By Karl Moore, Forbes
With a cerebral palsy diagnosis at the age of three, and a life-saving heart transplant after being told he had 48 hours to live at thirteen, Michael Kutcher’s life has been marked less by the obstacles he has faced, and more by the gumption he has displayed in overcoming them.
The leading motor disability today, cerebral palsy can have a wide range of effects. While dealing with limited mobility on his right side and some additional hurdles when it comes to speech, hearing, and eyesight, Kutcher was never treated differently by his family. They created a sense of unity and inclusion, challenging him to keep up with his twin brother, Chris (professionally known as Ashton), and his sister, Tausha.
“I think that’s really what gave me the driving power to overcome challenges and obstacles,” Kutcher said of his familial support system. “But I learned a lot outside of the family, interacting with different people, and unfortunately, in society, people with disabilities are looked at as being different. I dealt with those struggles, and I still deal with those struggles.”
Rather than allowing his disability to dominate the day-to-day, Kutcher made it his mission to view life as an opportunity. He began to seek out speaking engagements where he could share his story and started working with the Cerebral Palsy Foundation.
By educating as many people on the disability as he can and advocating for the importance of organ donations, he is opening people’s minds and encouraging others who suffer from cerebral palsy to share their stories as well.
“My goal isn’t to reach everyone,” Kutcher shared. “If I can touch one person, that’s my goal. If I touch many, that’s awesome. My goal is just to inspire and impact lives and invoke change by teaching people about the importance of organ donation. If you look at my life, I’ve done a lot in the last 30 years. I’ve been able to inspire people, I’ve been a productive member of my community, and I have children who wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for the generosity of someone else.”
Kutcher has developed the mindset that everyone has a disability of one type or another, but prefers to call them “diffabilities,” a term he has trademarked. Rather than holding onto a prefix with a negative connotation, he focuses on the fact that we all have positive abilities, despite the fact that they may differ.
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