Neuro Note - Miss You Can Do It
For my first neuro note, I decided to watch a Netflix movie titled Miss You Can Do It. This movie is based off of a woman named Abbey Curran who is diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy (CP). In 2008, she became the first woman with a disability to compete in the MISS USA Pageant. After winning Miss Iowa and competing in Miss USA, she wanted to share her love and passion for pageants with other girls who have disabilities. She started the Miss You Can Do It pageant, which was created for young girls with disabilities. Her goal in having this pageant every year is to help these young girls feel confident in themselves and love themselves despite their disabilities. The pageant allows the girls to make friends who are just like them. This gives them an opportunity to have someone that they can relate to and feel comfortable around. The movie showed a glimpse of several different contestant's families. They were each interviewed, where they explained the type of disabilities their little girl had and why they attended the Miss You Can Do It pageant. All of the parents expressed how thankful and blessed they were that Abbey hosted this event every year. You could genuinely tell how much they loved participating and how happy it made their little girls. During the pageant, the girls are able to hang out and play with each other, they have an interview portion, causal wear, and formal gown wear. They all get their hair and make-up done, which seemed to be the girls favorite part. At the end of the pageant everyone is awarded a trophy. A queen is crowned to the girl who showed the most confidence in themselves and the best personality despite the challenges she may face.
I chose to watch this Netflix movie, because my uncle is diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy. I have learned many things about CP as I have witnessed this condition first hand, but I wanted to hear others perspectives. From what I have learned in this neuro course, CP can be considered an acquired brain injury. An acquired brain injury is damage to the brain that was acquired, and not present at birth. It can be prolonged or sudden onset, and it can occur overtime. CP occurs due to an abnormal brain development either before or during birth, or within the first year of life. CP causes weakness in the muscles which then leads to delayed motor skills. CP primarily affects coordination and walking. In the movie Abbey stated that she didn’t let CP define who she was. Although she may have been different, she was not going to let it come in the way of reaching her dreams. By watching this movie, I learned how CP affects each family differently and how they navigate each day to overcome the challenges they face. I learned that no individual with a brain injury are the same, they each encounter different battles. I also gained some knowledge about Spina Bifida and Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type 2, which are both spinal injuries present at birth.
Overall, I highly recommend this movie. It is extremely uplifting and encouraging. The little girls are truly glowing as they spend their day being pampered and hanging out with their friends. It’s a great example of not letting a disability define who you are or interfere with your dreams. Abbey Curran is a true inspiration!
I have attached a link to a watch the movie on HBOMax, along with a link from when Abbey was on Ellen.
Davis, R., Westervelt, C., Anderson, J., & Davis, R. (2013). Miss You Can Do It. [Film]. HBO.
EllenLDegeneres. (2008, April 17). Abbey Curran on Ellen. [Video]. Youtube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohkySovPnZA
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