United Cerebral Palsy Association of Hawaii

06/23/2026

United Cerebral Palsy Hawai’i Keiki Play Day! Where fun, development and learning intersect! [Alt text: five photos of children playing.]

06/22/2026

Amazing Monday: Registered nurses are amazing in general, so what makes Andrea Dalzell even more amazing? She has degrees in biology and neuroscience from the College of Staten Island. She was a school nurse and was often on the front lines tending to people with the coronavirus in New York State. She finally landed her dream job of becoming a registered nurse after seventy-six interviews. Why so long?

Ms. Dalzell was diagnosed with transverse myelitis at five years of age. Transverse myelitis is “an inflammation of the spinal cord that causes pain, muscle weakness and paralysis;” she was using a wheelchair full-time by age 12 [3]. Quite simply, no one thought she could handle the work. Undeterred, she won the title of Ms. Wheelchair New York in 2015 and used her platform “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Access, to promote her message and belief that people with disabilities can live a fulfilling life” [3]. She eventually became the first Registered Nurse in a wheelchair in New York State.
Ms. Dalzell continues to be a vocal advocate for d
isability rights and the rights of people in general. Her online presence is a The Seated Nurse: The Rolling Healthcare Advocate. “For anyone pursuing any kind of dream, Dalzell has advice: ‘Never follow someone else’s ‘no,’” she says. Someone else may claim they gave you the opportunity to succeed, and while that’s true in one way, ‘you gave yourself the opportunity, because you tried. You have to remember your own yes, and somebody else didn’t dictate that yes for you’” [2]. You guessed it: Amazing!

1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrea_Dalzell
2) https://www.news.waymakerjournal.com/seated-nurse-andrea-dalzell-empower-disabled-professionals/
3) https://www.theseatednurse.com/about

about Who is Andrea?Andrea Dalzell is a phenomenal and passionate Registered Nurse, a highly active Healthcare Advocate, Disability Rights Influencer, and most importantly, a strong Survivor!Andrea Dalzell was born and raised in the heart of the hustle and bustle of Brooklyn, New York. At the early....

06/19/2026

View from a Wheelchair: We are back from our trip to South Korea! We will spend a few weeks taking some “Views” of this incredible experience. The full story is posted here https://ucpahawaii.org/living-life-and-traveling-with-cerebral-palsy-one-week-in-south-korea/ with comments about each step and notes on accessibility throughout the stay. We start with a quick view of Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul, the Suwon Hwaseong Fortress and the Gamcheon Culture Village in Busan.

06/17/2026

Final 6 weeks of data collection for our Aging with Cerebral Palsy study! Surveys close on August 1st. Please help us help you! [Alt text: graphic calling for respondents for our study]

06/15/2026

We return to our Amazing Monday feature with a short, but truly incredible story. Paul Alexander was an attorney and author who lived to the age of 78. What is so amazing is the fact that he lived 72 of those years in an iron lung. In fact, he is known as the Man in the Iron Lung, establishing the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest life in the Lung.

Mr. Alexander contracted a severe case of polio in 1952 at the age of 6 which left him paralyzed, able to move only his head, neck and mouth. Doctors noticed that was not breathing and rushed him into the lung. He went home with a portable generator after 18-months and eventually learned “to consciously breathe by gulping down air, using his throat muscles to force air into his lungs. He called it frog-breathing” [2]. This allowed him to spend some time out of the lung. He wanted a dog, and his brother told him he would have the dog once he spent 3-minutes outside of the lung. He did, got the dog, and named his memoir “Three Minutes for a Dog: My Life in an Iron Lung” [1]. Paul remembered the look on the faces of his clients when they first saw him in his office: “’It's not an easy thing to see, just a head sticking out,’ says Philip. ‘People immediately go into shock. I saw that happen a lot’"[2]. Mr. Alexander summarized his life and resilience: “’I spent a lot of time in the iron lung, but I didn’t live in it—I lived outside it, in my mind, my heart, and the life I created’"[18][1]. Simply Amazing.

1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Alexander_(polio_survivor)
2) https://www.bbc.com/news/health-68627630

He spent 72 years using an iron lung machine to breathe after surviving polio as a child.

06/12/2026

Today and tomorrow! 2-for-1 Duckie Adoptions for both of our races running from 6/12, 8:30 am through 6/14, 9:30 am! https://ucpahawaii.org/ GRAND PRIZE: TRIP FOR TWO TO TOKYO! See the incredible prize list here: https://ucpahawaii.org/ways-to-help/ [Alt text: Graphic for Waikoloa Rubber Duckie Race and grand prize trip to Tokyo.]

06/11/2026

2-for-1 Duckie Adoptions for both of our races running from 6/12, 8:30 am through 6/14, 9:30 am! https://ucpahawaii.org/ GRAND PRIZE: TRIP FOR TWO TO TOKYO! See the incredible prize list here: https://ucpahawaii.org/ways-to-help/ [Alt text: Graphic for Waikoloa Rubber Duckie Race and grand prize trip to Tokyo.]

05/21/2026

05/20/2026

UCPA Hawaii Keiki Playgroup: Learn and develop through PLAY! [Alt text: 4 photo of children playing.]

05/18/2026

5/18/26 Amazing Monday—Mental Health Awareness Month: Wayne Brady provided some of the funniest moments on TV as part of the improvisational comedy show “Whose Line is it Anyway?” He was so funny that his professional ensemble cast could not keep from breaking up. The camera would often cut to host Drew Carey showing him hiding his face because he was laughing so hard. Mr. Brady also hosted his own talk show as well as the revival of the game show “Let’s Make a Deal.” He won an Emmy Award for all three shows (1). He is also an award-winning recording artist and Broadway actor.

However, Mr. Brady showed us the comic genius lives with a darker side out of the spotlight: the man who routinely brightens the life of millions has battled depression for years, hit “rock bottom” and had a complete breakdown alone in his bathroom on his 42nd birthday (2). “’You don't want to move, you can't move in the darkness,’" he explains. "’You're like, 'I am just going to sit right here and I want to wallow in this. As much as it hurts, I am going to sit right here because this is what I deserve. This is what I deserve, so I am going to sit here because I am that horrible of a person... It starts this cycle where you tell yourself these lies ... and those lies become true to you,’ he says.'" That birthday marked a pivotal point for Mr. Brady: he decided to stay with us: “’OK, I've got to make a change'” (2).

The sub-theme this month is coping with our own stuff: “’the reality is everybody's dealing with something every day" (3). So how does Mr. Brady cope? He says it starts with claiming it: “’to say, 'Why do I feel dark? Why do I feel unhappy? Let me do something about this'" (2). Advocating for mental health issues has also helped along with asking for help. He said the same thing that Dwayne Johnson (“The Rock”) said: asking for help is our superpower. Therapy, medication, support groups and creating positive habits all help him with recovery. For example, “he makes his bed daily. ‘If I don't do that one task, that can throw off my whole day...because if I make my bed, and I can bounce a quarter off my bed like my dad taught me, then I don't want to get back in that bed. And if I'm out of the bed, and I have no choice, but to go on with the rest of my day,’ says Brady” (3).

The three Amazing take-aways from this story for me are: everybody deals with something, asking for help is a superpower and get up and DO something—even if it is just making your bed! Sometimes just moving helps.

1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayne_Brady
2) https://www.cbsnews.com/news/wayne-brady-opens-up-about-his-depression-i-had-a-complete-breakdown/
3) https://www.verywellmind.com/wayne-brady-reveals-his-inner-battles-6743471

TV personality, comedian, actor, and singer Wayne Brady shares what it's like to live with depression and juggle the need to be 'on' all the time. Read his story.