What is Cerebral Palsy?
Atchison and Diette (2012) define cerebral palsy (CP) as a grouping of clinical syndromes that affect movement, muscle tone, and coordination as a result of an injury or lesion of the immature brain. It is a developmental disability that occurs early in life that interferes with motor and sometimes cognitive skills. Children and adults with CP perform well academically and vocationally without any cognitive deficits, which is associated to encephalopathy (permanent/unchanging damage of the brain which includes mental impairment and learning disabilities).
The following are defined as the characteristics seen in children with cerebral palsy:
Every individual with cerebral palsy is unique with varying degrees of impairment. One individual may require constant care and another may live independently or require very minimal assistance. This all depends on the severity of the injury and timing of injury.
The categories listed beneath the cerebral palsy bar tool are informative segments organized and adapted from Atchison & Diette (2012). Additional information is provided for readers which include links from grey literature, database articles, and YouTube.
The following are defined as the characteristics seen in children with cerebral palsy:
- Injury to the brain occurs when the brain is still developing; anytime before birth, during birth, or after birth (typically 2-3 years) periods,
- Once the initial insult to the brain has occurred there is no progression of the condition nor is their further nervous system damage.
- A disorder in sensorimotor development is present, manifested by abnormal muscle tone and stereotypical patterns of movement. A range in impairment severity is from mild to severe.
- The sensorimotor disorder must originate from the brain. Nerves and muscles are normal. However, cardiac or orthopedic deficits can result in postural and movement abnormalities not classified as CP.
- It is a permanent disability. Some premature babies may resolve posture and movement abnormalities by the age of one. For children with CP these difficulties are lifelong.
Every individual with cerebral palsy is unique with varying degrees of impairment. One individual may require constant care and another may live independently or require very minimal assistance. This all depends on the severity of the injury and timing of injury.
The categories listed beneath the cerebral palsy bar tool are informative segments organized and adapted from Atchison & Diette (2012). Additional information is provided for readers which include links from grey literature, database articles, and YouTube.
References
Atchison, B. & Diette, D. (2012). Conditionals in Occupational Therapy: Effect on Occupational Performance (4th Ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins