Cerebral Palsy Resources

One in every 500,000 babies in the United States is born with cerebral palsy. Worldwide some 15 million people suffer from this disorder. Cerebral palsy is known to affect voluntary and involuntary muscle control and movement. Additionally, it can also cause problems in muscle tone and motor skills. Since muscle control is an important aspect in normal lives, not being able to control movement and muscle can cause further damage like hearing, vision, speech. Furthermore, patients with cerebral palsy will have a hard time learning and growing normally.

There is still no cure for cerebral palsy; patients can rely on treatment like therapy and use of special equipment. Since cure is still not possible, a lot of families will need all the help that they can get regarding this disorder.

Understanding Cerebral Palsy

One of the most important help that most patients and their families can receive is to understand more about cerebral palsy. This is a disorder that causes brain damage and permanent physical condition affecting the brain and other body movements.

Most of the time cerebral palsy can be diagnosed in the first 12 18 months of a childs life. This is because movement milestones cannot be simply reached at this age. Babies who are at risk with cerebral palsy are those born before full term as well as those who have low birth weight.

To date aside from having no cure, there is still no pre-birth test to detect cerebral palsy in fetus. This makes this disorder even more difficult for parents to be.

There are several reasons why a person can develop or have cerebral palsy. It can be congenital, or caused by problems that developed during pregnancy. Cerebral palsy can also be caused by unavoidable accidents during labor or delivery. While for babies who are already born normal injury, trauma, infection, and other diseases can cause brain damage. Newborn babies up to 5 years of age are at risk of developing cerebral palsy.

Cerebral Palsy Resources

There are plenty of areas where people can know something about cerebral palsy. Because of the number of incidence of cerebral palsy patients continuously grows, there are plenty of support groups that built to aid cerebral palsy patients as well as their families.

Parents with children suffering from cerebral palsy will find a lot of information on the Internet. The World Wide Web is a great resource for different questions about this kind of disorder. The Internet will also provide information about local support groups for families with cerebral palsy patients.

United Cerebral Palsy Associations (UCP) a group based in the United States that provides support for families with cerebral palsy patients. UCP have local chapters across the US to provide different services and assistance for people with cerebral palsy.

Parent Training and Information Center Also based in the United States this organization have different chapters and offices in different states. They provide assistance to children with disabilities and helps in providing different resources for children with cerebral palsy.

National Information Center for Children and Youth with Disabilities – NICHCY provides assistance for families with children who suffer from cerebral palsy. They provide different resources for educational and occupational therapy of these children.

Department of Education – the Department of Education in most developed countries are willing to help families by offering services for children who have learning disabilities. They usually offer different information about individualized educational programs that are designed for children suffering from this disorder.

There are plenty of other services and support group for children with cerebral palsy. Start with your area or search for local groups supporting this cause.