Writing is Much Easier...

...than giving a speech. I am a member of River Valley Toastmasters and Toastmasters International and have been a member since April and started going to meetings around the beginning of the year. I finished my third project in the Competent Communicator Handbook and about two projects in my Competent Leader Handbook. Although I have done them I feel much more comfortable sitting here at my computer writing and blogging because I do not have to worry about my nerves and how to get the words out properly so that my audience can understand me.

As I mentioned in my speech last night about Cerebral Palsy, and maybe a time or two here, there are times when it is easier for someone with my disability to write instead of speak because of the fact that a different portion of our brain is working. The truth is that your brain is a complicated organ which does many functions so when part of it dies or gets hurt due to asphyxiation (lack of oxygen) then another part maybe able to take over and each section does something different than another. Here is an illustration of the brain and its functions I found online:

This was found on: Ms. Vest's Class Psychology

I will try and look for other images that better illustrate the different functions of the brain. In the above image though I am able to at least show that speech and writing are in two different parts of the brain and thus yes there is a possibility that a person's brain may allow for speech and not writing or writing without speech depending on where the injury occurred at or before birth. 

I will say that the reverse could be true for another person with cerebral palsy sitting near me if I were actually sitting in a room with several other person's with the cerebral palsy. I do have friends that are in wheelchairs who do have the same disability who have a harder time speaking than I do and often times must have someone even write and take notes for them due to the spasticity in muscles they cannot control. I have also witnessed these same people only use computers to get their message out but some of them I have to say are smarter than me and often get frustrated when the words just don't come out the way their brain would like those same words to get out.

The same can be true with physical paralysis as well but I will leave that for another day where I will discuss why I can walk and others with the same disability cannot. For today I believe this enough  As you may see cerebral palsy is a very complex developmental disability that is not easily diagnosed and sometimes is not diagnosed up until the age of two after milestones in development are not met by the child in question.