Andrew Brereton asked:


The principles behind neuro-cognitive therapy are two-fold. Firstly that children with developmental difficulties experience problems of sensory perception and need the provision of an appropriate ‘neurological environment’ in order to correct these sensory mis-perceptions. Secondly, learning can lead development and no matter how badly affected a child is, if information is presented at the correct level and in the correct manner, any child can learn.

The regime is the brainchild of Andrew Brereton, who himself was the father of a child who suffered profound cerebral palsy and autism. Unfortunately Andrew’s son passed away from a stroke four years ago, but during his life and afterward Andrew has striven to study and become qualified in the areas of child development and cognitive psychology. During his son’s life Andrew gained the his first degree in psychology and child development, later studying in the department of ‘Human communications sciences’ at the University of Sheffield, where he gained post graduate qualifications in ‘Language and Communication Impairments in Children.’ Latterly Andrew gained his Msc in cognitive psychology and child development.

His son’s problems initially motivated Andrew to study as he became tired of the life of his family being controlled by doctors and therapists, who often did not appear to have much of a clue about treating his son. His aim was to amass the knowledge required to free his family from this control, so that they could question the professionals who were treating his son as equals and regain their independence. However, it soon became apparent to Andrew that his studies would become far more meaningful to him than this simple ambition and he began to nurture ideas about helping other children.

Andrew’s quest for knowledge led his family all over the world to various clinics who offered alternative treatments, often against the advice of his son’s medical professionals, some of whom treated the family badly, viewing the families decision to try alternatives as a threat to their competence. Despite the fact that some of the alternative treatments were helpful in helping his son make incredible developmental gains, for instance restoring his vision from being cortically blind, Andrew became disillusioned with many of the proponents of such alternatives after discovering their lack of qualifications in the field. It was at this point that he knew how he must use his own studies to help other children like his son.

Andrew launched Snowdrop earlier this year and has been staggered at the response from families who have children like his son. Within just a few short weeks of the launch Snowdrop is treating children from as far afield as the US, South Africa and Indonesia, in addition to treating children in the UK.

Andrew has also published two books, one on the subject of cerebral palsy and the other concerning autism, which can be obtained through the Snowdrop website.



Grace

Low Jeremy asked:


Cerebral palsy is an umbrella term referring to a group of various conditions thus no two people is alike even though they have similar diagnosis. There are three major classifications of cerebral palsy describing different impairments on movements and reflecting the damage area of the brain. They are Spastic, Athetoid, Ataxic or Mixed.

Spastic cerebral palsy is classified further by topography depending on the affected region of the body. The classifications include hemiplegia affecting one side more than the other, diplegia affecting the lower body more than the upper body and quadriplegia affecting the four limbs equally.

Cerebral palsy is a disorder that is not progressive. An individual’s disorder can improve during childhood when extensive care from specialists is properly given. The injury of the brain is not progressive but adults with cerebral palsy shows signs of functional declines. This includes decrease in motion range, loss of ambulation or increased pain. They also have an accelerated process of aging, arthritis and osteoporosis.

Individuals with cerebral palsy can live independently depending on the severity of disability. Some may require personal assistant providing services on the daily living activities for individuals having cerebral palsy. Survival of individuals with cerebral palsy is associated with the ability to roll, ambulate or self feed.

Cerebral palsy has no cure but different forms of cerebral palsy therapy can help an individual to function more effectively. Standing frames can be incorporated reducing spasticity and improving motion range for people having cerebral palsy using wheelchairs.

The treatment is normally symptomatic focusing on helping the individual in developing possible motor skills and learning how to compensate lack of them. The disorder does not necessarily affect the life span of an individual so the treatment basically lies on improving the quality of life. Research shows that people with cerebral palsy availing the systems like Blissymbols, which is a form of augmentative, and alternative communication system are often successful.

There are also alternative treatments appropriate for cerebral palsy. There is an available not profit organization dedicated for health and development of children having some form of brain damage including children diagnosed with cerebral palsy.

You can ask the help of the Institute for Achievement of Human Potential established in May of 1955 that has helped and treated thousands of children. They claim that a home program with a healthy diet, respiratory programs and clean air can help children with cerebral palsy and neurological problems without the need of medication.



Barbara

Robert asked:


More than thousands of people have been diagnosed with cerebral palsy, with very different circumstances leading to this defect. Cerebral palsy is a physical disorder wherein the motor skills of a person are in defect due to problems in the brain that controls the nerves and the muscles, thus making it a neurological problem. While cerebral palsy is often identified during childbirth, there may be some complications in the pregnancy that may result to this disorder to the child. As a result, the child may manifest some loss of control in their muscles. Depending on the type of disorder that they have, these children may have exaggerated movements of their limbs, may drag one leg, or may have scissored movements. Cerebral palsy currently cannot be cured, but the child can be taught by the parents to adapt to their environment and improve their coping capabilities.

Medications need to be taken in order to cope with this disorder. However, cerebral palsy not only affects a person’s motor skills, but also sets about some complications that may seem minor issues, but may become bigger problems. Oral health is especially one of the most largely ignored areas that may be affected by cerebral palsy.

This may seem strange, but it’s true. People with cerebral palsy tend to have a tinge of green teeth. There are currently no known reasons for this, but there are ways for dentists to change the color. Development of the tooth enamel, which protects the teeth from bacteria, may also be slow or may completely stop prematurely. However, there are artificial enamels that may be set in order to ensure their restoration.

The lack of muscle control may also contribute to some inherent actions that may not be avoided, one of which is continued teeth grinding. Constant teeth grinding can wear them down and may also cause infection, therefore repairs need to be made.

There have been more than one occasion where people with cerebral palsy may get their teeth damaged due to accidents. Dental reconstruction will be able to greatly help in fixing their teeth, and will also put reinforcements to make sure that they will stay strong over time. Although these may continuously need checking up, they at least fortify the teeth and last long.

To cope with this disorder, medications are also often taken to keep the problems in under control or to minimize the possibilities of complications. Because it is non-progressive, a person with this disorder can cope through medication and through getting used to their condition, as well as knowing their limitations. The common medications, however, can highly affect gum growth, resulting to uncontrollable development of the bone and teeth. This may become a serious problem since such an occurrence may make it hard for the person to maintain oral hygiene, resulting to possible bacterial infections. To keep this under control, some gum tissue may have to be removed and smoothened in a simple surgical procedure. The person will be treated only with local anesthesia. Great care must be undertaken so there will be involuntary muscle movement that may result to more damage.

Oral health is an important aspect of our lives, and having a disorder should not stop anyone from getting the best care. Cerebral palsy is a disorder in which many have managed to cope; knowing the best way to prevent oral problems can help maintain order in their lives.





Rita

newwingsfly asked:


My sister who is 40 years old and has had Cerebral Palsy since birth, this is a women who can make you smile and has a great sense of humor but has gotten to a point in her life where she does need help to even move now. She doesn’t have much money and is on Social Security is there a foundation to help her to be able to get help of any kind?

Jill

lildragonlexi asked:


My fiancee and I want to have a baby, but he is worried that his cerebral palsy (mild) will be passed on to the baby and since he is older, he wouldn’t be around to help me raise the baby and also he knows the cruelness and the hard times he had while he was growing up.

Russell

Low Jeremy asked:


Does your baby experience difficulty in controlling his head even after three months? Does he have poor swallowing and ******* reflex? And even after several months, he is still not capable of walking? If your kid suffers form all of these, he might be suffering from cerebral palsy.

What is cerebral palsy? It is a condition wherein a child suffers from inability to move some of the muscles in the body. This is due to the injury in some areas of the brain that controls the movement and muscle tone. The child with this impairment maybe clumsy or awkward, or in severe cases, he might not be able to walk because of the poor muscle tone. It can also be the cause of mental retardation.

Cerebral palsy is incurable. Once your child has it, it is permanent and irreversible but the signs and symptoms can be treated. It depends upon the severity of the impairment. The cerebral palsy treatment is very complicated and more often, it involves multi-disciplinary approach. The cerebral palsy treatment can be easy without mental retardation, hearing loss and visual impairment.

The best cerebral palsy treatment is physical therapy. If your kid’s muscle is weak, your kid might need to do some specific exercises to prevent muscle atrophy because of lack of use. If your kid’s muscles are spastic, some treatments are also required to prevent the result of significant mobility losses.

The physical therapy is done to improve motor development skills and coordination as well. As your kid grows older, he will need to undergo certain training such as behavioral and psychological therapy to be able to improve their coping skills and daily living activities. You can also improve your kid’s ability in speech, visualization and hearing as you let them take specific cerebral palsy treatment that focuses more on the development in these areas.

Your kids will need to take medication to make the cerebral palsy treatment effective. Most of the drugs that will be taken are like muscle relaxing drugs that is injected to relax some of the muscle groups temporarily. Some cerebral palsy patients have involuntary writhing movements so they need to take certain drugs to treat it. If your kid is suffering from seizure, your kid must take anti-seizure drugs to prevent it.

Surgeries are also used as cerebral palsy treatment. These operations will make the short muscles to elongate as well as to reduce the numbers of nerves to lessen its spasticity. Brain implants and surgery are also proven effective cerebral palsy treatment. You will need to ask your kid’s doctor about it.



Jennifer

Kitty asked:


She is 20 years old and in a wheel chair she can use her hands and arms but cant sit up without help also she cannot walk or move her legs. She can speak well tho and often gets bored. She is a new friend of mine I’ve never had a friend with cerebral palsy and I want her to have fun.

Bernard

asked:


My good friend has Cerebral Palsy and it causes him to have very poor balance as well as a speech impediment. I have just recently heard of hyperbaric treatment and I wonder if it is too late for him or could he regain balance and better speech control. Anybody with experience in this?

Gladys

Evan Langsted asked:




The term “Cerebral Palsy” is used to describe a group of disorders that affect a child during the first few years of life. Cerebral palsy can cause muscles to be weak and floppy or rigid and stiff. This condition occurs in 8,000 children born each year. Cerebral palsy is usually caused by a brain injury early in the development of the child. At the present time there is no cure.

Risk Factors for Cerebral Palsy



· Premature birth


· Low birth weight


· Breech birth


· Multiple babies


· Toxic substances


· Mothers health


If the cause of Cerebral Palsy was not congenital there is a possibility that it could have been prevented.

Possible Causes of Cerebral Palsy



If during labor and delivery there were complications that required the use of forceps, vacuum extraction or a cesarean section, it is possible the child was in the birth canal for an extended period of time resulting in lack of oxygen (hypoxia). Hypoxia is thought to be a cause of Cerebral palsy. After the birth, if the child required cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), that is another indication there was an instance of lack of oxygen. Seizures within the first few days of life also indicate there was a neurological problem.

The entire family is challenged when being presented with the care and support of a child diagnosed with this disabling condition. Since there is no cure for Cerebral Palsy the cost for care and treatment of a person with this disorder can easily top more than $1,000,000.00 a year.







Timothy

Craig Rad asked:


The name cerebral comes from the two halves of the brain. The other name of this condition, palsy refers to any disorder that affects the body’s movement. Cerebral palsy conditions are all related to the areas of the brain that are associated with the motor systems that control body movement.

These areas have either been damaged or have been disturbed during their development and caused a disruption in the brain’s ability to control movement and posture. There are several palsy types that are characterized by poor coordination, poor balance and abnormal movement patterns.

Almost all cerebral palsy types are non-progressive except ataxic palsy, which is the most rare and most serious cerebral palsy type. This brain conditions cannot be cured, but it has been shown that through early diagnosis and treatment a child’s capabilities can be considerably improved. It has also been discovered that children suffering of a palsy type is most often than not suffering of other medical disorders like epilepsy, growth problems or even vision or hearing problems.

There are four main palsy types. The most common type is the Spastic cerebral palsy type that covers around 70 to 80 percent of the sufferers and it is characterized by stiffly and permanently contracted muscles. Another palsy type of condition is the Atheoid and it is manifested to about 10 to 20 percent of the sufferers. This condition is characterized by uncontrolled and slaw movements. The most serious cerebral palsy type is the Ataxic one.

The ataxic cerebral palsy is manifested to 5 to 10 percent of children with such disorders and it affects depth perception and balance. The mixed type is usually a mixture of two of the above-mentioned types, most commonly spastic and atheoid. The palsy can also be classified as monoplegic, diplegic, triplegic or quadriplegic, depending on the muscle groups affected.

Atheoid cerebral palsy - This palsy type represents about 10 to 20 percent of the cases of cerebral palsy and it should be noted that the percent used to be much higher. The most common causes of this brain condition would be hyperbilirubinemia or RH incompatibility between the mother and the infant.

The most visible dysfunctions caused by this cerebral palsy type are slow, irregular and involuntary movements that occur at the central line of the limb. Most children suffering from this type of palsy lack stability and symmetry. At children with atheoid cerebral palsy the proper support of the hips and trunk is crucial. It should be noted that these children have a perfectly normal brain development, but most of them have speaking problems because of the slowness in the muscles.

Ataxic cerebral palsy - This type of palsy is characterized by lack of balance and difficulty in performing coordinated voluntary movements. It is a rare form of cerebral palsy but it is very often found as a contributing aspect to other types of cerebral palsy. This condition results from damage to the cerebellum and it affects the limbs, trunk and even eyes. It is very common that children with ataxic cerebral palsy have an uncoordinated walk or gait.

Spastic Cerebral Palsy - This type of cerebral palsy is characterized by lack of control over the arms and legs. The muscles are permanently contracted and that is why movement is very difficult to perform. It is usual that the person suffering from this palsy type to experience pronounced resistance of the muscles after the movement was performed.

Mixed Palsy - This type of palsy is actually a mixture of the other types, its symptoms not fitting into a specific classification. The mixed palsy type usually manifests itself by different types of movement disorders. The most common combination is between the spastic and the atheoid types. In this case the brain has suffered damage in the cerebral cortex and the basal ganglia.



Holly