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Cerebral Palsy
Introduction
Cerebral Palsy is a disorder of movement and posture appearing in early years of life. It is caused by damage to or lack of development in, a small part of the brain controlling movement and posture. It has described as a lively mind in a disobedient body. The term cerebral palsy covers a wide range of types and severity of disability. Some people are so mildly affected that there may be no obvious disability: others maybe very seriously handicapped. Often the damage to or lack of development in, the areas of the brain causing cerebral palsy also affects other parts of the brain, resulting in other types of disabilities, such as mental handicap, visual impairment and loss of sensation.
Main Characteristics
Cerebral Palsy is a disorder affecting nerve supply of the muscles. There are three types of cerebral palsy:
1) If a certain part of the cortex or outer layer of the brain is damaged, spasticity is caused. The child with spasticity has tight muscles which reduce the ability to control movement, and this results in weakness. Spastic cerebral palsy is only one type of cerebral palsy albeit most common. It is thus inaccurate to refer to all people with cerebral palsy as ‘spastics’.
2) If the basal ganglia [situated bellow the cortex and in the middle of the brain] are affected, athetosis results. Features of athetosis include frequent involuntary movement which mask and interfere with normal movement of the whole body. These involuntary movements occur all the time the person is awake, especially when attempts are made to make a conscious movement.
3) When cerebellum [which is at the base of the brain] is affected the child has ataxia, which causes lack of balance and poor co-ordination.
Cerebral palsy may involve one limb [monoplegia]; both the lower limbs [paraplegia]; upper and lower limbs on one side [hemiplegia]; mainly the lower limbs, but the upper limb to some extent [diplegia]; or all four limbs [quadriplegia or tetraplegia].
There may be many different associated handicaps, the commonest being speech and language difficulties, which affect almost half of those with cerebral palsy. Hearing loss, visual defects, sensational loss, convulsions, oral problem such as in swallowing or drooling, and learning difficulties may also be experienced.
