J – Jumping

By jumping, I do not mean doing high jumps or jumping out of planes (now that would be interesting!) but jumping at sudden sounds or even sudden movements. Whilst I do not understand how it is linked, I ‘m sure it is linked to my Cerebral Palsy as my friend who also has CP, finds the same. When we have been on holiday together, we have been known to compare notes on jumping. Sometimes a loud noise will make her jump but not me or vice a versa.

One of the things which makes me jump the most is my phone! I know I drive my Mum mad when my phone is on silent and she is waiting for me to text her back. I can remember on two occasions where I have been enjoying a cup of tea before going out and the ‘ping’ noise has made me jump so much that I have spilt my tea all down myself and have needed to get a change of clothes. I remember at the beginning of lock down when I began working from home, I seemed to be very jumpy so I wanted to put my phone on silent but I was worried that doing so would mean that if my manager called me then I would possibly miss his call. I solved this by putting my phone on vibrate but making sure it was next to me – a ‘vibrate’ doesn’t make me jump as much but I still hear it. The other good thing is more often than not my manager will nearly always agree a time to call so I know not to make a cup of tea near that time.

I do not want to say it impacts me hugely because it doesn’t especially as it seems to vary quite a bit, one day a certain noise can make me jump like a jack ‘n’ the box and then on a different day, the same noise will not make me jump as much. However, I could not go as far as to say that it doesn’t bother me at all, because it does! I find that quite often I will have it at the back of my mind – running my dishwasher is a good example. When the cycle is nearing the end, the machine will go quiet for about 20 mins before starting for a final time. I have been known to spill my drink during this time as I jumped so much when it restarted. I will therefore avoid making myself a drink during this time. Another example is, now I use my laptop so much for video calls, if I do not adjust my speaker after a call then when an email comes in that sound can also make me jump. (I have been known to forget to adjust the volume before making a call and I accused my friend of not having her microphone switched on!)

As well as sudden noises, sudden movements can occasionally make me jump – but not as much as noises do. One example would be in corridors. A person walking round the corner has made me jump in the past and they felt like they had to apologise! I always reassure them that it is not their fault and that it is ‘Me’. The one good thing about this annoying aspect of my disability is that it can therefore start up a conversation. It can also provide humour, one time during a church service there was a sudden noise from the sound desk and just watching me jump made my friend laugh.
Jumping is definitely not the most frustrating aspect of my disability (far from it) but it is a factor which can be very annoying.