27/11/2022
MEETING WITH CHILDREN WITH CEREBRAL PALSY AND PARENTS:
Have you imagined how uncomfortable it will be when you’re called as a professional to educate people about cerebral palsy and your presentation looks so disorganized? Yes, it will happen to you when you don’t have specific areas to lay much emphasis. There are some important areas about cerebral palsy you must also talk about more when you are required to educate a particular group on cerebral palsy, otherwise, you may have not carried any relevant information across. This short article highlights some of these areas to you and provide you with a detailed composition of the various areas.
DEFINITION:
The group or the audience must understand the term. Thorough explanation about the condition in a language easy to be understood by the audience must be done. Try your best to use simple terms to break things down for better understanding. For example;
Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of disorders that affect a person’s ability to move and maintain balance and posture. It mostly affects children.
It is believed to occur following accidental interruption in the growth of the developing brain usually believed to occur as a result of temporal deprivation of the brain of adequate amount of oxygen.
Inasmuch as about 85-90% of cerebral palsy cases is congenital, other children get cp after birth sometimes following an infection attack such as meningitis, or head injury. This is termed as acquired cp.
There are other additional things you may want to pinpoint in your explanation but disclosing them to this little but detailed explanation will be enough for them to get the concept. When done, get to know how they think about children with cp by taking about the facts and myths about the cp.
Cerebral Palsy Myths & Facts
1. Myth: Everyone with cerebral palsy is mentally retarded.�Fact: approximately 60% of CP persons have normal or even above normal intelligence. Most of the time, their intelligence is masked by problems in speech and communication.
2. Myth: Everyone with cerebral palsy has a learning disability.�Fact: While some people with CP can have learning disabilities many others with CP do not. They can compete with any difficult exam as other typically growing kids can do
3. Myth: People with cerebral palsy are being punished for their sins.�Fact: Our disability has a medical or physiological cause.
4.Myth: People with cerebral palsy should not be allowed to play physical games because they might get hurt.�Fact: they must be allowed to play physical outdoor games upto their abilities. In fact it improves their will power, function and confidence.
5. Myth: People with CP are possessed by evil spirits.�Fact: Nothing possesses cp child or anybody else. We are simply who we are.
6. Myth: CP is curable by drug or surgery.�Fact: Nothing can cure brain damage. But most of them can be made self-dependent with the right combination of treatment at right age. Therapy is the mainstay of treatment but other latest techniques have an important part to play. Drugs are used only for associated problems like epilepsy.
7. Myth: Cerebral palsy is hereditary.�Fact: Though in some cases the genetic link is there most of the time it is not transferred to the next generation. So it is not a hereditary problem.
8. Myth: Cerebral palsy is contagious.�Fact: Not true. It is not at all transferred from person to person.
9. Myth: Cerebral palsy is progressive.�Fact: The brain damage in cerebral palsy is static and not progressive. Disability can be progressive, regressive or remain static depending upon the quality of rehab & environment.
10.Myth: cerebral palsy is the primary cause of death.�Fact: Cerebral palsy itself never causes any death. Secondary complications can be the cause of death. A nutritional problem, recurrent infection, uncontrolled epilepsy, the cardiopulmonary problem in severely affected patients can be precipitating factor for early death. Ambulatory children can have a normal life as any other person in society.
11. Myth: cerebral palsy occurs because of past sins.�Fact: it is completely wrong. It is a condition occurring because of some insult to immature brain in-utero, at the time birth or till the age of 2 years.
Main Problem and the way forward
Damage to the developing brain could result to many physical problems This damage is not progressive but symptoms can worsen overtime following delayed treatment. Most of the times children with cerebral palsy have problems such as;
1. Involuntary movements and total absent of muscle movement as a result of both spasticity and floppiness respectively.
2. Coordination/Poor coordination
3. Posture
4. Speech/Aphasia
5. Movement or gait problems
6. Cognitive impairment
7. Joints contractures
8. Hearing
9. Vision
10. Intellectual disability
11. Skeletal problems like scoliosis
INTERVENTION
Intervention requires multidisciplinary approach. Many specialists shall be required to provide some special health needs as and when the need arises in the course of treatment. Guardians of the cp child in all circumstances are needed very much in the treatment journey.
Guardians must have positive mind towards the child with cp, clear off all kind of untrue beliefs they hold about their child and be prepared to sacrifice all their time and resources to seek proper care to their child.
As a matter of fact cp children are children with capabilities and possibilities.
More importantly, early care is paramount and remains a key predictor of patient outcome. Guardians are advised to seek early medical care and also adhere to every treatment line prescribed by the expert.
FINANCIAL PART
It is of no doubt that, a condition of this nature is costly. Yes. It is very true. Treatment requires prescription of some specially made devices and indeed these are very expensive. Not only that, some other comorbidities also require drug therapy, which money will be required to provide these drugs on timely basis. It is fortunate that this NGO has absorbed this cost and is ready to pay any money that will be required to get all these.
SOCIAL PART
As many people have misconceptions around cp children, discrimination is one of the social problems children with cerebral palsy are likely to face. A dilemma must be created in your presentation for them to make the right choice.
Possibly use all sort of tactics to clear all wrong misconceptions people hold about cp children and emphasize that, it is not what they think it is but an accidental condition just like stroke occurs.
Assistive AIDS
1.Wheelchair
2.Stroller
3.Walkers
4.Braces
5.Boots/orthotic boot
6. Toilet chairs
7.Bath chairs
8.Standing frames etc.
PHYSIOTHERAPY TO THE WORLD
