Matthew Maccarthy, MD

[Matthew Maccarthy, MD @MdMaccarthy]

@peteratonge @StephTowMD @ThomasMDPhD Thank you - as an MD this will help me be more thoughtful in my language in the future. I apologize on behalf of my team for the offense. I, in turn, hope to have imparted to you that the content of our conference talk is neither negative nor pitying. Quite the opposite, in fact.

[Matthew Maccarthy, MD @MdMaccarthy]

@peteratonge @StephTowMD @ThomasMDPhD I understand and appreciate that perspective, for sure. I feel bad being both a member of the (accidentally) offending party and a member of the disabled community, but I think that, having never personally taken offense at those terms, I missed out on the conversation.

[Matthew Maccarthy, MD @MdMaccarthy]

@peteratonge @ThomasMDPhD @StephTowMD 8. This symposium, and the research and programs that inform it, focuses on medical interventions, accessibility issues, and most importantly, SELF-ADVOCACY measures that can help people with CP live more functional, pain-free lives. It’s not pitying. It’s empowering.

[Matthew Maccarthy, MD @MdMaccarthy]

@peteratonge @ThomasMDPhD @StephTowMD 7. Sure - my disability doesn’t need to be overcome. It’s a part of who I am and I’m proud of it. But we deal with symptoms and biomechanical issues every day that can be helped in a variety of ways. That’s *part* of what we mean by “overcoming.”

[Matthew Maccarthy, MD @MdMaccarthy]

@peteratonge @ThomasMDPhD @StephTowMD 6. Again, I have CP. It has afforded me numerous wonderful perspective lessons and opportunities in life, such as working with @Phamaly_theatre and the incredible people there. But it also sucks sometimes, even in my own house which has no discriminatory bias or access issues.

[Matthew Maccarthy, MD @MdMaccarthy]

@peteratonge @ThomasMDPhD @StephTowMD 5. Labeling medical intervention to mitigate the symptoms of a disability as trying to “fix” the disability, as if the person was broken, and subsequently framing those efforts negatively strikes me as ignoring the reality of what we live with and also as unnecessarily prideful.

[Matthew Maccarthy, MD @MdMaccarthy]

@peteratonge @ThomasMDPhD @StephTowMD 4. ...high and low levels of of pain and functional capacity so that we as physicians can help improve those improve those things, because most people, in addition to wanting societal change, also want to feel better and be able to do more.

[Matthew Maccarthy, MD @MdMaccarthy]

@peteratonge @ThomasMDPhD @StephTowMD 3. The vast majority of adults with CP deal with chronic pain, and have earlier onset of numerous secondary health conditions compared to people without disabilities. This is not about pity, and it’s not about overcoming or fixing CP. It’s about factors that help us predict

[Matthew Maccarthy, MD @MdMaccarthy]

@peteratonge @ThomasMDPhD @StephTowMD 2. ...changes that, for many of us, make basic daily activities more difficult than for those without disabilities, even in the ideal environment and with ideal access. Walking, for those who are able, requires multiple times as much energy for those with CP as for those without.

[Matthew Maccarthy, MD @MdMaccarthy]

@peteratonge @ThomasMDPhD @StephTowMD 1. I am another of the presenters on this talk and I also have CP. The social model is great and very necessary. But neither it nor the medical model can stand alone. There are huge, multi-level societal barriers to access and equality, but there are also intrinsic physiologic