Art

Item Description

Gorgeous colors surround a beautiful butterfly. Size is 12inches by 9 inches.

 Artist Charisse Hogan is has a special talent and she has Cerebral Palsy.  Here's Charisse's story:

About

Living with Cerebral Palsy and Ataxia http://www.youtube.com/user/jazzygirl585

Description

My name is Charisse Hogan and I'm 19 years old. I have Cerebral Palsy and Ataxia. I share my life with the world through my YouTube videos and page hoping to spread more awareness and understanding of disabilities to as many people as I can. I also want to spread the message of always keeping hope and never give up during struggles.

My story:

At birth the umbilical cord had a knot and was around my neck I had no oxygen for seven whole minutes. The doctors didn’t think I would make it, but I did! At the age of two, I was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, low tone, and ataxia. My parents were told I would be in a wheelchair. I started physical therapy when I was eleven months old. I entered kindergarten with a walker and leg braces. I was the first child to enter that school with a physical disability. When I first started school, I didn’t really see myself as different from my classmates. I would try my best to do everything other children would do. At the age of seven, I moved onto forearm crutches.

At the age of five, my parents noticed I was having seizures. I was diagnosed with Tonic-chronic Seizures and started seizure medication. The medication was a struggle at first because I had difficulties swallowing pills as a young child. Later on my doctor switched the medication to chewable pills. I had some seizures at school in elementary grades, which I hated. My classmates would stare at me, not understanding what was going on. I would sometimes try to hide my seizures during class. Sometimes at night I would wake up after biting my tongue, which would happen during the seizures. I had an EEG done every few years for my seizures. At the age of sixteen, my EEG showed no seizure activity. I was slowly taken off my medication.

I was in the 2nd grade when I noticed how different I was. My classmates started pointing out my differences, and I started getting bullied because of my disability. Some of my classmates wouldn’t let me play with them because I was different. Some children even treated my disability as a disease and wouldn’t want to be near me. However, I did make some pretty good friends in elementary school. At the age of nine, I started walking on my own but with a limp.

I was bullied up until 8th grade. I remember being pushed down, made fun of, and laughed at in elementary school and in middle school. I was having some struggles accepting my disability when I was young, however, when I was in the seventh grade I realized there was a reason I was born this way. I was born this way because God made me this way to be the person I am.



High School

Entering the first year of high school, I was highly nervous. An amazing group of girls befriended me and saw past my disability. These girls took me dress shopping for homecoming, to the dance, and always invited me to hang out. I never felt so normal before. At the end of freshmen year, my family had to move states due to my dad’s job. The move was extremely hard. I had struggles making friends in my new school, with being the new girl and with a disability.

I felt lost the first two years at my new high school. I often sat alone at lunch, but sometimes teachers would come and talk to me, which helped. I had many rude comments and looks made to me by classmates. Some students I didn’t even know mocked and laughed at me, because of the way I talk, walk, and sometimes jerk. There were some nice kids, but none that would hang out with me outside of school. My parents let me get a dog named Bailey. Bailey became my best friend through high school. I love Bailey to death!

I knew one of the reasons why my classmates treated me the way they did was because they didn’t understand my disability. I know there were other people like me that had these same problems. I wanted to change that. At the age of sixteen, I started posting YouTube videos of myself living with cerebral palsy. My main goal for my videos is to spread awareness and understanding of disabilities to as many people as I can. To show others that people with disabilities may be different on the outside, but inside they are just like everyone else. I also want to show others that people with disabilities can do things other people can do. They just do things in their own unique way. At the age of seventeen, I won the Inspirational Award for Madison City!

Senior year was much better. I started helping with the challenge students, which I loved! I joined varsity basketball cheer and the drama class at school. I was nervous about doing both of these because of how some people reacted to me before. Once I got over my personal fear, I loved to cheer with the other girls and I enjoyed performing in my first play! One of the important things in senior year is prom, and I wanted to go. Knowing my disability might limit my offers, I took it on my own to invite someone. He said yes, and is now my boyfriend. I graduated with the class of 2012. I walked across graduation stage with a big smile on my face and thought to myself, “Wow, I made it!”
After I graduated from high school, I posted a video called “Charisse’s Story- My Life Journey with Cerebral Palsy.” In this video, I talk about my life from when I was born up to when I graduated from high school. I talk about the struggles I have faced through life and overcoming these struggles. I hope sharing my story will help others understand disabilities more. Also help to show those who are going through struggles to always keep hope and never give up! Life does get better!