{"id":4931,"date":"2018-04-03T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-04-03T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prd-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/?p=4931"},"modified":"2023-03-03T19:59:21","modified_gmt":"2023-03-03T19:59:21","slug":"teen-with-cerebral-palsy-shows-courage-advocacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/teen-with-cerebral-palsy-shows-courage-advocacy\/","title":{"rendered":"Teen with cerebral palsy shows courage through advocacy","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"

By Kortney Scroger<\/strong><\/p>\n

Positive. Determined. Eager to learn. Advocate. This is how his parents, friends and care providers describe Peter Smith, 13.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have always worked hard from the moment I was born,\u201d Peter explains. \u201cBoth my twin and I were preemies \u2014 we stayed in the hospital for nine weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n

At 2, Peter was diagnosed with diplegia \u2014 a type of cerebral palsy (CP) that affects his legs and his left arm. Peter has embraced his condition and uses it as an opportunity to educate people around him about CP and advocate for other kids with special needs.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important to educate yourself about who you are and what you want people to know about you,\u201d says Peter\u2019s mom, Annette. \u201cPeter is not afraid to share his story; he is not embarrassed or ashamed. He is proud and he advocates. It is good for him to advocate for those who can\u2019t speak for themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

This advocacy began as early as 8 years old, when Peter wrote an open letter to his classmates explaining what it means to have CP.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou may have seen me here at school and you may have noticed that I walk a little bit different than you,\u201d Peter\u2019s letter begins. \u201cI am going to tell you why. It is because I have Cerebral Palsy. It means that my muscles don\u2019t work like your muscles. I was born this way.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to tell you about myself because sometimes we all stare at people when we don\u2019t understand something or when a person moves or acts different than you. You see I have feelings and concerns just like everyone else, even if I walk different than you and I do things slower than you. I want to be a kid just like every other kid.\u201d<\/p>\n

Peter has been a patient at Mary Bridge Children\u2019s Hospital & Health Network for 10 years.<\/p>\n

Peter\u2019s routine includes a combination of physical and occupational therapy. Aside from his at-home care, Peter also visits the Mary Bridge Good Samaritan Children\u2019s Therapy Unit (CTU) twice a week. The CTU holds more than a decade of memories for the Smith family \u2014 including Peter\u2019s first steps, which were taken in the therapy pool with his former physical therapist.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen Peter was young, his diagnosis was hard for us to swallow,\u201d says Annette. \u201cBut after visiting CTU and talking to different parents and therapists, we have grown. It has also allowed Peter to grow.\u201d<\/p>\n

Peter\u2019s routine requires the use of many different devices, from knee mobilizers and night-time orthotics to custom-tailored shoes and daily-use orthotics. Because he is still growing, he gets customized shoes every six months (extra wide because of his orthotics) free of charge, thanks to CTU donors.<\/p>\n

While these treatments help Peter in his day-to-day life, attending a public middle school and living in a world not designed for people with special needs can still be tough. Peter is faced with mobility challenges \u2014 but he doesn\u2019t let those challenges limit him.<\/p>\n

His advice for staying positive in the face of adversity?<\/p>\n

\u201cTry to accomplish something every day,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeter is tenacious,\u201d says Peter\u2019s father, Ron. \u201cHe is up at 4:30am every morning to do his morning stretches. He is very routine and does it consistently. He never gives up.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that Mary Bridge and CTU provide a scaffolding for us. There is no cure, but it provides a framework for us to build on. They give us tools and we apply them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Peter has accomplished a lot at the young age of 13. His most recent milestones include winning the 2017 Mary Bridge Patient Hero Award and learning how to swim.<\/p>\n

He credits his family and his personal mantra \u2014 \u201cDo your best and forget about the rest\u201d \u2014 for his success.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeter\u2019s condition has made us all, as a family, appreciate the little things,\u201d his mom says. \u201cWhen we start to complain, we stop ourselves, because Peter goes through so much daily and he remains positive. He is a motivator.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ride Courage for patients like Peter<\/h3>\n

This summer, Peter will be motivating cyclists as the spokesperson for the Cascade Cruiser ride at Mary Bridge Children\u2019s Courage. Courage is a weekend cycling and camping adventure that benefits Mary Bridge patients like Peter.<\/p>\n

To register for Courage and pedal for kids like Peter, visit ridewithcourage.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

About Mary Bridge Good Samaritan Children\u2019s Therapy Unit<\/h3>\n

The team at Children\u2019s Therapy Unit provides physical, occupational and speech therapies for more than 3,000 children with special needs every year. Programs offered through CTU also provide families with care support, customized equipment and home adaptations. Services like these often exceed costs covered by insurance. Thanks to generous community donations, patients who visit the CTU receive the care they need regardless of ability to pay.<\/p>\n

Support the Children\u2019s Therapy Unit<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Peter has been a patient at Mary Bridge Children\u2019s for 10 years. His advocacy began as early as 8 years old.<\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"author":107,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[75,79],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4931","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-foundations","category-profiles-stories"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTeen with cerebral palsy shows courage through advocacy - MultiCare Vitals<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/teen-with-cerebral-palsy-shows-courage-advocacy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Teen with cerebral palsy shows courage through advocacy - MultiCare Vitals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Peter has been a patient at Mary Bridge Children\u2019s for 10 years. His advocacy began as early as 8 years old.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/teen-with-cerebral-palsy-shows-courage-advocacy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"MultiCare Vitals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/multicarehealthsystem\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-04-03T00:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-03-03T19:59:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2023\/02\/placeholder-default.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"931\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"540\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kortney Scroger\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/updates-www.mccdn.io\\\/vitals\\\/teen-with-cerebral-palsy-shows-courage-advocacy\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/updates-www.mccdn.io\\\/vitals\\\/teen-with-cerebral-palsy-shows-courage-advocacy\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Kortney Scroger\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/updates-www.mccdn.io\\\/vitals\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f6d3b939cbe58ff94c585b98767ac6d0\"},\"headline\":\"Teen with cerebral palsy shows courage through advocacy\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-04-03T00:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-03-03T19:59:21+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/updates-www.mccdn.io\\\/vitals\\\/teen-with-cerebral-palsy-shows-courage-advocacy\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":819,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/updates-www.mccdn.io\\\/vitals\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"MultiCare Foundations\",\"Profiles & Patient Stories\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/updates-www.mccdn.io\\\/vitals\\\/teen-with-cerebral-palsy-shows-courage-advocacy\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/updates-www.mccdn.io\\\/vitals\\\/teen-with-cerebral-palsy-shows-courage-advocacy\\\/\",\"name\":\"Teen with cerebral palsy shows courage through advocacy - MultiCare Vitals\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/updates-www.mccdn.io\\\/vitals\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2018-04-03T00:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-03-03T19:59:21+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/updates-www.mccdn.io\\\/vitals\\\/teen-with-cerebral-palsy-shows-courage-advocacy\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/updates-www.mccdn.io\\\/vitals\\\/teen-with-cerebral-palsy-shows-courage-advocacy\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/updates-www.mccdn.io\\\/vitals\\\/teen-with-cerebral-palsy-shows-courage-advocacy\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/updates-www.mccdn.io\\\/vitals\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Teen with cerebral palsy shows courage through advocacy\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/updates-www.mccdn.io\\\/vitals\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/updates-www.mccdn.io\\\/vitals\\\/\",\"name\":\"MultiCare Vitals\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/updates-www.mccdn.io\\\/vitals\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/updates-www.mccdn.io\\\/vitals\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/updates-www.mccdn.io\\\/vitals\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"MultiCare\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/updates-www.mccdn.io\\\/vitals\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/updates-www.mccdn.io\\\/vitals\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/updates-www.mccdn.io\\\/vitals\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/15\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/MultiCare-Color.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/updates-www.mccdn.io\\\/vitals\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/15\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/MultiCare-Color.png\",\"width\":1500,\"height\":409,\"caption\":\"MultiCare\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/updates-www.mccdn.io\\\/vitals\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/multicarehealthsystem\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/multicarehealth\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/multicare-health-system\\\/mycompany\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/user\\\/multicarehealth\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/updates-www.mccdn.io\\\/vitals\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f6d3b939cbe58ff94c585b98767ac6d0\",\"name\":\"Kortney Scroger\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/updates-www.mccdn.io\\\/vitals\\\/author\\\/kortneyscroger\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Teen with cerebral palsy shows courage through advocacy - MultiCare Vitals","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/teen-with-cerebral-palsy-shows-courage-advocacy\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Teen with cerebral palsy shows courage through advocacy - MultiCare Vitals","og_description":"Peter has been a patient at Mary Bridge Children\u2019s for 10 years. His advocacy began as early as 8 years old.","og_url":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/teen-with-cerebral-palsy-shows-courage-advocacy\/","og_site_name":"MultiCare Vitals","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/multicarehealthsystem","article_published_time":"2018-04-03T00:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-03-03T19:59:21+00:00","og_image":[{"width":931,"height":540,"url":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2023\/02\/placeholder-default.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Kortney Scroger","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/teen-with-cerebral-palsy-shows-courage-advocacy\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/teen-with-cerebral-palsy-shows-courage-advocacy\/"},"author":{"name":"Kortney Scroger","@id":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/#\/schema\/person\/f6d3b939cbe58ff94c585b98767ac6d0"},"headline":"Teen with cerebral palsy shows courage through advocacy","datePublished":"2018-04-03T00:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2023-03-03T19:59:21+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/teen-with-cerebral-palsy-shows-courage-advocacy\/"},"wordCount":819,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/#organization"},"articleSection":["MultiCare Foundations","Profiles & Patient Stories"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/teen-with-cerebral-palsy-shows-courage-advocacy\/","url":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/teen-with-cerebral-palsy-shows-courage-advocacy\/","name":"Teen with cerebral palsy shows courage through advocacy - MultiCare Vitals","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/#website"},"datePublished":"2018-04-03T00:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2023-03-03T19:59:21+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/teen-with-cerebral-palsy-shows-courage-advocacy\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/teen-with-cerebral-palsy-shows-courage-advocacy\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/teen-with-cerebral-palsy-shows-courage-advocacy\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Teen with cerebral palsy shows courage through advocacy"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/#website","url":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/","name":"MultiCare Vitals","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/#organization","name":"MultiCare","url":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2021\/05\/MultiCare-Color.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2021\/05\/MultiCare-Color.png","width":1500,"height":409,"caption":"MultiCare"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/multicarehealthsystem","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/multicarehealth\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/multicare-health-system\/mycompany\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/multicarehealth"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/#\/schema\/person\/f6d3b939cbe58ff94c585b98767ac6d0","name":"Kortney Scroger","url":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/author\/kortneyscroger\/"}]}},"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"link","format":"url"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4931","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/107"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4931"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4931\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25119,"href":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4931\/revisions\/25119"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}