Debbie Dorfan has been our People and Culture partner for the last 18 months.
She has worked in other People and Culture roles within CPSN the past four years and absolutely loves it. She is passionate about helping all our clients and is one of our employees who has lived experience of Cerebral palsy (CP).
Connecting with the CPSN Community
She first contacted CPSN to get a referral to see a medical professional who specialised in consulting with adults with CP after experiencing significant changes in her physical health.
After her referral was approved, Debbie was surrounded by a fabulous network of support with Orthopedic Surgeons and neuro-physiotherapists, who all helped her to re-build and develop her strength, balance and coordination, assisting her greatly with improving her walking and overall movement quality.
“CP is a journey that is different for everyone, and everyone's experience is different. Having CP is only a part of my identity, it does not totally define me.”
“Hindsight is 20/20 vision, but I wish I had not had the gap of 30+ years of no physio – our bodies are a work in progress! If there is a lesson I could share to the CP community – don’t stop the physical therapy and don’t assume that there is nothing you can do about decline as you get older.”
Debbie’s time to Shine
Debbie gains most satisfaction and joy from her job as while interacting with CPSN staff and support workers. Her days vary greatly from helping with payroll to assisting Support Workers organise organisational based training sessions.
She particularly enjoyed participating in several member-based initiatives within CPSN, including the online adult “Tribal Wisdom” communication and connection programme, formed during the tough times of lockdown during the COVID pandemic.
Adapting to life with Children
As a parent to three children, Debbie shared with us an insight into how parenting with CP worked for her, and how her children helped to adapt to her physical limitations.
“I was lucky that my eldest was a girl who was very compliant and followed rules and the others just learnt to follow her example with things like staying close to me when we were out.
They also learnt as soon as they could walk that I would not pick them up just to carry them but was happy to have a cuddle when sitting down. It’s little things like that that made physical part of parenting work.”
When Debbie is not working, she enjoys relaxing; socializing with good food, going for walks in fine weather, and listening to engaging audiobooks.
Finally, Debbie’s three tips for living her best life with Cerebral Palsy are:
1. Life is a journey that has ups and downs.
2. Reach out if you need help – you don’t have to do it alone.
3. Trust the process.
If you have just read anything that intrigues you further about CPSN or if you just want to call us for a chat, please call us 9478 1001 or email cpsn@cpsn.org.au We’re here to help.
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