For 14-year-old Tegan Vincent-Cook, a student in the United Kingdom, dealing with Cerebral Palsy presented enough challenges in her daily life without having to deal with children at school. Sometimes, out of ignorance, the other kids would stare at Tegan and in some cases, instead of being mean, they would simply ignore her. Children can be cruel to each other to be sure, but they can also be shy or may not have learned proper social skills yet. Encountering a fellow student who has a disability may make them reluctant to reach out to that child and become friends. The result can be feelings of isolation and loneliness for the child with a disability such as Cerebral Palsy.
What helped Tegan break through this social barrier with her fellow classmates was when she told her story as a presentation to the class. The results were immediate. The children were able to gain a better understanding of what Tegan had to deal with and they immediately had questions for her that were sparked by her sharing this part of her life with them. As a result of this experience, Tegan decided that a good way to help other kids with CP would be to create an animated version of her story to share with kids everywhere. In the short film, which Tegan wrote, she describes her disability, what it is and how she has adapted to it. Not only do her classmates have a better idea of who Tegan is, her social life at school has shown marked improvement. Children everywhere can benefit from seeing this cartoon in the classroom so they can better understand and accept children who are different from them.