Michael Kutcher, youngest of the two brothers and a son to their father’s second wife, was often left in charge when his brother Ashton would use up all family funds on extravagant purchases.
“It made sense that I had cerebral palsy,” he told CNN in an interview with Piers Morgan 10 years after it happened. “That is what happens when you’re born into this world.”
“I was very angry. Very angry. I remember speaking to him about it,” Michael, now 43, told Today Parents on Thursday. “I didn’t want to be the face of CP. I never talked about it.”
Michael, who was diagnosed cerebral palsy when he was 3 years old and has had to fight for a more equal life ever since, says that the people in his life have done him “the biggest favor they’ve ever done” by allowing him to be himself. He credits Chris- now going under Ashton’s first name – as being one of those individuals with helping turn around this part of his journey after Michael learned about what it meant to be autistic later on.
Michael still remembers how angry he used to get at times from having such limited opportunities living with Cerebral Palsy but all that changed once things finally started changing and getting better for both sides involved because their family friend turned out not only able but willing enough too
“My brother’s daily actions remind me that life isn’t about running around challenges — it’s about running through them,” Ashton told Today. “Mike has a relentless work ethic and a deep compassion for others.”
Michael talks about how he’s always been bullied for his disorder and Ashton would often stand up for him. One time, a group of kids started calling Michael the “R” word when they were out biking but Ash stood up to them in order to stop what was going on.
In the interview, Michael shared how he was bullied for his disorder and about times when Ashton defended him. For example, one time a group of boys started calling Michael “retard” while they were biking together because someone had called them that word too.
“My brother picked a fight with them. He stood up for me. He wanted them to treat me with respect,” Michael recalled. “And that meant a lot.”
A spokesperson for the Cerebral Palsy Foundation and advisor at Joshin, Michael is one of two children with disabilities to speak on behalf of his family. “Most of the time they’d say yes, but sometimes they’d say no and Chris would go ‘well then I’m not coming,'” he says about sleepovers. He had been invited by friends who knew that Ashton wanted him there as well when it was made clear that without both kids present, nobody else could attend either.”
