#CPChatNow remained abuzz Wednesday, October 18th, 2017 when retired clinical neuroscientist and author Dr. Karen Pape joined the Twitter chat. I am co-host Zachary Fenell, who regrettably forgot to ask the doctor about a cure for tardiness. Thankfully her insights prove timeless. So let us move forward with a recap.

The night’s theme involved Dr. Pape’s findings that a brain can recover, but habit often hides said fact. Thus no matter your age, you stand “never too late to change in life.” A concept Dr. Pape details in her Winnipeg Tedx Talk.

Ironically, you could argue Dr. Pape embodied the focus chat’s title through participating in #CPChatNow. She shared she previously never partook in a Twitter chat.

Hannah Pike and many others expressed their gratitude towards Dr. Pape joining us. Soon the conversation spurred off into multiple directions. Participants, both new to #CPChatNow and our regulars, asked the doctor their questions. Linds asked Dr. Pape to give an overview regarding what the doctor does.

Happy to oblige, Dr. Pape summarized her bio and credentials as follows.

Compressing her impressive resume down to fit in one tweet Dr. Pape mentioned she retired from her clinical neuroscientist work and wrote a book, The Boy Who Could Run but Not Walk. Additionally Dr. Pape expressed her motivation, to make people more optimistic.

Hopefully throughout the night participants found optimism within Dr. Pape’s responses. She certainly provided practical feedback. For instance, take an issue raised while Hannah and I discussed Dr. Pape’s Tedx Talk.

Those who keep up with me personally know I am actively walking 5ks and even recently a full marathon! Yet Dr. Pape’s Tedx Talk left me wondering if I could do more. Perhaps I could actually run! Dr. Pape advised a couple options to get started.

Dr. Pape suggested I walk backwards along a wall or try running on a treadmill. She also encouraged Hannah to get dancing. Your turn to add to the conversation! Answer for the extend-the-conversation question, “What is something you always wanted to do?”

Leave your response in the “Comments” section. Maybe your response will stimulate further dialogue. Just like how Dr. Pape’s answers led to follow-up questions and further chatter!

Dr. Pape’s reply to another question regarding vision left regular Susanne Kate Brass wondering if a connection existed between neurological injury and eye issues.

In responding to Susanne’s question Dr. Pape made an often overlooked point. Health care in general involves seeing an eye doctor. Susanne explained her question, noting many people with CP she knows deal with visual impairment.  I chimed in, mentioning a statistic I read saying at least three-fourths in the cerebral palsy population face vision issues. A statistic I came across researching a blog post, “Kindle Fire Accessibility for Reading Books.” Dr. Pape challenged my statistic, emphasizing the general health aspect to vision.

Around 9:30pm Dr. Pape needed to bid adieu. After thanking Dr. Pape for her time and insights, participants enjoyed some free chat time. Susanne raised an important topic worth highlighting here.

While missing in the above screen shot, Susanne explained a #MeToo post encourages sexual assault victims to speak out and tell their stories. A topic unfortunately linked to our community since people with disabilities can end up more vulnerable to such assaults.

Although the subject seemed important to incorporate into the week’s recap, let us not end on such a heavy note. Instead remember to answer the extend-the-conversation question.

“What is something you always wanted to do?”

Your response should entail a task currently difficult to you due to your cerebral palsy. Leave those below.

Until next time,

Zachary