CPL COMMUNITY
Meet Bob &
Denise Harris
A big thank you to Bob Harris who
recently shared some memories from
his life with us and his wife Denise.
I am 71 years old this year and I’ve had
cerebral palsy all my life. My wife Denise is
69, and she has cerebral palsy too.
I started at the CPL school in New Farm in
1953. They had a really old bus that used to
pick me up from Indooroopilly, and we
picked up people along the way. Back
then, everybody was like family.
I went to CPL for primary school. In year 8
we had the scholarship exam and because
of my grades, I was one of the first to go
to a mainstream high school. Today, many
young people with disabilities get to be
part of a mainstream school system, which
is great.
Everyone should be given every
opportunity to be independent.
After high school I got my first job through
the Commonwealth Rehab Service (CRS)
at a tool company for two years, and then I
spent about 26 years working in sales and
admin for Bearing Service. I was in a car
accident after that and there was damage
to my spine so I stopped working.
Back in the 50s Denise had to leave her
family as a seven-year-old and stay in the
hostel at CPL’s New Farm school to get
treatment. Her family was from
Toowoomba and there wasn’t any support
out there. Then Denise went on to CPL’s
Redcliffe centre.
I met Denise over a game of cards when
we were in our 20s. We married in 1980
and this year Denise and I will be married
for 39 years.
When we decided to have a child we saw
the best and worst reactions from family
and friends. But our son, Brenden, grew to
be a fine young man who has two degrees,
two children and a good career. Denise
says he has my looks and her brains!
This year, I am very proud to say we
celebrated our granddaughter’s fifth
birthday.
Looking back now, my biggest observation
was that a lot of parents, especially
mothers, used to think it was their fault
that their child had cerebral palsy. Like
they had done something wrong because
of issues during pregnancy or birth. I really
hope it is different now, because I always
thought it was unfair for them to blame
themselves.
If I could share one thing with parents
of kids with disabilities, it would be to
encourage their child to do the most
they can by themselves. As I look back
over the years, there have been many
times when I’ve had to work harder than
my colleagues to get ahead, and it has
defined me.
As for our future, our aim is just to remain
as active and as independent as we can.
If you would like to share your
experiences with CPL, we’d love to
hear from you. Email [email protected]
with your story.
CPL – Choice, Passion, Life
11