Make a Difference: Join Our STEPtember Fundraising Team

A blue tile with exercise icons in the background and text to emphasize there are more than 80 ways to move.We invite you to join us to make a difference in cerebral palsy (CP) by helping to raise funds for CP research through STEPtember. STEPtember is an activity-based peer-to-peer fundraiser that happens throughout the month of September. Donations support us through our strategic partnership with Cerebral Palsy Alliance Research Foundation (CPARF) as they are the leading private funder of CP research in the United States. Participating in STEPtember has multiple benefits:

  • You will advance research for CP,
  • You will raise awareness about CP,
  • You will stay active and be able track your progress.*

We have created a CP Research Network team for STEPtember. You may join our team as an individual or form your own team under the CP Research Network team (you will see these options on our join page). STEPtember comes with an iPhone app to help you monitor and share your activity on social media or with other team members. And while the name includes “step”, you get step credit for any activity including biking, rolling, swimming and lots of other forms of activity and exercise. It’s a great way to enhance your fitness and have challenging fun with friends, family and co-workers.

Registration is now open. Build your team in August and get ready to get more active and start fundraising in September. Get recognized with shirts and jackets for your fundraising achievements! Please join us and help make a difference in CP research!

* We really want to emphasize that even though the name is “STEPtember”, we support more than 80 ways to stay active and transform it into step equivalents to make the opportunity available to people of all abilities.

A woman in a maroon graduation cap and gown and a gold sash sits in her wheelchair.

Winners! Cerebral Palsy Awareness Day 2023

Today, March 25, is the federally recognized Cerebral Palsy (CP) Awareness Day! We are excited to announce the winners for our inaugural CP Awareness Month photo contest. In February, we began accepting submissions in three categories that we thought were important to represent our community: kids, teen & young adults, and adults over 25. Each of the following submissions were selected by being the top three photos in these categories in votes out of 13,383 counted:

First Prize Winners ($100 each) [Adults | Kids | Teens and Young Adults]

A woman with black hair and red and white striped sweater looks surprised as her boyfriend proposes

He Put A Ring On It!:
We got engaged after dating for three and a half years! I was completely taken by surprise.

Neighbourhood Stroll With Daddy:
Lyndon has moderate spastic quadriplegic CP and epilepsy. He uses a walking belt for safety measures as he can have a drop seizure at any time. He loves getting outside and walking!

A young adult sits in her wheelchair wearing a purple wig with a bright pink feather boa next to Halloween decorations.

Halloween Fun:
One day each year it’s fun to dress up in a fun bright outfit and sing out loud!

Second Prize Winners ($50 each) [Adults | Kids | Teens and Young Adults]

A woman in a bright orange shirt with glasses and long blond e hair smiles in her power wheelchair

Playing Power Soccer:
Proud to be a part of the Overdrive Power Soccer team!
Photo credit: Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital

A child with her hair drawn back in high pony tail paints green on a CP support ribbon.

Cerebral Palsy Support Painting:
Ava is a happy, driven 3 year old with spastic hemiplegia CP. In this photo she is sporting her favorite “Cerebral Palsy Warriors are Magical” t-shirt while painting a CP support ribbon.

A teen girl rides an all terrain track chair across a rocky trail.

Adventure Is Out There!!:
Brianna is always up for an adventure, especially when it involves an Action Trackchair!!

Third Prize Winners ($25 each) [Adults | Kids | Teens and Young Adults]

A woman with a light blue and red helmet gets strapped into an adaptive sled by guides.

Adaptive Snow Skiing
Loving the feel of the cold air as she goes skiing down the slope, feeling free!

A young boy smiles in a navy blue top with red and white stripes while sitting in front of an electric keyboard.

Gabriel Loves Making Music On His Keyboard:
When Gabriel is in his stander, he loves playing music on his keyboard.

A teen is strapped into an adaptive ski by instructors with a German Shepherd in the foreground.

This Is My Cerebral Palsy:
My name is Kaelyn and I have been shredding down the mountain for the past four years. Adapted Recreation has been a game changer for me (and my family) and of course, Shadow my service dog.

Congratulations to each of these photographers and subjects for their selection and their prizes of $100 for 1st place, $50 for 2nd place and $25 for 3rd place.

In addition to these winners, the staff and volunteers of the CP Research Network voted for best overall photograph in terms of what represented the CP Research Network’s values. The winner is:

A young woman in a maroon cap and gown with gold sash smiles while sitting in her wheelchair.

Graduation
I mastered it!

Congratulations to Karyn for the photo in her graduation cap and gown and for the $500 prize!

Thank you to EVERYONE that participated – submissions, shares and votes. We hope the sharing of pictures and our awareness banners helped you all create awareness for CP and celebrate our vibrant community! Wear your green proudly today!

Cerebral Palsy Awareness Photo Contest announcement: examples pictures from last year's contestants are shown

Cerebral Palsy Awareness Photo Contest 2023

An adaptive basketball coach in a wheelchair lifts a boy with cerebral palsy overhead in his own chair to dunk a basketball

Last year’s Best Overall winner: Dawn McKeag: Slam dunk!

In advance of Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month, which runs each year throughout the month of March, the Cerebral Palsy Research Network is introducing the second annual Cerebral Palsy Awareness Photo Contest to highlight the lives and experiences of community members living with CP. The contest invites members of the community to submit up to five photos photos that depict their day-to-day life, adventures, challenges, joys, and journey. The CP Research Network has opened its gallery for submissions and will award $1,000 in total cash prizes to 10 winners on March 25, 2023 – the day officially designated as National CP Awareness Day in the United States.

“We started this initiative last year to fill in gaps in authentic photography for people with CP and to create awareness” said Paul Gross, President and CEO of the CP Research Network. “The community was abuzz with the opportunity to share candid pics of their lives with CP.” The CP Awareness Photo Contest seeks to celebrate the lives of people with CP in a way that can be used in the CP Research Network’s variety of education, awareness and wellbeing programs!

The CP Awareness Photo Contest is opens today on CPRN.ORG. Contestants must be members of MyCP and may participate as an advocate, clinician, researcher or community member. Prizes will be awarded as follows:

Category 1st Prize 2nd Prize 3rd Prize
Children (under 13 years of age) $100 $50 $25
Teens and young adults (13 to 25 years of age) $100 $50 $25
Adults (25+ years of age) $100 $50 $25
Best Overall $500


Winners will be chosen via a combination of votes and final selection by the CP Research Network. Contestants must sign a photo release as part of the entry process. Photos will be displayed on CPRN.ORG and CP Research Network social media channels. Detailed rules for entries can be found on the photo contest rules page. Dig through your archives or snap a new picture and submit it soon!
CP Stories: Duncan Wyeth shown in a grey jacket with silver hair introducing Sheryl Hine.

CP Stories: For Paralympian Duncan Wyeth, It All Began with a Red Schwinn

A young Duncan Wyeth with curly hair, a dark blue suit and red tie speaking into a microphone.

Duncan on the Paralympic Committee and as an executive at United Cerebral Palsy.

If you subscribe to the idea that the baby boomer generation officially started in 1946, then Duncan Wyeth was truly one of the first—he was born in March of that year, just thirteen months after his father had come home from World War II, wounded during the Battle of Anzio. At a hefty 10 pounds 6 ounces, Duncan was by no means a preemie, as is common for people with cerebral palsy (CP(. But the birth itself was complicated, and the labor lasted for thirty-six hours. “It’s not surprising that I experienced a lack of oxygen,” Duncan joked, as we spoke over Zoom.

And so when baby Duncan started falling behind on common developmental milestones, this, too, was unsurprising. A few months after Duncan’s first birthday, his parents, Barbara and Irving, took him to a clinic in Detroit, roughly 100 miles from where they were living in Lansing, Michigan, where Duncan’s father was attending Michigan State on the G.I. Bill.

In addition to a formal diagnosis of CP, Irving and Barbara also received a sobering prognosis: they were told that he would never walk, would have an intellectual disability, and would probably be dead by forty. The doctors, in short, told them to place Duncan in an institution and go have another baby. “In 1947, that was not a cruel, uneducated prognosis,” Duncan said. While Duncan’s parents quickly came to terms with the diagnosis, they were, to their credit, skeptical of the prognosis the doctors had offered. This skepticism was arguably the first of several major decisions Barbara and Irving made well. In the words of Duncan: “I’ve always said that the most important lesson in life is ‘choose your parents well,’ and I had the foresight to do that.”

Cerebral Palsy was still poorly understood at the time—United Cerebral Palsy wouldn’t be founded until a couple years later, in 1949—but as Duncan neared school age, his parents were proactive in getting him the physical therapy and the pre-K social skills he needed. They also, crucially, allowed Duncan to be a kid, to take risks. “My parents not only allowed me to go outside my comfort zone, they encouraged it,” he said.

In kindergarten, they made another major decision that would pay dividends: they bought him a bicycle. At first, the bike served a pragmatic function. “I would never have been able to keep up with my playmates, go to the local playground, etc. if I hadn’t been given that bike. It really provided me with the mobility to get around.” Duncan needed training wheels, but he was unconcerned. The bike was, in his words, the “great equalizer.”

In second grade, though, Duncan received an upgrade: a beautiful bright red Schwinn with a small, battery-operated horn. That summer, he made sure the bike was well-loved: “I rode that thing constantly, everywhere. Whether I needed to or not.” At the time, summer was something of a double-edged sword for children with CP. It meant freedom, yes, but most children received their physical therapy primarily through the public school system which, of course, was on break in the summer. If a child wasn’t receiving private physical therapy, then summer usually meant a step backward. Some of the progress made during the school year would inevitably be lost.

But when Duncan returned to school in the fall of third grade, his doctor was confused. “Duncan isn’t up on his toes as much when he’s walking,” the doctor said to Duncan’s mother. “You’ve found some way for him to have physical therapy in the summer, I’m guessing?”

“Well, no, I wonder what’s different,” said Barbara. “This spring he got a new bicycle, but that’s the only thing I can think of.”

Unlike most children with CP, Duncan’s condition had actually improved over the summer—he was notably less spastic, ostensibly because of all the exercise he had been getting on his bike. This Schwinn would mark the beginning of a lifelong love: “The cycling was physical therapy, but it wasn’t physical therapy that required a licensed therapist or insurance coverage. And I liked it. I was doing something.”

Duncan’s parents gave him the Schwinn for the same reason any parent would do so, but it’s hard to overestimate how radical the decision was at the time. Measured, supervised physical therapy was slowly becoming a part of any CP regimen, but common exercise—working up a sweat while riding a bike up the nearby hill, say—was thought to be harmful to the overall health of a person with CP. “Exercise was contraindicated, because the belief was the stress would exacerbate my spasticity,” Duncan explained. In this regard, Duncan’s parents were almost a half-century ahead of the research.

Duncan Wyeth sits on a sand beach facing lake Superior in a blue USA jacket with his bicycle.

From second grade on, cycling has been a key part of Duncan’s life even at 76 years of age.

To say that cycling became a hobby for Duncan would be an understatement. He would continue to cycle in high school—roaming through the streets of Taipei, where he lived for two years while his dad taught at National Taiwan University—and then through his university years as well, first at Alma College and then at Michigan State, just like his father. In his twenties, Duncan joined a touring bike club, participating in weekly rides, including century rides. Not until his thirties did he begin to seriously compete in disability sports, receiving one gold medal and two silver medals in the National Cerebral Palsy games. A few years later, he would compete internationally—first at the international Cerebral Palsy Games, where he was the first American to receive a cycling medal. At the 1988 Paralympic Games in Seoul, he placed fifth out of more than forty competitors. This marked the beginning of his work with the Paralympics, which lasted several decades: in ‘92 in Barcelona he served as a cycling coach and member of the leadership team, and then at the Atlanta Paralympics in ’96 as the prestigious “chef de mission” for the U.S. Paralympics team.

During this time, he also served as the voting representative for athletes with disabilities on the United States Olympic Committee for two Olympic cycles of four years each. In ’97, he was elected to the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and would later become the vice president. In 2000, the American Academy for Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine established the Duncan Wyeth Award, which annually recognizes an individual who has made significant contributions to sport and recreation for persons with disabilities. While Duncan stopped competing around this time, he still cycles on a regular basis. “I am convinced that at age seventy-six, I am still as mobile and as active as I am in large part because of a physically active, sporting lifestyle.”

Duncan Wyeth in a bright red USA check and blue helmet sits in his recumbent trike smiling.

Duncan Wyeth has not only been the recipient of several awards and medals, he also has had an award named after him by the American Academy for Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine.

Duncan is retired now, or as he likes to call it, “unemployed by choice.” But he has chosen to stay involved with the CP and disability community more broadly for many reasons. To understand one such reason, we need to briefly return to Duncan’s eighth-grade English class. His teacher, Mr. Porter, was a friendly, charismatic man who had become disabled after contracting polio as a child. “Mr. Porter was the first professional disabled adult I’d ever encountered, and therefore my first significant role model,” Duncan said. His teacher was proof that it was possible for a person with disabilities to have a fulfilling, ambitious professional life. For many young people with disabilities, they either never meet that adult role model or do so too late. Throughout his adult life, Duncan has taught and presented at schools with abled and disabled students alike in the hopes that he might serve as an example of what is possible. These exchanges need not be particularly complex: it is enough, in Duncan’s words, to enable a young disabled student to realize, “I can do that.”

He has also chosen to stay involved with organizations like United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) and the Cerebral Palsy Research Network (CPRN) to ensure that others have access to sorely needed resources and support systems. The types of resources that CPRN offers are largely in-step with the research, but Duncan particularly appreciates that they reflect what people with CP actually want. “One of the reasons I’ve been impressed by CPRN is their real desire to listen to the consumer voice and input so that programs and services are consumer-focused,” he said. To this end, Duncan also appreciates the close relationship between the community and its members: “There’s always research going on, all kinds of surveys that people with CP can participate in. They can contribute to a knowledge base that’s really going to move the needle.”

Duncan has done a fair amount of moving the needle himself, consistently pushing his limits and defying expectations. But he was resolute that his accomplishments wouldn’t have been possible without the support he’s received: empowering, passionate parents; the opportunity to pursue a college education; the chance to travel the world and represent his country; years of engagement in meaningful employment. “I am where I am today because of all the steppingstones I’ve had along the way,” he said. “The economic security, rich and varied learning opportunities, wise and caring mentors, and a personal commitment to progress. If I hadn’t acquired over the years the skillset needed to navigate an unfriendly system, there’s no way in hell I’d be who I am in 2022.”

Cerebral Palsy Photo Contest Winning pictures

Cerebral Palsy Awareness Day 2022

Today, March 25, is the federally recognized Cerebral Palsy (CP) Awareness Day! We are excited to announce the winners for our inaugural CP Awareness Month photo contest. In February, we began accepting submissions in five categories: creativity, diversity, participation & inclusion, perseverance, and physical activity. Each of the following submissions were selected by leading these categories in votes out of 13,383 counted:

A young girl with cerebral palsy smiles while holding the bottom of her dress above an incoming ocean tide.

Creativity Winner: Michelle Toy: Live every day like Mighty Mara!

A young boy with cerebral palsy uses his gait trainer with determination and glee

Diversity winner: Reena De Asis: Determined to thrive as he reaches out to you and lights up the room. The flames on this joyous toddler’s gait trainer are a reminder that he’s a CP warrior on fire!

A proud young woman with CP, seated in a wheelchair and wearing a blue-and-gold graduation cap and gown, receives her diploma.

Participation & Inclusion winner: Jersey Morrison: Jersey’s Graduation in 2021

A man in a wheelchair with cerebral palsy sits between hospital administrators receiving his fundraising check for $10,000.

Perseverance winner: Gary Lynn: “I have not ever let Cerebral Palsy stop me or define who I am!”

A young boy with hemiplegic cerebral palsy jumps for joy as he heads for a puddle of rain water

Physical Activity Winner: Sarah Board: Jumping for joy despite my hemiplegia!

Congratulations to each of these photographers and subjects for their selection and their prize of $100.

In addition to these winners, the staff and volunteers of the CP Research Network voted for best overall photograph in terms of what represented the CP Research Network’s values, the categories and our focus on wellbeing. The winner is:

An adaptive basketball coach in a wheelchair lifts a boy with cerebral palsy overhead in his own chair to dunk a basketball

Best Overall winner: Dawn McKeag: Slam dunk!

Congratulations to Dawn McKeag for the photo of her son Fin and the coaches their local Y for adaptive basketball and the $500 prize!

In addition to this winner, our team wanted to recognize two pictures for honorable mention:

The Shrader triplets, two of whom have cerebral palsy, at graduation

Best photo honorable mention: Carol Shrader: Triplet selfie at Benjamin’s graduation from Belhaven University!

A young man with cerebral palsy in a wheelchair focuses intensely as he aims down his drawn arrow preparing to release it

Honorable Mention: Wesley Magee-Saxton: My 22 year old son, who has CP,  has been perfecting his archery technique with a bow that his dad modified for him. He spent hours practicing and can now almost always hit the target.

Thank you to EVERYONE who participated – submissions, shares and votes. We hope that by sharing pictures and our awareness banners we helped you create awareness for CP and celebrate our vibrant community! Our board will continue to match donations this month 2:1! Wear your green proudly today!

CP Awareness Month Begins

CP Awareness Month Begins!

A young woman with cerebral palsy leans on a tree while hiking.

Come back every day to vote for YOUR favorite pictures.

Join the Cerebral Palsy (CP) Research Network in our activities to celebrate National CP Awareness month. This recognized month is a great opportunity for us to create awareness about living with CP for the general public to help fund research, support disability policies, and to promote inclusion. There is so much you can do to help the community:

  1. In February, we gathered photos for our CP Awareness photo contest. You can vote for the best picture in each of five categories on our website. We will be awarding a total of $1,000 in cash prizes to the winners on national CP Awareness Day – March 25! Go vote for your favorites – and share them on social media to get more votes.
  2. We have CP facts as Facebook banners that you can download and use to spread the word. We will be posting a CP fact every day on our Facebook and Instagram – feel free to share those!
  3. You can buy CP Research Network merchandise at our Bonfire store and wear green through the month! A portion of the proceeds is donated to our work!
  4. You can donate or start a Facebook fundraiser – our board with 2X match the donations you give or raise throughout the month of March!

Please help us in our efforts to spread awareness for cerebral palsy!

Dr. Rimmer, with rimless glasses, in a brown coat, white shirt and red tie with Dr. Peterson in a dark blazer and blue shirt.

Webinar on Wellness for Adults with CP

A white placed holder with 'wellness' written across it for the Webinar on Wellness for Adults with CP. The Cerebral Palsy Research Network will offer an informational webinar on wellness for adults with CP on February 23 at 5 pm ET. Earlier in February, we announced that we had partnered with the National Center on Health, Physical Activity and Disability (NCHPAD) to offer a free eight-week virtual course on mindfulness, exercise and nutrition (MENTOR) for people with CP and other disabilities. The webinar will feature NCHPAD Director James Rimmer, PhD and University of Michigan CP researcher Mark Peterson, PhD, discussing the benefits of exercise, mindfulness and nutrition. Several past participants from our pilot of MENTOR in April 2021 will join the webinar to answer questions as well.

“We are excited to share the details of our MENTOR program with members of the CP community,” said Dr. Rimmer. “Past participants recruited by the CP Research Network have helped us shape our wellness program for the CP community.”

Community members interested in learning more about MENTOR can register for the webinar on the MyCP Webinar Series page. If you are interested and cannot attend, you can register to receive an email notification when the webinar is completed and the recording is posted. Please join us.

If you already know about MENTOR and want to sign up, join MyCP or visit your profile and select “sign up for MENTOR”. You will receive an email with an invitation to the program.

A woman in a chair lifting weights, a girl swimming in a triathalon, a college graduate seeking work and triples in a swing.

Cerebral Palsy Awareness Photo Contest

Young man with cerebral palsy sits in his red walker, while facing the ocean on the sandy beach.In advance of Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month, which runs each year throughout the month of March, the Cerebral Palsy Research Network has launched a photo contest to highlight the lives and experiences of community members living with CP. The contest invites members of the community to submit up to five photos photos that depict their day-to-day life, adventures, challenges, joys, and journey. The CP Research Network has opened its gallery of submissions and will award $1,000 in cash prizes to five winners on March 25, 2022 – the day officially designated as National CP Awareness Day in the United States.

“We find that the CP community is underrepresented in so many forms of media today,” said Paul Gross, President and CEO of the CP Research Network. “As an example, stock photography agencies have very limited authentic photographs of the lived experience for people with CP.” The CP Awareness Photo Contest seeks to develop a rich set of authentic photos of people with CP that can be used in the CP Research Network’s growing cerebral palsy awareness campaigns for March and beyond!

The CP Awareness Photo Contest is opens today on CPRN.ORG. Contestants must be members of MyCP and may participate as an advocate, clinician, researcher or community member Prizes will be awarded as follows:

Category Prize
Creativity $100
Diversity $100
Participation and inclusion $100
Perseverance $100
Physical activity $100
Best Overall $500

Winners will be chosen via a combination of votes and final selection by the CP Research Network. Contestants must sign a photo release as part of the entry process. Photos will be displayed on CPRN.ORG and CP Research Network social media channels. Detailed rules for entries can be found on the photo contest rules page. Dig through your archives or snap a new picture and submit it soon!

A headshot of Lily Collison with short, dark hair, the cover of Pure Grit and blond haired Kara Buckley

Pure Grit: An interview with the authors

Ila Eckhoff with tight curly brown hair smiles broadly with dark glasses and a light blue fleece over her v-neck shirt.

Ila Eckhoff, is a managing director at Blackrock Associates and is featured in Pure Grit.

The Cerebral Palsy Research Network will kick off its 2022 MyCP webinar series with an interview of the authors of Pure Grit, a book full of stories about remarkable people with physical disabilities doing extraordinary things.  The webinar is free and open to the public next Tuesday, January 11 at 8 pm ET. Ila Eckhoff, an accomplished financial services sector leader and one of the featured people in the book, will also join the conversation with authors Lily Collison and Kara Buckley.

The interview will include how the authors sought to develop the book, chose their subjects, and what they hoped the book would achieve. The one hour webinar will include 40 minutes of interview followed by open Q&A with the attendees.

Please join us for the interview.  If you are not already registered for the MyCP Webinar Series, you can sign up here.  A free Zoom account is required to sign into the webinar.  We look forward to seeing you there.  If you cannot make it, the interview will be recorded and posted on our YouTube channel within 24 hours.