AD | Cerebral Palsy A Story: The Calm after The Storm @TheCPDiary @RedDoorBooks @lovebooksgroup @lovebookstours -

Title: Cerebal Palsy A Story: Finding the Calm after the Storm

Author: Ilana Estelle

Paperback: 288 Pages

Publisher: RedDoor Press (2nd Jan 2020)

Price: Paperback: £8.49 Kindle: £2.99

About the Author:

Ilana was born with a disability she didn’t know she had until the age of 46, when through her medical notes she discovered she had been diagnosed with cerebral palsy at the age of 2.

Ilana likes to spend her days writing and blogging about anything that contributes to her health and wellbeing. She is an animal advocate and is passionate about environmental issues. When she is not writing to tending to her blog, Ilana enjoys days out exploring the Yorkshire countryside.

Ilana lives with her husband and their much-loved cat, in Yorkshire. Her grown up son and daughter both live in London

Blurb:

Living with cerebral palsy is enormously difficult. But what if you never knew you had it? This is the incredible story of Ilana Estelle.

Born the second of premature twins, from a young age Ilana knew she was different, but for all the wrong reasons. A child of the 60s, Ilana experienced first-hand the way that disability was so often brushed under the carpet and not spoken about. Her constant physical and mental struggles made her feel isolated, alone, frustrated, and misunderstood… it took 46 years for her to find out why.

Part memoir, part motivational guide, Cerebral Palsy: A Story is Ilana’s open and honest journey from an angry, confused child, knowing something was wrong, but not knowing what, to the ‘real’ her – a courageous woman using her experiences and lessons to create inspiring messages about mental and physical health, positivity, resilience and change.

My Review:

Ilana didn’t find out she had Cerebal Palsy, Her Father and Doctors were ignorant to the fact she was struggling so she never got the diagnoses or help she needed as a child, as any worries we’re generally swept under the carpet in those times. She fought hard growing up and wonder why she was the way she was and questioned herself. And at the age of forty six she was diagnosed with Cerebral palsy (from her being premature and her mum having a difficult twin birth, her mum knew that something wasn’t quite right but always kept quiet. Then she was diagnosed with ASD and on top of everything she had learnt about herself she also had depression and anxiety. The book is a really good insight to what Ilana’s life was like and how she had struggled over the years. It also gives a huge insight on how Disabilities was huge a taboo subject when she was younger and how far it has come now and the understanding we have now to what it was like back then. I love that it has facts and sources in the book and that it reflects back to key points in her life and brings it all together, although I find that some parts are very repetitive. I always like to learn more about disabilities and how it effects others and try to understand what it is like for them as not one person is the same, I did thoroughly enjoy this book and it has helped me understand Cerebal Palsy more and how effects people.