This family drops the disability 'to do' list and loves life

Checkout the latest in our A Family Like Mine series! Don't forget you can click CC in the lower right for closed captioning.

Meet Holland Bloorview family leader Donna Cappelli, who is mom to Julian, 15, a soccer enthusiast who has cerebral palsy, and his brother Dante, 17, and married to Gerardo.

Julian’s greatest challenge is uncontrolled movement, Donna says. “If he tries to do something, his body does the opposite. It’s like him doing a marathon every single day.”  

Donna’s advice for other parents? “Try to live your life normally. Try not to get caught up in a lot of the things that you feel you need to do for your child...The best thing for us is when we go and do something for Julian and not worry about a day about having to do homework. And not have to do therapy and not have to stretch him out…”

Julian’s advice? “It’s okay to be different. Try what you like and it will distract you from your loneliness.”

Don't forget you can click on the closed captioning (CC icon) in the lower right corner of the screen to ensure you can understand the speakers.

Check out all of the A Family Like Mine videos. And don't forget to sign up for our monthly BLOOM e-letter.