Preloading

The Man Who Taught Comedian Maysoon Zayid That Her Cerebral Palsy Was a Gift

Season 1 Episode 108
Aired on 03/22/2015 | CC tv-pg
Comedian Maysoon Zayid was diagnosed with cerebral palsy after she lost oxygen during birth. Doctors told her parents she would never walk, but Maysoon's father had other ideas. "My dad comes up with this idea, and he decides that he's going to put my feet on his feet," she says. "So, like, my back is to his belly. My feet are on his feet, and he just starts walking. And that's how I learned to walk, standing on my dad's shoes."

Maysoon says she believes that she and her father were meant to be together. "I believe very deeply in my soul that God paired me and my father purposely and that he knew that my father would give me the strength to be a person with disability that was proud, always held her head high and was never, ever bitter," she says. "He was the one who taught me that my disability is not a curse. It was a gift from God. He knew as a team that my dad and I could maybe change the world."

In the video above, Maysoon reflects on growing up in New Jersey with a loving family and how she was never made to feel different.

More from this episode