DD is 8.5 years old and has a secondary diagnosis of ataxic cerebral palsy as a result of part of her cerebellum being missing and her brainstem is squished.
She is doing great but as she gets older the gap between her and her peer group widen. Emotionally she is about age 5. She's now started asking why she's different and why she behaves and carries on like a baby compared to other girls in her class. She asks why does she dribble, why is she a messy eater, why does her head shake etc....She knows she needs a wheelchair for long walks, she understands that physically she is weaker than her peers. My question is how do we explain the emotional differences? We have never told her she has cp just that she gets more tired. I am so sad just now, I see her excluded from school group and I don't know how I can help
We should have prob told her when she was younger when it might have been easier but hindsight is great