Wanstead teenager Grace Wolstenholme invites you to watch her YouTube channel for an insight into life with cerebral palsy. In the seventh of a series of articles, Grace confronts those who give her a strange look
Hi everyone. Last year was pretty rubbish for everyone, with so many people losing loved ones, but we’ve just got to say to ourselves that 2020 made us stronger, even though it was such a strange year! Hopefully, 2021 will be better.
My own mental health hasn’t been that great, including my anger. If anyone gives me a strange look, I get so annoyed at them. Some people look at me like I’m an alien or I shouldn’t be out, and I can lose it with them.
And here’s something funny. When I was little, there was this woman who was so mean to me just because her daughter had to share a school bus with me. Recently, I saw she had posted on the Facebook local community hub, looking for a dog trainer. For so many years I’ve been scared of this woman, but I thought ‘Why should I be?’ She can’t hurt me. I’m big and strong enough now. So, I commented that I know a really good dog trainer, but I’m not going to tell her who because I remember how mean she was to me and how she really upset me.
People responded saying it’s such a shame how she treated me. Then, get this, she deleted the post and blocked me! So, what does that tell you? She doesn’t want people knowing how she treated me and she didn’t even apologise for what she did.
I’m telling myself that I’m more grown up and responsible than a 43-year-old woman, and I really liked her daughter. I used to always help her at school and her daughter really liked me. She used to grab me whilst her mum was bullying me, but enough of the negative stuff! Let’s talk about the positive side.
There have been some upsides in these crazy times. One of them, for me, has been that I started to use platforms such as YouTube and Instagram more. And I’ve been lucky enough to get a monthly article in this magazine as well, which I’m so grateful for. I feel like I’m getting my message out to so many people now, and I’ve even had two interviews about my YouTube channel and trying to get more awareness for cerebral palsy, so I’m really grateful for everyone who’s subscribed to my channel for the videos.
Let’s talk about Christmas. It was a bit lonely, but thank God for Top of the Pops and – OMG – a few of my favourite singers were on there, such as Rag’n’Bone Man and Jess Glynne.
So, yeah, that’s all from me for now and I’ll see you next month.
To watch Grace’s videos about life with cerebral palsy, visit wnstd.com/grace
