Low Jeremy asked:


CP is commonly known as cerebral palsy. This is a condition that is caused by disorders in the motor ability of the child which causes him to act unnaturally and move differently. Cerebral palsy is a serious disorder or injury; however, there is also a form of mild cerebral palsy.

This is mild compared to cerebral palsy. There are a lot of causes that contribute to mild cerebral palsy. Some of the causes are the same as that of cerebral palsy only that, the damages are not that severe. A child with mild cerebral palsy can respond to some actions and situations while a child with severe cerebral palsy may be hard to deal with and they cannot talk at all.

A mild cerebral palsy enables the child to talk and answer back but not too perfect. Scientist has said that there are about thousands of children and infants are diagnosed of mild cerebral palsy. Another thousand of it are diagnosed of severe cerebral palsy. A child with mild cerebral palsy may still have the chance to be cured with series of treatments and physical therapy sessions.

However, it will not take a short time to aim perfect and natural conditions because the neuromuscular system of the child is damages which might require special critical treatments. A child with mild cerebral palsy can still be able to learn things because some of the reflexes are not damaged and are still active.

A child with mild cerebral palsy might even be cured naturally in the years to come but it is however unpredictable. Parents should be very attentive and caring if their child has mild cerebral palsy so that it can be treated. A child’s motor ability is not that affected with mild cerebral palsy and is somehow expected to change dramatically if the child is eager.

Nowadays, researchers and scientists are trying their very best to come up with successful treatments to treat children who are diagnosed of mild cerebral palsy. More and more therapies have been enhanced and studied to fully achieve their goals.

If you have a child who has mild cerebral palsy, do not give up on them because they still have the chance to be cured. All you have to do is to keep them healthy by giving them the right food, getting them into treatment and therapy programs that will enhance their muscular ability and try to teach them as if they were natural healthy children.



Ruby

Hector Milla asked:


“Definition of Cerebral Palsy: This is a disorder of movement and posture which is apparent in the early years. It is due to damage or failure in development of the part of the brain concerned with movement. Adjacent parts of the brain may also be injured and this may lead to poor sight, deafness or other perceptual difficulties. Children with this one may also have learning difficulties. Impairment resulting from cerebral palsy may be very slight or very severe”.

What will you feel if one of your family members is showing the symptoms of cerebral palsy? Will you be in panic? Or rush off to grab a book to read more information about the condition in which babies are typically affected? It is very important to learn about the symptoms of C. P. and its effects to the life of a person that suffers from it.

It is also important to let those people feel the love and care of their love ones. What is really Cerebral palsy? And how can these conditions affects or change the life of a person?

This disease is a condition in which the patient is having an impaired control movement or involuntarily movement of the body. This condition is caused by the damage of the motor areas of the brain that disrupts the brain’s ability to control movement and posture. This only means, that people with c. palsy encounter much difficulty in maintaining balance or posture in walking.

Some patients have difficulty in controlling the muscles of the body. It doesn’t mean that when a person has a cerebral palsy, their symptoms must be the same with other patients having the same conditions. There are lot of symptoms that can be seen in them.

Children or even adults with this one will have a great effect in leading a normal life. They can no longer live their life like everyone else. They cannot write, walk, run, or even go to the school together with their friends but they can go to a special school designed for special people like them.

Loving and caring is the most important aspects for them to be able to survive and continuously live with their love ones. Let them feel that they are important, that they have an important role to lead and play in the society. Give them hope, a chance to live better. Don’t ignore the symptoms. Treating cerebral palsy may be a lifetime battle, but it is all well worth it.



Yolanda

Andrew Brereton asked:


Cerebral palsy has many varied definitions, which have probably confused parents with their ambiguity, lack of clarity and complexity. I know when I first came across the term as a parent; I was confused by the varying definitions. The medical world seems particularly good at generating technical explanations of this sort; - explanations, which precisely because of the embedded technical jargon, parents find inaccessible and worrisome. Let’s examine some of the explanations, all from professionals, which have been passed to us by parents. You will note in the following definitions that the word ‘brain’ is mentioned only once and that is in the form of brain ‘abnormality: -’









· Cerebral palsy is a term used to describe any disorder of movement and posture that results from a non - progressive abnormality of the immature brain.

· A term for a non - progressive impairment of muscular function and weakness of the limbs.

· A loss or deficiency of motor control with involuntary spasms.

· A congenital disease, usually non-progressive and dating from infancy or early childhood, characterized by a major disorder of motor function.

· A condition with various combinations of impaired muscle tone and strength, coordination, and intelligence.









Consider these five definitions: - what strikes you about them? - They are all descriptions of the symptoms of cerebral palsy. Not once is the true cause of cerebral palsy even mentioned. (one even refers to CP as a disease; - Wow!)



What is the cause of cerebral palsy?

The brain is very delicate. Muscles can briefly utilise energy in the absence of oxygen, - the brain cannot. The brain is totally dependent upon its oxygen supply, which it obtains from the blood supply to the brain. A disruption in the blood supply to the brain of just 1 second, will see all the available oxygen in the environment consumed. A 6 second disruption produces unconsciousness. Within minutes, permanent damage is taking place.

The cause of cerebral palsy therefore needs no complicated definition. It is simple and easy to understand. The cause of cerebral palsy is brain–injury. It is that simple! The brain–injury may have occurred in one of many ways; - oxygen starvation at birth, alcohol abuse or abuse of other drugs, infection, jaundice, malnutrition, or one of many other causes. The important and simple thing to remember is that cerebral palsy is caused by brain–injury; in fact, cerebral palsy is an expression of brain–injury.

What do you mean by an expression of brain-injury?

When I speak of cerebral palsy being an expression of brain–injury I am leading you down a path, which will hopefully allow you to see your child’s problems in a new light. Let us take this a little deeper and say that cerebral palsy is also a symptom (or set of symptoms), of brain-injury; - it is the way in which your child’s brain–injury expresses itself. There are other expressions of brain–injury, some of which are used interchangeably with cerebral palsy! I put the idea to you that cerebral palsy is a symptom of brain–injury in exactly the same way that a cough may be a symptom of a chest infection. The only reason for the existence of the term ‘cerebral palsy’ is that it, itself is a convenient marker for specific groups of sub-symptoms; - yes sub-symptoms of brain–injury! These symptoms might include spasticity, athetosis, ataxia, epilepsy, poor visual, auditory and tactile development, impaired motor function, poor language development, difficulties of socialisation, learning difficulties, or many others.

Isn’t this just ‘nit -picking’ over terminology?

No! It is important that this situation is both clarified and simplified. I have misgivings over the continued use of the term ‘cerebral palsy,’ (as I have misgivings over the continued use of many other labels such as ‘autism,’ for example). These are terms, which merely describe the symptoms. I believe it is misleading and overly-complex. It is much easier to understand the concept and the possible ramifications of brain-injury, than it is cerebral palsy. Although for the moment, I will continue to use the term ‘cerebral palsy’ interchangeably with brain-injury, because that is the ‘currency’ in which you have been dealing, I feel it is important that you should be aware of the problem with terminology and how it has encouraged the development of a focus upon symptoms as opposed to the cause.

I believe that in the case of brain-injury the medical world has fallen into the trap of merely trying to offset the worst effects of the symptoms. In some cases, as in the case of epilepsy, controlling symptoms is a necessary step, but this should be done alongside attempts to treat the cause of those symptoms, as in some cases the focus on treating symptoms can have the effect of making them worse.

Consider this example: A child of one of my clients took her son Michael, to see an orthopaedic specialist. Michael’s brain–injury was very severe, he had what the medical establishment calls severe spastic quadriplegia, (again, this is a description of symptoms; - essentially all four limbs were very stiff). Because the excessive stiffness in Michael’s left leg was beginning to distort the limb and would have dislocated it, the orthopaedist decided to place a splint on the leg, to keep it fixed in a flexed position. The splint was left on all day, every day for six months and then Michael was taken back to see the orthopaedist to see how the limb was progressing. When the orthopaedist took the splint off Michael’s leg, he was horrified to find that the rigidity in the leg was no better; in fact, it was a great deal worse! Why was this do you think? Quite simply, it was because the treatment was focused on a symptom and not the cause, which was producing that symptom.

The signals, which Michael’s brain was sending to the leg, were having the effect of making the leg rigid. As far as the brain, in its injured, malfunctioning state was concerned; this was the desired state of affairs. When the orthopaedic consultant placed a splint on Michael’s leg, in order to try to relax it, this sent feedback to the brain that the leg was not in the state, which the brain desired (the brain was trying to keep the leg rigid). Therefore, the brain reinforced the signals, which were making Michael’s leg stiff, so that when the splint was eventually taken off, the stiffness was worse than before! I instituted a programme of vestibular stimulation in order to correct the chemical imbalance in Michael’s lower brainstem, which I thought was causing this problem and within a few weeks, Michael was a more relaxed, more comfortable little boy.

So a primary principle of treatment is, whilst we take note of the symptoms and where they are an imminent threat to the child, we need to see that they are treated, we also concentrate on the cause of those symptoms, the injured brain! The reason those symptoms exist is because brain–injury has prevented the normal developmental processes from taking place, in the brain and consequently in the body. Consequently, to achieve success, we must provide assistance to those normal developmental processes! That is precisely what neuro-cognitive therapy does!





















Aaron

Stacey H asked:


I have 3 daughters ages 7, 5, and 20 months. Eldest with cerebral palsy (can walk with walker and braces but mostly crawls, and doesn’t talk). Husband is in Iraq for 2nd time, 3rd time overseas. Just wondering if there are anymore out there in the same “boat” that I’m in.

Dolores

Andrew Brereton asked:


Parents understandably want their child not only to be able to understand them, but to be able to communicate with them too. Interaction is fundamental to humanity, - in a way I think it defines who and what we are. We are the only species which uses the symbolism of language and when a human being cannot, it causes immense distress. So why does the language and communication development of children with cerebral palsy so often fail? Let’s examine some of the major reasons.

(1). Many difficulties with the development of language and communication begin very early on, when the parents bring the child home from hospital after birth. The parents being so weighed down by the worry and the crippling stress of having to cope with their child’s unexpected problems and reeling from the shock of being informed that their child has this problem known as ‘cerebral palsy,’ do not then interact with their child as they would have done had he been an uninjured baby. They may miss the communicative signals given out by the child and may not supply baby with input appropriate to the development of language. This is no fault of the parents, who are invariably doing a heroic job in caring for their baby’s needs and helping him to survive despite sometimes overwhelming difficulties; - it is merely a set of circumstances produced by the extremely stressful situation in which the parents find themselves.

So, having missed the early communicative opportunities provided by normal parent – child interactions, baby’s language and communicative skills fail to develop. Instead, baby sometimes completely fails to develop a communicative understanding with Mum and Dad, with the consequence that an understanding of language fails to develop. In the absence of an understanding of language, the child also fails to produce language. In other cases, where some appropriate but incomplete interaction has taken place between parents and baby, a partial understanding of language develops, with little or no production of language.





Another reason for the failure of language to develop is because the child is experiencing sensory distortions. The brain injury which produces what we understand as cerebral palsy can adversely affect the functioning of several structures within the brain, which are responsible for the processing of incoming sensory information from the environment. Obviously we all know that successful language development is dependent upon successful auditory development, quite simply if the child’s ability to process sound is poor, then his language development will be poor. - If his ability to process sounds is non – existent, his language development is likely to be non existent. It is quite simply a matter of successful sensory reception leading to successful motor output (language is an output skill after all). - In other words it is a sensory – motor loop, the successful development of the motor part of the loop being dependent upon the successful development of the sensory part of the loop. So if we have a child who hears nothing, we are likely to face NINO situation (Nothing in – nothing out), or if we have a child who is experiencing sensory distrotions, whose hearing is hypersensitive, or hyposensitive, or who is experiencing difficulties in regulating his auditory attention, we could well be facing a CICO situation, (Chaos in, - chaos out).





The third factor which will affect language development is direct injury to the left hemisphere of the cortex, around the regions known as Wernicke’s area (responsible for our ability to understand language) and Broca’s area, (responsible for our ability to produce language). The connotations for injury in these areas is obvious and does not need to be discussed in depth here.





When a child suffers a brain injury, invariably the ability of his brain to process information is slowed down. As a consequence he may simply not be able to process the content of meaning of of interaction quickly enough and if he does, he might be unable to respond quickly enough. This can be very frustrating for a child who is desperately attempting to interact as he quite simply keeps missing his turn and as a consequence, in frustration he may simply stop trying.





The question is, what can we do to assist the language development of the child with cerebral palsy, or other types of brain dysfunction, such as autism, dyspraxia, learning difficulties and specific language impairment?

What we do is to treat these four major factors sequentially.

First of all, we take parents and their child back to the patterns of initial interaction, which they have possibly missed. We teach parents to look for communicative signals given by their child and we teach them how to respond to those signals in order to give encouragement to their child to repeat them and to further expand them. Very often, these simple procedures can ‘kick start’ language development and we can then guide the child through the next stages.

Secondly we address any sensory distortions the child might be experiencing. This might mean the construction of an ‘adapted developmental environment’ as a temporary measure in order that we might train the parts of the brain which are responsible for sensory processing to ‘re-tune’ their activity to a more normal level. Again this can often provide a boost to language development.

The third problem, which involves direct injury to the areas of the brain involved with language comprehension and production can be more problematic, but is certainly not hopeless. The reason these areas of the brain are not functioning correctly is the fact that out of the millions of neural networks involved with these functions have lost cells due to injury. Therefore individual networks are operating without their full complement of brain cells. The effect of this is that they operate less efficiently and language comprehension and production is constrained. We can however use stimulatory techniques to train these networks to operate more efficiently and can utilise the concept of sprouting (dendrites forming new connections, thereby enhancing neural network funtion), and the concept of neurogenesis (the production of new brain cells), in order to encourage neural networks to recruit new cells.

The final problem, the one of slower speed of processing is perhaps the most easily addressed. Quite simply, children must be given more time to process information, more time to plan a response and more time to respond. In this way they will not miss their turn in an interaction and will not withdraw into themselves in frustration at their failure.

If your child has issues with language and communication, or indeed if you are an adult who has suffered a brain injury and you are interested in Snowdrop’s approach to treating language and communication difficulties, go to our website at http://www.snowdrop.cc where you will find our contact details.



Suzanne

Danny Burle asked:


Every parent should know the signs of cerebral palsy. Of course, not every child will have the condition. Those who do also cannot be cured of the disorder. Detecting the condition however, could lead to early therapy and treatment. Having the condition treated early can help improve a child’s ability to cope with life’s challenges.

Waiting for Signs

Cerebral palsy signs aren’t the same for every child. This is because there are various types of the disorder. The signs and symptoms also therefore tend to differ. The time when the first visible signs appear also varies per individual. Some infants may show signs in the first few weeks or months of birth. There are others however, who may only show indications of the disorder after a couple of years. Whether the signs appear early or late, one thing is certain, parents are often the first ones to notice them. It is therefore crucial that parents be vigilant and observant.

Developmental Signs

There are many possible signs of cerebral palsy. The most telling signs however are delays in the natural motor progress of the child. This means that a child with cerebral palsy may not be able to walk, crawl, grasp, sit or smile on the ages which he normally should. Be careful though. Not every delayed child has cerebral palsy. That is why observations of motor abilities are always paired with other diagnostic factors.

In general, there are specific motors skills that develop on certain months after birth. From 3-6 months, a child should gradually be able to gain control of its neck. He will also learn to crawl and sit with some assistance. By the age of 1, a child will begin to stand on his own, walk with some help and grasp objects with his hands. By the age of two, a child should be able to walk by himself, pick toys, pull and push and seat himself.

A child who is unable to accomplish these developmental tasks may be showing signs of cerebral palsy. Add to this the appearance of other possible signs and symptoms such as scissors gait, tremors, drooling, lack of movement coordination and lack of balance.

Muscle Tone

Aside from developmental clues, a child’s muscle tone should also be checked. A baby with the disorder could have very soft or floppy muscles or very rigid ones. It is possible that babies may initially have floppy muscles that become rigid. If you are not sure about the right feel of infant muscle tone, you have to ask your child’s pediatrician.

Reflexes

Doctors also check reflexes aside from muscle tone. There are certain primitive reflexes that should only be present in infants. Their presence in older babies and children could be signs of cerebral palsy. One common example is the Moro reflex. A baby on its back with the legs tilted up would raise its arms in a seeming embrace. This reflex disappears after six months or so. Those who retain this reflex should be checked further for cerebral palsy.

There is no reason to believe that you should watch for signs of cerebral palsy. Your child may never have the condition at all. It still pays however, to be extra watchful and prepared for any eventualities.



Cynthia