What is Cerebral Palsy?

• One in 400 children born in Australia has cerebral palsy.
• About 34,000 Australians have cerebral palsy.
• In any year, cerebral palsy is more common than cancer, strokes, eating disorders, appendicitis and road traffic accidents.
• Many causes are unknown, although it is believed to be associated with injury or changes to the developing brain.
• Cerebral palsy becomes visible early in life and is a permanent condition.
• The severity of cerebral palsy varies from person to person, depending on the area of the body affected and the type of impairment.

Although classification is complex, types of cerebral palsy are based on which part of the body is affected and the type of impairment.

• Diplegia - Both legs and both arms are affected, but the legs are significantly more affected than the arms. Children with diplegia usually have some clumsiness with their hand movements.
• Hemiplegia - The leg and arm on one side of the body are affected.
• Quadriplegia - Both arms and legs are affected. The muscles of the trunk, face and mouth can also be affected.

CP (cerebral palsy) can be grouped into three main types: spasticity, dyskinesia (often referred to as athetosis or dystonia) and ataxia. There are also a small number of cases hypotonia.

Fine motor skills

People with cerebral palsy can experience difficulty with hand control, affecting their ability to write with a pen or pencil, cut with scissors or cook. When handwriting, a person with cerebral palsy may be unable to keep the paper steady, set out work or complete work within a specific time. Difficulty with hand control also impacts on the ability to perform some self-care and daily living tasks.

Gross motor skills

Children with cerebral palsy may experience difficulty with movement and postural control that can affect the way they sit or move around a classroom, causing them to tire easily. As adults, this may also impact the physical requirements they need in the workplace.

Mobility

Each person with cerebral palsy is different, and require different levels of mobility support. Some people may not need any mobility equipment to navigate daily life, while others may require physical supports such as Ankle Foot Orthoses (AFOs), walking frames or sticks, a mixture of walking aids or a wheelchair. 

People with cerebral palsy may experience difficulties in the areas of attention, motor planning and perception. These may impact on developing literacy and numeracy skills.

A short attention span

Individuals may be more easily distracted and/or unable to concentrate for as long as their peers.

Motor planning difficulties

Individuals know what they want to do, but have difficulty understanding how to do it. Learning tasks can take more effort, concentration and energy. They might have difficulty with transferring skills between environments. They may do some tasks automatically, but when requested to do something or under pressure to perform, may have difficulty completing the task. They often seem to rush into activities without planning the stages required in order to complete them.

Perceptual difficulties

Perception is the ability to make sense of information gained from the senses. This enables individuals to do things such as move around obstacles, find their way, judge size and shape of objects and understand how lines are connected to form letters. Perceptual difficulties impact on learning in all areas of development and have a major impact on learning literacy and numeracy.

Cerebral palsy can cause communication difficulties, with one in four people with cerebral palsy unable to speak or express themselves verbally. If the muscles around the mouth and tongue are difficult for the individual to control, they may find that they are unable to form audible words or speech. 

People with cerebral palsy can also experience difficulties understanding spoken and written language, for example; following instructions, understanding concepts and reading. They may have difficulty expressing themselves through language, even though they can speak. For example, people with cerebral palsy may struggle making a choice or request, naming objects or finding the words they need.

Volume control may also be affected as a result of the impact on the muscles involved in respiration.

Individuals with cerebral palsy can experience difficulty eating, drinking and swallowing due to problems with controlling and coordinating the muscles of the mouth and pharynx (throat). Saliva control can also be an issue, with loss of saliva often becoming more noticeable when person is concentrating on a motor task.