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Cerebral Palsy
- What is cerebral palsy and what causes it?
- What are the symptoms of cerebral palsy?
- How is it diagnosed?
- What is the prognosis?
- What is the risk for other family members or future babies?
- What treatments/therapies/medications are recommended or available?
- How will my child and our family be impacted?
- My child has a diagnosis of cerebral palsy and his legs have continued to get stiffer despite braces. I thought that cerebral palsy wasn't progressive?
- Will hyperbaric oxygen help my child with CP?
- Resources
What is cerebral palsy and what causes it?
What are the symptoms of cerebral palsy?
- Muscle tightness or spasticity
- Disturbance in gait or mobility
- Involuntary movement
- Difficulty in swallowing and problems with speech
- Difficulty in feeding
- Impairment of sight, hearing or speech
- Abnormal sensation and perception
- Seizures
- Difficulty with bladder and bowel control
- Intellectual disability
- Learning disabilities
- Problems with breathing due to postural difficulties
- Skin disorders due to pressure sores
- Spastic cerebral palsy characterized by muscle stiffness and permanent contractions
- Spastic diplegia characterized by more significant impairment in the lower extremities
- Spastic hemiplegia characterized by one side of the body affected much more than the other, and usually the arm more than the leg
- Spastic quadriplegia characterized by whole body involvement
- Athetoid or dyskinetic cerebral palsy characterized by uncontrolled, slow, writhing movements
- Ataxic cerebral palsy characterized by poor coordination and balance
- Mixed cerebral palsy characterized by features from more than one type
How is it diagnosed?
What is the prognosis?
What is the risk for other family members or future babies?
What treatments/therapies/medications are recommended or available?
How will my child and our family be impacted?
My child has a diagnosis of cerebral palsy and his legs have continued to get stiffer despite braces. I thought that cerebral palsy wasn't progressive?
Will hyperbaric oxygen help my child with CP?
Resources
Information & Support
Cerebral Palsy
Assessment and management information for the primary care clinician caring for the child with cerebral palsy.
Care Notebook
Medical information in one place with fillable templates to help both families and providers. Choose only the pages needed to keep track of the current health care summary, care team, care plan, health coverage, expenses, scheduling, and legal documents. Available in English and Spanish.
For Parents and Patients
CP Information (MedlinePlus)
Information for families that includes description, frequency, causes, inheritance, other names, and additional resources;
from the National Library of Medicine.
CP Information (American Academy for Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine)
Professional association with information for providers and families.
Cerebral Palsy Information Page from the NIH
A short description of CP; National Institutes of Health.
Cerebral Palsy Guidance
A website offering guidance and assistance to parents of a child with cerebral palsy. Topics include Cerebral Palsy, Financial
Assistance, Living with Cerebral Palsy.
Services for Patients & Families in Idaho (ID)
Service Categories | # of providers* in: | ID | NW | Other states (5) (show) | | NM | NV | OH | RI | UT |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Audiology | 3 | 19 | 8 | 4 | 25 | 28 | ||||
Bone Densitometry/DEXA | ||||||||||
Developmental - Behavioral Pediatrics | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 9 | ||||
Early Intervention for Children with Disabilities/Delays | 3 | 35 | 32 | 3 | 14 | 55 | ||||
Educational Testing/Assessment | 2 | 2 | 7 | |||||||
Gynecology: Pediatric/Adolescent; Special Needs | 1 | 3 | 12 | |||||||
Head Start/Early Head Start | 1 | 7 | 58 | 2 | 19 | 32 | ||||
Medical Genetics | 1 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 8 | ||||
Neuropsychiatry/Neuropsychology | 1 | 5 | 9 | 9 | ||||||
Nutrition Assessment Services | 3 | 1 | 2 | 5 | ||||||
Pediatric Dentistry | 2 | 6 | 31 | 3 | 41 | 50 | ||||
Pediatric Endocrinology | 1 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 13 | 4 | ||||
Pediatric Gastroenterology | 1 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 19 | 4 | ||||
Pediatric General Surgery | 4 | 5 | 4 | 2 | ||||||
Pediatric Neurology | 5 | 5 | 17 | 7 | ||||||
Pediatric Neurosurgery | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | ||||
Pediatric Ophthalmology | 1 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 8 | 4 | ||||
Pediatric Orthopedics | 4 | 6 | 8 | 4 | 16 | 19 | ||||
Pediatric Otolaryngology (ENT) | 1 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 7 | 10 | ||||
Pediatric Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 14 | ||||
Pediatric Pulmonology | 4 | 4 | 8 | 4 | ||||||
Pediatric Urology | 13 | 1 | 3 | |||||||
Sleep Disorders | 2 | 2 | ||||||||
Sleep Studies/Polysomnography | 2 | 1 | 5 | |||||||
Special Education/Schools | 3 | 82 | 9 | 4 | 38 | 44 | ||||
Vision Screening | 4 | 9 | 18 | 7 | 7 | 18 |
For services not listed above, browse our Services categories or search our database.
* number of provider listings may vary by how states categorize services, whether providers are listed by organization or individual, how services are organized in the state, and other factors; Nationwide (NW) providers are generally limited to web-based services, provider locator services, and organizations that serve children from across the nation.
Studies
CP Clinical Trials (ClinicalTrials.gov)
Studies looking at better understanding, diagnosing, and treating this condition; from the National Library of Medicine.
Authors & Reviewers
Author: | Lynne M. Kerr, MD, PhD |
Page Bibliography
Pérez-Gaxiola G.
Hyperbaric oxygen did not improve symptoms in children with cerebral palsy.
Arch Dis Child Educ Pract Ed.
2013;98(5):198.
PubMed abstract