Observations placeholder
The lived body – experiences from adults with cerebral palsy 02
Identifier
023246
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
A description of the experience
Clinical Rehabilitation 2007; 21: 432–441 The lived body – experiences from adults with cerebral palsy - Karin Sandström, Department of Health and Society/Physiotherapy, Faculty of Health Sciences, Linköping University, Sweden
To fight one’s way
Stubbornness was a characteristic for many in this group. They were fighting to manage activities and showing others and themselves that things were possible, striving for normality and autonomy. They also wanted to project themselves as competent people who could handle a variety of situations:
When people have said to me ‘you can’t do that’ ...you shouldn’t say that to me because then by golly, I’m going to make it work. (5)
Fighting spirit was a way of having control and experiencing the satisfaction of being competent and self-confident:
It’s really worth the fight, because I can say straight out that if I hadn’t fought ... if I had done what others wanted and thought, then I wouldn’t be sitting here. (2)
For some people, physical training was a way of fighting to maintain body functions. A fighting spirit was often expressed in relation to ageing. As a 37-year-old man stated:
The reason that I struggle the way I do is that I don’t want to sit in a wheelchair when I’m 45–50 ( ) I’ve decided to give age a fight. (19)