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Go Green for CP
Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy
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Cerebral Palsy Awareness + Education

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About Nicole
Book
Go Green for CP
Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy
- SDR FAQS

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Press

MEDIA & PRESS

Yahoo: 10 Reasons to Wear Green for Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month
Yahoo: Why You Should Go Green on World CP Day
World CP Day: Cerebral Palsy is Lighting Up The World

NBC 6 South Florida interview about my poetry book.
WPLG Local 10: Local women lead awareness efforts for cerebral palsy and epilepsy
ABC6: Pawtucket river bridge shines in green for cerebral palsy awareness month
KGWN TV: Cheyenne goes green for World Cerebral Palsy Day
Sun Sentinel: Plantation author advocates Cerebral Palsy surgery
Orlando Voyager: Life & Work with Nicole Luongo
BKReader – The Power in Disability Pride: A Conversation

David’s Cerebral Palsy and Fitness Channel: #whatCPlookslike ft. Nicole Luongo
Diversability Amplified, Ep. 9: Chronically Candid with Nicole Luongo
Thrive: What Disabled People Want You To Know About Disability Pride
Stylist: How to boost confidence: Disabled women on exercising for joy
Good News Network: Woman With Cerebral Palsy Braves Controversial Surgery So She Can Ride a Bike – Now You Can’t Stop Her
CerebralPalsy.org: One Woman’s Cerebral Palsy Story Should Encourage Sharing Your Own

Meet Nicole

Welcome! I created What CP Looks Like to raise awareness for cerebral palsy, the most common disability in childhood.

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Medium

whatcplookslike

This is me when I was five years old. I just wante

This is me when I was five years old. I just wanted to be loved, accepted. The same is true today.

When you grow up with a disability, you’re different from everyone else. That’s just the way it is. Back then, I didn’t know anyone with cerebral palsy. There weren’t other kids who were like me, in the same way. No one understood what it felt like to be stared at all the time, or get teased for walking funny.

There were no awareness days when I was young…heck no one even talked about CP. I didn’t even know what it was, just that I had it.

Cut to forty-four years later. Everyone’s talking about accessibility, disability awareness and inclusion.

How about including CP in the NATIONAL MEDIA? Maybe if it got just some of the coverage given to other disabilities and/or causes, we could move the needle because…

Cerebral palsy IS the most common disability in childhood yet…

* There is NO federal funding for it

* Parents are given little to NO information about it when their child is diagnosed

* Adults (like me) are often left to fend for ourselves, unable to find doctors who are knowledgeable about CP. We simply don’t get vital care, resources we need throughout our lives.

Raise your hand 🙋‍♀️ if you think this is UNACCEPTABLE?!?!

These are just some of the reasons raising awareness for @worldcpday is important to me. The media isn’t going to help us, so WE must do it. Let’s light up social media in green on OCTOBER 6!

There are little boys and girls and adults, with CP too, all over the world, who just want to be ACCEPTED. LOVED. SEEN. Let’s show them that they are, and that they’re not alone.

Let me know in the comments…what (or who) is your reason for wearing green today?
💚💚💚
#NicoleLuongo #CerebralPalsy #whatCPlookslike #MillionsofReasons #WorldCerebralPalsyDay #GoGreen4CP #InclusionMatters #RepresentationMatters

[ID: A picture of Nicole at five years old. She’s smiling, and she’s wearing makeup (that she probably applied). She has straight, dark brown hair in pigtails tied with lavender fabric. A Facebook frame with the words WORLD CEREBRAL PALSY DAY OCT 6 are shown in the upper left hand corner of the picture.]

When I served on the World CP Day Committee for @w

@worldcpday is on October 6. How will you be celeb

Leave a 💚 below if you agree! Find out how to

Leave a 💚 below if you agree!

Find out how to #WinAtLife at the link in my bio or go to https://nicoleluongo.com/how-to-win-at-life-like-an-olympian/

#NicoleLuongo #CerebralPalsy #SDRChangesLives #whatCPlookslike #GetInTheGame #MotivationMonday #Success #QuoteofTheWeek #QuotesAboutLife #QuotesToLiveBy #Winning

[ID: A green background. In the center there’s a box with a black border around it. In the center of the box there is a white, round illuminated circle. Inside the box, superimposed on top of the illuminated circle, is a quote from Nicole in black text. It says: You can’t achieve anything if you’re on the sidelines of life. Get in the game! Nicole’s Instagram @whatcplookslike is below the text, in the center.]

Life with #CerebralPalsy can be exhausting! We exp

Life with #CerebralPalsy can be exhausting! We expend 5-7 times more energy doing daily tasks, so it’s no wonder we’re tired.

It’s okay to take breaks. It’s healthy (for your body + mind) to take breaks. It’s necessary to take breaks. Taking breaks doesn’t mean you aren’t productive.

REPEAT AFTER ME: Just because you take breaks doesn’t mean you’re broken.

Click the link in my bio for some self-care tips. Or, go to https://nicoleluongo.com/cerebral-palsy-self-care-tips/

What does taking a break look like to you?
💚💚💚
#NicoleLuongo #whatCPlookslike #CerebralPalsyAwareness #Disabilities #SelfCare #SelfCareTips #WednesdayWisdom

[ID: A green background. In the center there is a white, square pop up bubble with black text. At the top it says Reminder. Underneath it says: Just because you take breaks doesn’t mean your broken. There’s a vertical line under the text. Underneath, to the left, in blue letters, it says Close. There’s a vertical line. To the right, in blue letters, it says Got it. Nicole’s Instagram @whatcplookslike is below the bubble, in the center.]

September is World Alzheimer's Month. The blog pos

September is World Alzheimer's Month. The blog post (at the link in my bio) talks about what not to say to people with disabilities, especially those with Alzheimer’s disease. Let’s think before we speak. #AlzheimersDisease #CaregiverLife #Disabliities #CerebralPalsy #whatCPlookslike #ThinkBeforeYouSpeak #DontSayThat #WorldAlzheimersMonth #SFLA #Seattle

[ID: A photo of Nicole and her mom from 1992. They're smiling at the camera, sitting at a table in restaurant.]

Here’s how to chop an onion in a @vitamix. No kn

Here’s how to chop an onion in a @vitamix. No knives, no tears! Well, you might cry because it’s so EASY. #NicoleLuongo #CerebralPalsy #whatCPcookslike #Accessibility #AccessibleCooking #Cooking #CookingHacks #Blenders #Vitamix

I love meeting new people. Rob’s a great guy! DM

I love meeting new people. Rob’s a great guy! DM him to help him reach his goal of meeting 10K people!

#Repost @robs10kfriends with @use.repost
・・・
5074. “I was almost 40 years old and I was like wait a minute, why haven’t I ever heard of this surgery? So it really became my life’s mission to get the word out about this surgery.” Born 2.5 months premature, Nicole Luongo came into the world at 2 lbs 13 oz. “I was my mother’s last and 11th child.” She was also born with cerebral palsy, and therefore had to have heel cord lengthening surgery at 4.5 years old. “So I believe I didn’t walk ‘on my own’ until I was 5.” Always resourceful, though, Nicole constantly found ways to get around by putting shoes on her hands. “That’s how I am as a person where if I can’t do it the traditional way, I’m just gonna find some other way.” As she grew older, Nicole graduated with her Business degree from @floridaatlantic; however, she’s been most fulfilled when being an advocate. At 39 years old, she underwent a selective dorsal rhizotomy (SDR surgery), which changed her life. Afterwards, she had more mobility, including better abilities to climb stairs unaided and walk backwards. Wanting to spread the word, she shared her story in @huffpost only after staying persistent and reaching out to @ariannahuff directly. Nicole also managed to get 48 of 50 states (2 of them forgot) to light up green for CP in March of 2019! Now, though, she’s thinking of other ways to spread awareness by joining groups like @diversability and thinking of starting her own podcast! So nice to meet you, @whatcplookslike! #10kfriends #philly #fortlauderdale #florida #cerebralpalsy #advocate #resourceful #fau #sdrsurgery #huffpost #gogreenforcp #podcast #whatcplookslike #somegoodnews #robs10kfriends #meetingpeople #SDRChangesLives
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How we met: Nicole came across my project via her friend, @imtiffanyyu (#3846), and then DM’ed me to meet!
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Swipe to hear more about how Nicole spread the word about selective dorsal rhizotomy (SDR)! 🌎✍🏼
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Click the link in my bio if you’d like to support me via Patreon! 🙏🏼

From my blog post (link in bio): “The Disability

From my blog post (link in bio): “The Disability Pride flag was designed by Ann Magill, a disabled woman.

The flag has a black background with five zig zag lines diagonally across the flag in blue, yellow, white, red, and green. The lines symbolize a lightning bolt and each color represents the following:

The black background represents the suffering due to ableism or violence; it’s also the color of rebellion and protest. The lightning bolt represents how individuals with disabilities must navigate barriers, and demonstrates their creativity in doing so.

The five colors represent the variety of needs and experiences in our community: Mental Illness, Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, Invisible and Undiagnosed Disabilities, Physical Disabilities, and Sensory Disabilities.

The parallel stripes represent solidarity within the disability community, as well as all of its differences.”

Click link in bio to read my Disability Pride Month poem or go to https://nicoleluongo.com/disability-pride-month-poem/

[ID: A picture of the Disability Pride flag designed by Ann McGill. The flag has a black background with five zig zag lines diagonally across the flag in blue, yellow, white, red, and green.]
#Disabilities #DisabilityAwareness #DisabilityPride #DisabilityPrideMonth #Poetry #Poems #CerebralPalsy #whatcplookslike #RepresentationMatters

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