Tony Mantor: Why Not Me ? - Jason Moyle: Tuning into Triumph and his journey with Cerebral Palsy in the U.K.

Episode Date: December 10, 2025

Empowering Journeys: Embracing Life with Cerebral Palsy – Featuring Jason Moyle Host Tony Mantor welcomes Jason Moyle, an inspiring individual living with cerebral palsy. Jason shares his life story, from his premature birth and early diagnosis to his challenges growing up and facing bullying. Despite these obstacles, Jason has turned his experiences into opportunities to uplift others. He discusses his various roles at Civil Furland, CHBN Radio, and his passion for comedy writing. The conversation delves into his personal struggles, coping mechanisms, and the importance of empathy and understanding for people with disabilities. Tune in for an emotional and motivating episode that underscores the power of perseverance and community. Meet Jason Moyle: A Story of Courage and Determination Jason's Early Life and Diagnosis Challenges and Triumphs in School Living with Cerebral Palsy: Daily Life and Community Involvement Overcoming Physical and Emotional Challenges Future Outlook and Final Thoughts Conclusion and Call to Action INTRO/OUTRO: Music T.Wild Mantor Music BMI The content on Why Not Me: Embracing Autism amd Mental Health Worldwide, including discussions on mental health, autism, and related topics, is provided for informational and entertainment purposes only. The views and opinions expressed by guests are their own and do not reflect those of the podcast, its hosts, or affiliates.Why Not Me is not a medical or mental health professional and does not endorse or verify the accuracy, efficacy, safety of any treatments, programs, or advice discussed.Listeners should consult qualified healthcare professionals, such as licensed therapists, psychologists, or physicians, before making decisions about mental health or autism- related care.Reliance on this podcast's contents is at the listener's own risk. Why Not Me is not liable for any outcomes, financial or otherwise, resulting from actions taken based on the information provided. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Welcome to Why Not Me, embracing autism and mental health worldwide, hosted by Tony Miatur. Broadcasting from the heart of Music City, USA, Nashville, Tennessee. Join us as our guests share their raw, howful stories. Some will spark laughter, others will move you to tears. These real-life journeys inspire, connect, and remind you that you are your life. You're never alone. We're igniting a global movement to empower everyone to make a lasting difference by fostering deep awareness, unwavering acceptance, and profound understanding of autism and mental health.

Tune in, be inspired, and join us in transforming the world one story at a time. Hi, I'm Tony Mantor. Welcome to Why Not Me, embracing autism and mental health, Worldwide. Joining us today is Jason Moyle, a truly inspiring individual whose life embodies courage and determination. Living with cerebral palsy, Jason has faced unique challenges with remarkable strength, transforming obstacles into opportunities to uplift others.

Known for his vibrant presence as a presenter at CHBN Radio, his journey extends far beyond the airwaves, reflecting a profound story of self-discovery, perseverance, and and an unwavering spirit. He has a tremendous amount of information, and we are just very happy to have him here with us today. So before we dive into our episode, we'll be back with an uninterrupted show right after a word from our sponsors.

Thanks for coming on. Thank you very much, Taney. Oh, it's my pleasure. Let's start out with what you are doing currently. Okay, well, basically, I've got three kind of jobs. I work at Civil Thurton, mainly at Redroof, but I also do a community radio station in Truro called CHBN. Also help out with Steve Osborne and Livewire, but also I write comedy as well now. I'm doing a comedy master's degree.

Wow, that's great. Can you give us a little more information on the community work that you do? So the community work entails presenting on the radio, giving out information to the community, going out to visit the community and do events within the true and surrounding areas as well. And we're based inside a hospital as well, so we do a lot of hospital-related health-being work. Now, it's my understanding that you have been diagnosed with cerebral palsy. Is that correct? That's correct, yeah.

Everyone's journey with cerebral palsy can be quite different. Can you share with us how your diagnosis came about and what your experience was? Right, so when I was, well, I can't remember this because it's as it is when I was born, but I was born, I think about 12 weeks premature, something like that. I was quite early, between 12 and 8 weeks. So don't quote me on that, but I was premature anyway. And what happened was I was given birth to an hostel and then ruffed down to a Lisk hospital, and I nearly didn't survive it.

They registered my birth about a month or so after I was born. I was in hospital for six weeks. So the diagnosis of cerebral palsy wasn't straight away. They kind of realized there was something wrong when I wasn't starting to walk when I should be. I was crawling and doing all sorts of things, but I couldn't actually get up and walk. And they kind of worked out

then there was something wrong then. Bear in mind this is back in the 70s where the medical situation wasn't quite as advanced as it is now. Yes, that totally makes sense. What was it like for you growing up with cerebral palsy? How did it shape your experience as a child and then of course as a teenager? So when I was very young, I was in an air hospital. I had an operation when I was very young.

My parents were kind of very strong to push me forward and make sure I had the best of everything, including an operation that was just groundbreaking at the time. So they said they couldn't do anything for me. My walking was non-existent. And one consultant said, no, I can't, you know, he can't walk. And my mom wouldn't pay that's an answer. So we ended up having another consultant who looked at me and said, look, there's another operation we can do now.

It's very, very new, which involves breaking the tents in your foot. And then you have to start to try and walk all over again. So my first few years in answer to your question, I was very much insular. There wasn't, I didn't have many people around me, apart from my parents. I went to primary school at Gerans. that was interesting because they didn't all accept me.

I was a bit of a novelty. I used to walk with a limb quite a pronounce limpe. My one lady's about half an inch short than the other. Did that create any problems for you at school?

Yes, I did get picked on a bit when I was younger and that kind of went throughout the whole of my schooling life really. I got picked on them in other words bleed as well because people, children did not easily accept

someone who's different. Maybe that's changing in the way that people look at, look at disabilities now, and there is a lot of improvement in that area. But back in the 70s and early 80s, there was, you know, the acceptance of someone who was a little bit different was not there. I think things hopefully are getting better now. So how did that affect you during your teen years? My teen years, so I went from primary school and then, I didn't stay in primary school for more than one term or one year. My parents basically were called for a meeting and because I was treated differently and because I was a bit, other parents and other teachers didn't know how to really,

you know, how to deal with me because I was still a very bubbly child, but also, you know, had my issues with my cerebral palsy and everything else. So they wanted to put me in a class with other people of, like, educatedly, who were probably a bit less well educated if it were. So my parents said, no, we're not having this. So we're going to take them away and put it into a private school. So I ended up going to a private school, took the entrance exam, and spent a few years at Truro Cathedral School,

and then went off onto Truro School. So answer to your question again, my teenage years, I was bullied a lot in Truro School. Truro Cathedral School, not so much. Probably the last year I was bullied a bit there. but true school and there was a lot of people that didn't accept or found it difficult to accept my disability. And of course, the problem is when you'll get bullied a lot, your mood changes and you become more, you change your personality as well, which I felt that happened to me during my teen years.

So can you give us a little more information on how you changed? What type of personality were you? And then what did you become? So my personality that I am now, basically, is quite mild, you know, outgoing, bubbly, you know, I will talk to anyone type thing. But I was like that in Turo Cathedral School to a long period of time. But I think I was trying to deal with disability in general about my limitations. I love cricket. And that was my big thing with cricket and still is.

and I wanted to prove that I could play cricket like the rest of my peers, which I wouldn't do because of my disability, although I was good at cricket at a good level. So again, I was struggling with my own identity at times. And so I think what happened with the bullying, it made me go more insular and probably more aggressive too, and made me more short-tempered. That makes total sense, and it is completely understandable

why you would feel that way. Cerebral policy can look very different from person to person. Some people experience more physical challenges, while others may have intellectual or additional disabilities alongside it. In your case, did you experience anything beyond the physical aspects of it or anything that might have mimicked those challenges that you see with other people? So brain-wise, I was lucky. It didn't affect me as much.

That's why I could have a reasonable education. It's mainly my body and my left side, left weakness. All my left side is weaker than my right side, for instance. Yeah, I count myself very lucky compared to other people with cerebral palsy because as you said, there's different types of cerebral palsy. There's different parts of the brain that could be affected. People could be, could walk much better than me, possibly, but then be affected in different ways.

And there are people who can't walk at all and are wheeled. shows. And obviously that's where I am now, but that's not where I was when I was young, because my bullying was reasonably young and I could cope with doing sports and things like that, but not so much now. Many people with cerebral policy will connect with organizations or charities that support the community in different ways. Have you been involved with any groups or causes that are meaningful to you? No. I haven't. I have supported them. I support, I've supported, I've support scope, but that's more of money kind of thing. I support that financially. I would like to get more involved with charities with cerebral palsy. Yeah, I would. It's difficult because I,

because I'm quite busy doing lots of different things, I think I probably have covered all the time I've got a moment, but maybe next year when I kind of possibly leave my main job, I'll maybe looking at doing something with cerebral palsy, territories as well. Living with cerebral policy can sometimes feel easier when there's a sense of community. Have you connected with others who also have cerebral policy, maybe as a mentor, peer, or a friend? Have you been able to share advice or support people in navigating their daily challenges? I meet people with cerebral palsy all the time in the daily life, whether it be work colleagues or members of the public. The The manager of CHBN, a community radio station that I work for, also has cerebral palsy,

and also has similar, but different kind of situations than I do, because he's, as I said, all cerebral palsy is different. But yeah, I do try and pass on some information and advice to people who've got cerebral palsy. I don't do that very often to the point, because each bone of the cerebral palsy has got their own things to deal with. So what I deal with might not be what someone else deals with the self-proporty because it's kind of unique. It's like two or three different jigsaw puzzles. You know, they may look very similar. The pieces don't always fit the same way. Yes. Putting it that way, it just makes so much sense. Now that you're so involved in community

projects and often in front of people who may not face the same challenges you do, do you find that they give you feedback or show support because of what you've had to overcome? Yeah, I think people respect what I do and how I've achieved what I've achieved over the period of time and what I do now. I probably get that more in my main job than I do in my community. They do a job. But I think I do get people coming up to me and say, all right, I think what you do is amazing.

But again, I don't look at it that way. What I see is I do what I do to go around and live my own life, you know, and I always push myself to achieve more and more because it's important to do that. Absolutely. I think that is just an awesome way to look at life. So looking back, how do you feel that you've changed from your high school days to where you are now? In what way have your experiences shaped how you see the world, how you've changed, how you've changed, how you've, handled the challenges and then on your outlook on how your life is today. Right. Well, I've definitely got karma. I've definitely got a lot better at dealing with life. I've always, when I was growing up, I was always a bit bitter, a bit angry about why it was, why

me is it, you know, why have it happened to me? You know, I want to play sport. Why can't I play sport to the level I want to play it. But now, I think, you know, I said this to someone else the other day. I think at my age now, I've actually come to terms with my situation, my life that it is now. And, and I know that I'm happy in my own body. I know that I can push myself to a certain level, but, you know, I know not to push it too hard. But I think I've calmed down and I think of a lot more vaccinateable than I was, I believe, in my 20s and my teens. Yeah, I'm hoping I can say the same thing that I'm a little calmer than I was in my 20s. When people think about bullying, they often picture it is something physical, but it can also be very verbal and emotionally challenging. Have there been

times in your life where you face those kinds of challenges, not just because of how people saw you physically, but also in the way they treated or respected you as a person. So during the school, I got physically bullied a lot, and I used to come out with bruises all over my legs and arms. My parents had to go to the school a few times and just, it didn't improve, to be fair, on that. And the mental side of the bullying, with the name-calling, that kind of, when you were younger, that kind of hurt more, but now it doesn't.

What I find now is I find people. patronizing. That's my trigger now when people look at you and patronize you and they think they're doing the right thing. They talk down to you and they kind of shout at you and say, oh, you're all right. And I'm like, you don't need to shout. You don't need to be kind of condescending. I can understand what you're saying. I may be in a wheelchair, but I can understand this, you know. Yes, I get that. Can you tell me how you get around now? Are you able to walk on your own or do you have to use a wheelchair? So at home I walk around. I kind of wall walk.

I know my house quite well and I do walk around the house. I think after COVID or during COVID and before COVID my mobility was getting worse. And I think around that 2020 time when everyone was like looked into the house and my walking, obviously I didn't do much walking then apart from walking around the house. And I think it got worse then as well. So the arthritis and everything else is part of the south. palsy, the knee gets affected because of the bad of walking I was done over the years. And also I had a back operation 10 years ago, which obviously corrected things for a while,

but it's come back again a bit now. Is the back issue related to the cerebral palsy, or is that just something completely different? Yeah, so the back is related. It's all interconnected. So the way I've walked all my life, it was always a jerky movement, and I always walk quite quickly because the momentum was there when I was walking. And that is probably why I don't walk so much now because I can't walk that quickly.

I haven't momentum. And the problem was that that kind of affects the back, especially the upper back and the neck area. So I had a curvature of the spine and it was compressing into my nerves. And that's when I had had an operation about 17, 17 years ago now. Okay.

Now, what about medications? Do you have to take any medications because of the cerebral palsy? No, I try and avoid medication if I can help it. So at the moment I'm on no medication, obviously if I need medication, if the doctor gives me medication, I'll take it. But at the moment I take no medication, I don't need it. That's great. As long as you can stay off the medication, I think that's the best thing that you can do.

Now, what about pain? Do you have any pain associated with it at all? The thing is, when you live with what I've lived with so long, what I consider pain is probably, you know, I do get the odd painful moments and things that I can get at. But I kind of just live with that because that's what I've lived with. Yeah, so it's kind of like you have a certain threshold of pain that you deal with on a daily basis or a consistent basis. Yet when it gets worse than that, you need something, then you know that the pain is unbearable and you've got to do something about it. Yeah, I have got to the point at some point.

points. Well, I had the doctor's and they suggested painkillers and they suggested aspirin and that type of thing. At the moment, my pain threshold is, you know, it's whatever it is. So, you know, if anyone can get worse, then I'll obviously will do something about it, but it's okay at the moment. Well, I think that's just great that you're not having any extreme pain right now. So it seems like you've handled it quite well. Slate. Spitey. Now that you've lived with cerebral palsy for some time, you've reached a place of acceptance, you're calmer. What does a typical day look like for you? Are you working, spending time with people? How do you balance daily life while managing the challenges that come to you every day?

So my day to day, I'll be at home all day. I work three days a week as a civil servant. So I travel to Redery three days a week. So I have a lot of social interaction with my work colleagues and with customers. And I enjoy that. And I am thinking about finishing that next year. I haven't completely decided yet, but it depends on how my final assignments go with my writing, because I might want to just carry on with a writing. My only concern with that is that obviously I'll have less interaction. So three days a week, I'm in Redroof, get home, have tea. I do go to the studio occasionally, but I normally do radio from home.

So I kind of have interactions. I've been away, go off than what cricket and do things like that. So I go off on the trains a lot. That's entertaining at times, especially when you've got to rely on people helping you and assisting you around, which is not always the case. I'm sure it is. I think you just brought up a good point. People that know you, people that have worked with you, they have come to accept you because of getting to know you. They accept you because you are you. Yes. What about people that don't know you when you go into a train or you go into a public place? what's the interaction like there because you might have a problem getting from point A to point B

because your wheelchair. Do people step up and help you or do they just stand back? What's your take on how they react to you? Well, I'll give you a couple of examples. So I went to Southampton, not this time of the time before, and I went off the trade, didn't get a pre-booked taxi, went off the taxi rank

and went to the first taxi and I said, oh, I'm going to this, hotel, my wheelchair folds, it'll go in the back. No, I can't do that? And I said, well, why can't you do that? Well, no, you need a wheelchair accessible taxi. I said, no, I don't. I said, this one folds and sits in the back of your car. I can sit in the front. So he refused, the next one after him refused, and then I spent five, ten minutes going up and down the taxi rank. The actual wheelchair accessible taxi had no one in it. The driver wasn't in there. So eventually, when he came back and they get rid of the front of like I had to go into that. But at that point, I sent to the taxi driver.

I said, no, I still want you to put my wheelchair in the back and I'll sit at the front. Because that's more comfortable for me. I found when I was in London, when I had to go in taxis, almost side on. I had to go and side on because there's no way of like maneuvering. You can't face the front. You have to go up a ramp. And the problem is with roads in London or any roads, there's always jolts. And I felt that put my back out quite badly when I went to London in May.

So I didn't want to have a repeat of that. So a lot of people just don't understand and don't want to accept the fact what you're saying to them is saying, I think it's mainly because the wheelchair is 25 kilograms. It's heavy, but it's about the side of a big suitcase and it folds. You know, a lot of people will, you know, back away from that. And they're no, no, no, no. It's someone else's this problem.

Do you experience any issues with your arms such as muscle problems? Or is it primarily your legs that make it difficult for you to get around? So my left arm, my left hand is like a claw. Can't really grab much. You can grab a few things, but I couldn't carry a cup of coffee in the left hand properly. My left arm is weaker than my right arm. There's less muscle density in my left arm and my left leg than there is in my right arm and right leg. Because that's the way I was, you know, that's, I mean, what I was growing at because my left side was weaker.

It grew weaker as well. Do the doctors suggest any physical therapy or anything like that? to help strengthen your arms and legs back up? I have had physiotherapy throughout the years, and I'll be honest with you, Tony, when it comes to physiotherapy, I have been lazy in the past, unless someone's actually doing it with me,

like it never was actually getting me to do it. It's one of those things that I'd do it for a while, and I think, oh, no, I don't want to do this anymore. That's my regret, really. I haven't done enough to strengthen my arms, length, because I could have done more. But yes, it was when I was younger, my parents used to do physiotherapy with me. I used to have to squeeze a ball in my right and my left arm, you know, left hand, give my strength.

My left hand won't turn around. It will only go as far as, yeah, it won't turn around. So it's always got, I'm always looking at the back of my hand. I never can look at the front of my hand. So what do you see for the future? What are your plans? Does cerebral palsy have things that you have to worry about for the future? or do things pretty much stay the same?

Al-saropausee won't necessarily get worse. The actual conditions areopausee, it's all the things that relate to it. So because my body, you know, I'm in my 50s now, but my body probably is in the 70s, you know, it's been through a lot. It's not been through a normal 50-year-old body, you know, lifespan.

It's been through a lot of falling over. I haven't mentioned that, but I used to fall over a lot. When I fell over a lot, I could get myself up when I'm younger. I can get myself up now. So it does involve, you know, and of course, if you're falling over a lot, you'll put a lot of strain on your back, your body and everything else. Yeah, you have to be very careful when you fall.

You can break an arm, you can break a leg, you can break a hip. That's something that you have to be very, very cautious about. Yeah. Well, I've been fortunate. I'm touching wood when I say it. I've been fortunate because luckily, from an early age, because I fall so often, I'm a brain, I think, has gone into like a safety mode where it relaxes my body straight away. If I know I'm going down, I will go down and people think, oh, he's gone down very heavy.

Well, that's because my body is relaxed and I've gone down like a sack of spuds, you know? So it means that I haven't necessarily injuring myself. But then I said, as you get older, your bones are not quite as resistance to be like bounce back. So the possibility is that's why I try to avoid falling over if I can, as anyone would. Absolutely. What do you feel is important for the listeners to hear and understand about cerebral palsy? What message would you like to convey to help others better grasp the daily challenges and experiences so they can better understand the realities that you have to live with? Okay, well, when I walked more, when I went to cricket and I was walking rather than a wheelchair,

A lot of people saw me and thought I was drunk because the way I walked and my walk was quite staggered sometimes, especially when you get tired. And I think that people kind of look at someone, if they all wear drunk or they're this and they're that. But they need to like, I think, think twice about whether someone's actually drunk or whether someone's actually got a disability or a health condition. I remember one person at the cricket when I was in the wheelchair. And he kept me on the shoulder. It was raining outside. He goes, oh, are you all right? because you've got a chair already, aren't you, you mate?

It's almost like, and I turned around to him, and I didn't know really what to say, because if I was quick enough, I would have said something like, well, do you want this chair or something? They need to understand that people in wheelchairs or people who've got these disabilities have struggles a long time

that they don't have to deal with, and other people don't have to deal with. Most people deal with their own difficulties, and what they want is a bit more empathy, I think, and a bit more understanding. And as you said, do your research, do a bit of learning, because everyone's different, you know. People use the word normal a lot.

It's normal, this is normal. Everyone is normal. People are different. Their normal is different. So if everyone has the impression that everyone is normal, that's where your benchmark is. You treat people as normal and you treat them as what they need to have. Because sometimes they need support and sometimes they don't. Some people rush to my support and I say, no, no, no, no, I'm all right.

I'm very independent in that way. Sure. That's great and I'm glad you are. Well, this has been great. Great information, great conversation. I really appreciate you taking the time to join us today. Thank you very much, Tony. Oh, the pleasure's all mine. Thanks again.

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