Is Cerebral Palsy a Disability in Kentucky?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Social Security Administration, special education law, and other laws and agencies consider cerebral palsy to be a disability. People with cerebral palsy and other conditions often debate using the word disability, and we could do that here, but we won’t.
Instead, we maintain that whether you or others use the word disability to define your child’s cerebral palsy or not, disability should never define your child.
Labels Don’t Define Individuals
Not all children with cerebral palsy are the same, just as not all children are the same. Your child has unique abilities, strengths, and weaknesses. As a parent, you want to help your child live a long, happy, and healthy life. To achieve these goals, you want to nurture your child’s interests and make sure that your child has all of the necessary medical care, including:
- Orthopedic care
- Physical therapy
- Speech and language pathology
- Occupational therapy
- Psychological counseling
- Assistive devices such as braces or a walker
Together, all of these things may help your child meet their future goals.
Talk to Us About How to Help Your Child
You might prefer to think of your child as “differently abled” rather than “disabled,” but his medical care and related services are prohibitively expensive either way. If medical negligence caused your child’s cerebral palsy, you may not have to pay for your child’s needs out of pocket. Instead, our experienced Kentucky cerebral palsy lawyers can fight to hold the doctor or hospital accountable and help your child recover for past and future:
- Medical costs, including rehabilitation, surgeries, medications, doctors’ visits, and other healthcare needs
- Lost income, if your child’s future income may be impacted by cerebral palsy
- Pain and suffering for your child’s physical pain and emotional suffering
- Other expenses related to your child’s birth injury
You might not consider your child with cerebral palsy to be disabled, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t deserve compensation for the malpractice that caused his condition. We encourage you to contact our cerebral palsy attorneys for a free, no-obligation consultation. If your child has cerebral palsy because he was injured at birth, we will advise you of your legal options so that you can decide how best to protect your child’s future.
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