Cerebal Palsy limits an individual's cognitive development and motor movements. There are plenty of modalities and rehabilitation therapies available for the patient to help them live their life as normally as possible but there is no cure to prevent the progression of the disorder.
What is Cerebral Palsy?
Cerebral Palsy is not just a condition or disorder limited to a certain part of the body – rather it is part of a group of neurological disorders and disabilities that greatly limits the normal cognitive and physical development of the affected patient.It is said to be the most common of all childhood disabilities, with an occurrence rate of about 1 in every 400 births.
Causes and Features of Cerebral Palsy
Cerebral Palsy occurs due to the underdevelopment or injury to any part, or the whole of the fetus’ brain during pregnancy. The cause might be directly related to the pregnancy, or it might be an internal cause within the brain of the fetus itself, like a head injury, or meningitis, or any of such conditions that might greatly hinder the process of normal brain development within the early years of a child’s life.
Even though the problem might be present at birth, it does not come into notice of the parents until the child is about 2 to 3 years old.The features of cerebral palsy vary from person to person, but some of the common features that come to notice include
- Delayed Development Milestones
- No control over muscular movements
- Noticeable difficulties in feeding and swallowing
- Inability to walk or crawl
- Sloppy or flabby movements
- Inability to speak, or form sentences up to the age of 2 years.
Home Care for Cerebral Palsy Affected Patients
Since cerebral palsy is a life-long condition, it does not mean that there isn’t anything that cannot be done for the people affected with this condition. This is the reason why professional home care services exist - to undertake certain steps to help the children, or growing adults with this condition to live as normally as possible. Some of the services provided by the in-home carers include:
- Physical Therapy: for making everyday movements easier and smoother for the patients who struggle with motor coordination and movements throughout life.
- Emotional Support and Counselling: Children might especially feel left out or lonely when they find that they are different from the other children around them. Under such conditions, this works better than any other therapy. Children need to be reassured and given motivation so that they do not go into depression.
- Support and Assistance: Some carers also provide services of performing daily personal chores for cerebral palsy patients like taking care of their personal hygiene, laundry, meal preparation, etc.
- Speech Therapy: For lifting up the communication barriers and making swallowing and speech better.
So, to conclude, patients with cerebral palsy can be made sure of the fact that they are not any different from the others, in fact, they are just differently-abled and with a little support and care, they can indeed learn to live quite a normal life like the others around them.