A handful of students here at Venice High have cerebral palsy and are faced with difficulties every day of their lives. Things most people don’t even think twice about doing, like walking or talking to each other, can be unthinkably difficult for a person with cerebral palsy.

“Cerebral palsy affects my life in some ways. It takes me longer to communicate and keep up with a conversation. I feel like I have to wait for the right moment to chime in quick enough,” said Eden Cipolla.

Cipolla is 18 years old and in the 11th grade. She has been struggling with cerebral palsy since birth.

Cerebral palsy is a disorder that results from brain damage either during or before birth, and sometimes in early childhood. It often affects coordination, muscle movement, and learning abilities. However, it doesn’t usually affect their intelligence.

Despite her disorder, Cipolla is proud to share that she is on the honor roll. Former Venice High student Karl Winterling, who was accepted to UC Berkeley, also has cerebral palsy and is very intelligent.

As a result of the damage, cerebral palsy usually appears between the time a child is born to the age of three.

Although most children who have it, like Cipolla, are born with it, there are some cases in which it isn’t discovered until months or years into the child’s life.

Aside from birth complications, cerebral palsy can be caused by brain damage in the first few months of a child’s life. A head injury, a fall, or child abuse are all causes for cerebral palsy. It can also result from brain infections like bacterial meningitis or viral encephalitis. However, cases like that are highly unlikely and only found in a few children.

Common symptoms or signs of cerebral palsy are abrupt muscle movements, lack of muscle coordination while initiating voluntary movement, very stiff or floppy muscle tone, trouble walking, speech difficulties, and sometimes paralysis.

It can sometimes be accompanied with mental retardation, epilepsy, and learning disorders.

Cipolla was born with cerebral palsy. While her mother was giving birth, complications developed. Her shoulder got stuck in her mother’s pelvis and caused her to lose oxygen to parts of her brain that control the muscles for walking and talking.

She communicates through a computer called a DynaVox because she is non-verbal. Also, there is a mouse imbedded in her wheel chair near her thigh to help her navigate on her DynaVox, because she has little control over her arms. However, she is totally aware of everything around her and can hear and understand everything.

Along with physical aliments, it can be emotionally taxing to have cerebral palsy.

“I have less friends around my own age,” says Cipolla. “People aren’t patient enough to speak to me and I get really frustrated when I can’t keep up. Some people don’t talk to me because they aren’t sure how to.”

Although the disorder controls some parts of her social life, she still has many close friends she keeps in touch with by e-mail, going to concerts, retreats, and parties.

There aren’t any cures for cerebral palsy, but there are treatments. Physical and occupational therapy, medication to control seizures, relax muscle spasms, and alleviate pain; surgery to correct bodily abnormalities or release tight muscles; braces, wheelchairs, and rolling walkers; and communication aids like computers with voice synthesizers. All these and more can help to improve the capabilities of a person with cerebral palsy.

“If I could wish away my cerebral palsy, part of me would, and part of me wouldn’t,” says Cipolla. “I would be able to walk, talk, and do things myself, and I’d have more friends my age. But at the same time, I wouldn’t have has as many beautiful and interesting experiences in my life, and I wouldn’t have met some of my closest friends who have helped me throughout my life.”