Simsbury resident with cerebral palsy shares story of challenges and achievements
- Maria O'Donnell
- 6 days ago
- 7 min read
By Maria G O’Donnell
Staff Writer
Imagine having stiffness and tightness in the limbs on one side of your body, as if they have a mind of their own. Imagine a leg length discrepancy. Imagine needing physical therapy and special devices for life.
Imagine how hard it is, but now imagine pushing through and accomplishing more than you ever dreamed. This is the case for Simsbury resident Brynna “Brynn” Oliver, age 23, diagnosed with cerebral palsy at 5 months, with a condition called “increased muscle tone.” Brynna turned her world of disability upside down: Athlete. Teacher’s Assistant. College grad. A fighter through countless challenges, including a reading comprehension disability. Including difficulty with fine motor skills. Including being bullied in school.
Brynna and her mom Laura Oliver shared the lifetime of teamwork to help Brynna succeed – and exceed – with hurdles in life. Laura admitted, “You have a lot of fear with a child with a disability. It’s very stressful. James (her husband) and I found out it was cerebral palsy at 5 months. We decided to put everything we could into helping her. She wanted a sibling, but we wanted to make sure she had everything she needed. We put everything into one kid.”
Laura remembers taking Brynna on playdates where “I’d cry watching other kids do things Brynna couldn’t. I didn’t know if she ever would. You’re living in the unknown. You give it your all: physical therapy, occupational therapy, neurologist, every specialist, orthotics and devices to help her stand.” Laura is grateful she has had extended family help. Her parents live close by and have been able to take Brynna to appointments and activities if she couldn’t.
And “activities” has been the operative word for Brynna, who noted, “It started with my mom and dad, what sports could I do growing up: horseback riding, gymnastics, yoga, dance, skateboarding, skiing, snowboarding, swimming.”
“Everything we did with Brynna had a purpose,” said Laura. “Let’s put her on a horse; it’ll help her hips and core strength. Or yoga; she needs to stretch. All end goals were to help her body. When she started swimming, that was the one: Wow, you feel free; nothing hurts.”
Brynna agreed, calling swimming one of her “big passions” as it “relaxes muscle tone and gives a sense of freedom.” She had a goal to become a lifeguard, but “it was not an easy task,” she admitted. “I wasn’t strong. I was barely able to do two laps – it felt impossible. The requirements for the lifeguard test pushed me way above my comfort zone.”
She had to be able to swim long distances, dive to the bottom of the pool and retrieve a 12-pound brick, and do CPR with her uncooperative left hand. Although she didn’t pass the test the first time, she reached that goal by the end of 2021. “I was so strong; I passed 100%.”
After shadowing swim instructors at Westminster Swim Center in Simsbury, she became an instructor there herself, teaching group, semi-private, and private lessons. “I fell in love with it and the community around it,” said Brynna.
“They’ve become ‘your people’,” Laura added, coining a phrase Brynna uses when she’s found people she identifies easily with.
That goes for snowboarding, too. At her pool job, Brynna learned about Ski Sundown’s Summit Adaptive Program, a local chapter of Move United, which promotes adaptive sports. She took snowboarding lessons in 2022 and discovered she “really loved” it. Directors and coaches caught on that she had other talents and saw her potential to become a volunteer coach.
“Seeing me on the mountain with other [disabled] athletes, treating them with respect, encouraging and giving them tips – they saw how fast I progressed and saw potential in me. This helped turn me into a volunteer coach,” Brynna said. In 2024, she became a second coach (each athlete needs 2 or 3 coaches). This year, she became a lead coach. “It helps helping others the way I’ve been helped – it’s incredibly meaningful for me.”
Regarding the Summit Adaptive Program, Laura considers it “really special for people with disabilities, of all ages. It’s beautiful to see people who aren’t able to participate in a sport to be so successful. The joy on their faces is phenomenal – it touches your heart. They never thought it was possible.” Once again, Brynna refers to them as “my people.” Laura explained, “They get each other. They understand what it takes.”
Summit Adaptive Program was the springboard for a bit of a surprise for Brynna. Karen Cook, the director of the program, invited Brynna’s family to The Hartford Insurance Co.’s fundraising gala in Oct. 2025 for Summit’s parent organization Move United. A teen boy with spina bifida was invited as well. The two youths thought they were there to share their stories, then were pleasantly surprised when awarded Human Achievement Awards, with Cook having nominated Brynna. She received a $2,500 grant.
Laura noted, “Karen nominated Brynna because she saw how motivated she was to achieve for herself things that were hard, uncomfortable and challenging. She quickly jumped into volunteering to help others based on how others helped her. The award says, ‘You’re doing good things. Keep up the good work.’ It’s beautiful.”
In attendance was Paralympic medalist snowboarder Keith Gabel. Laura recalled, “the two kids sat next to Keith (a below-knee amputee). The kids were blown away. His journey is very inspiring.”
From this event, Brynna was invited to join Move United to the annual Ski Spectacular in Colorado last December. Although she wasn’t able to attend this time, she hopes to go this coming December. She explained, “They do workshops, have a learning portion, or have volunteer and coaching, or a combo of both. I’ll probably lean toward the learning aspect of it, but we’ll see what happens.”
Brynna’s desire to help others extends beyond swim and snowboard lessons and lifeguarding. Currently a teacher’s assistant at Village Nursery School in Farmington, she works with 3- and 4-year-olds, helping out the main classroom teacher. “I love it,” Brynna said, noting that she hopes to get her Bachelor’s Degree and become either a special ed or Kindergarten teacher.
Her own schooling started at Cobb School Montessori till grade 4, then Simsbury Public Schools from grades 5 to 12, where she was in special ed classes all those years. She received her Associate’s Degree from Purdue Global, an Indiana-based online university, and graduated in August 2025.
Outside of working at the school and teaching swim lessons, Brynna dabbles in side businesses, including creating business cards and growing hydrangeas from clippings. With the latter, she refers to the hydrangeas as another passion of hers, influenced by her grandfather and mom, who are gardeners.
“We’d go to Nantucket for vacations, and these flowers are gorgeous in July. I’d take clippings of hydrangeas and make a whole new bush out of it,” Brynna said. She now clips in August and “by January, I take them out of little pots and put them in bigger ones. By May, they’re given out or planted. They’re little ones, this big.” She illustrated with her thumb and forefinger two inches apart.
As a visual learner, she’s talented in arts and crafts and can build LEGOs and most Ikea furniture without instructions.
Laura has witnessed her daughter’s milestones with “pride, happiness and celebration.” Learning to ride a 2-wheel bike alone was a tremendous challenge due to the core strength, balance, and left-side muscle tightness. Laura said, “She was so determined; she had a goal and put her mind to it and achieved her goal. It opens up the world – she can do whatever. When people believe in you and help you, you can achieve your dreams.”
Brynna was about 13 or 14 and learned to bike in the high school parking lot. Her mom recalled, “She did it. The joy on her face! It was quite a thing.” Laura referred to “extreme joy” with other milestones and just “how much effort is required. It’s an extreme emotional rollercoaster and probably always will be. I hope to cheer her zn at the Paralympics.”
Acknowledging that Brynna’s disability could’ve been worse, as with many other extreme cases they’ve seen, Laura said, “We’re grateful hers is what it is. Be grateful for what you have, knowing it could be so much worse.”
Laura’s hopes for her daughter? “I want her to always find ‘her people,’ people who love, support, and understand her; for her to keep chasing her dreams – go snowboarding and swimming with the Paralympics. I’d love for her to have a core set of friends who get her and I want her to be happy and confident.”
And Brynna? She summed, “My story isn’t just about cerebral palsy. It’s about learning how to adapt, how to push through frustration, how to keep trying when things don’t come easily. It’s about finding passion in unexpected places and turning challenges into motivation. I’m still figuring things out. Still growing. Still chasing goals that once felt out of reach. But one thing I know for sure – I’m not done yet.” VL
