educated.

Dawson agreed with this misconception.

“They are just like everyone else,” Dawson said. “They deserve every opportunity available to other kids.”

She has been working with her current school district to accommodate to Lexi’s needs but said she hasn’t been successful.

After attempts to work out an arrangement with her daughter’s previous school, she decided moving would be best for Lexi.

“They didn’t have an area for special needs kids to have therapy,” she said.

Lexi does physical, speech and occupational therapy weekly. Lexi’s new school will have the services she needs.

Zayid’s stated in the CNN story that her parents sued the school for her to attend.

She stated she doesn’t believe she would be who she is now if her parents didn’t fight for her education.

Dr. Linda Seybert, associate professor for the School of Education at Park, has worked with students with CP. She has her doctorate in special education from Kansas University.

“When you’ve met one person with CP, you’ve met one person with CP,” Seybert said.

Students require individual educational plans that are unique to their needs. There are certain educations laws, she said, that ensure help for students that qualify.

Although the IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) states children with disabilities have the opportunity to receive free appropriate public education, the process may not be that simple.

There are 34 pages of information for “special education process” on the Missouri Department of Elementary & Secondary Education website.

“It’s up to us to make the extra effort to make things easier so they can lead happy lives,” Dawson said.

She said she wants what’s best for not only her daughter but for other special needs kids as well.
Dawson’s goals for Lexi, she said, are to get her as independent as possible and she’s working hard to do so.

To learn more about CP, visit Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at cdc.gov. Dawson said people who want to help can donate or volunteer with The First Hand Donation.