A TEENAGER with cerebral palsy has spoken of how her blog helped her turn "obstacles into opportunities."

Chloe Tear has been presented with the Prince Henry's Association Award for Service to Community and School.

That was in recognition of her efforts to raise awareness of cerebral palsy through writing and her campaigning work against disability hate crime.

Chloe, a 17-year-old pupil at Prince Henry's Grammar School, in Otley, said: "Writing has also allowed me to turn obstacles into opportunities.

"When I was diagnosed with mild cerebral palsy at the age of seven I never thought I would be so confident about it, never mind write a blog for the world to read.

"I set up Life as a Cerebral Palsy Student in 2013 and have not looked back.

"Blogging had been something that had interested me but it was only during an ICT lesson - when we were designing websites - that it became a reality.

"As well as gaining confidence from it, my blog has been a valuable tool to connect with other teenagers who have CP, something I had never done before.

Chloe, who will begin studying Psychology and Child Development at Leeds Trinity University later this year, begins her blog by introducing herself as "a high school student with a twist".

She goes on to describe how she was born eight weeks early and how her condition - cerebral palsy describes a group of permanent movement disorders - affects her left side.

Chloe's blog can be found at www.cpstudentblog.blogspot.co.uk .