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CHAPTER 3: SCHOOL HOLIDAYS I ALSO MADE OTHER GOOD RELATIONSHIPS DURING THE SCHOOL HOLIDAYS I SPENT AT MRS PALMER'S AND I REMEMBER STAFF FROM MY SCHOOL VISITING ME, WHICH MADE ME VERY HAPPY. I MET A GIRL WHO LIVED ACROSS THE ROAD FROM MRS PALMER. HER NAME WAS JOANNE. HER DAD INTRODUCED US AND I STILL CONSIDER HER A FRIEND. SHE WOULD COME OVER EVERY HOLIDAY AND AT WEEKENDS, SHE EVEN USED TO VISIT ME AT SCHOOL. JOANNE TREATED ME AS A REAL FRIEND AND DIDN'T MIND MY DISABILITY. EV

CHAPTER 2 MY SCHOOL LIFE IN 1972, AT THE AGE OF FIVE, I ATTENDED A BOARDING SCHOOL FOR CHILDREN FOR WHAT THEY USED CALL “SPASTICS”. MY SOCIAL WORKERS MADE THAT DECISION AND ARRANGED FOR ME TO GO TO ST. MARGARET'S IN CROYDEN. MRS BROWN WAS THE ONE WHO TOOK ME FROM QUEEN MARY'S TO THE NEW SCHOOL, WHERE I WOULD STAY UNTIL I WAS SEVENTEEN. I STARTED IN MRS PALMER'S CLASS WITH ABOUT TEN OTHER BOYS AND GIRLS. ONE OF THE GIRLS WAS AMANDA, A FRIEND FROM NURSERY WHO BECAME VERY CLOSE.

CHAPTER 1 THE BEGINNING MY NAME IS MICHELE McCRUDDEN AND I HAVE CEREBRAL PALSY. THIS IS MY STORY. I WAS BROUGHT SUDDENLY INTO THIS WORLD AFTER MY UMBILICAL CORD CAME AWAY AND MUM WAS RUSHED IN FOR AN EMERGENCY C – SECTION. THAT WAS MARCH 1967. MUM WAS COMPLETELY UNAWARE THAT THERE WAS ANYTHING WRONG AND, SO IT SEEMED, WERE THE DOCTORS. MY PARENTS WERE SEPARATED AND MUM WAS A SINGLE PARENT WITH TWO OF MY FOUR SIBLINGS AT HOME. HER EXPERIENCE WOULD TELL HER WHAT NORMAL CHILD DE