Every year, around 10,000 children will be affected with cerebral palsy. This is a condition that results from a birth injury, in some cases, and that affects approximately 764,000 people in the United States. Being affected is defined as suffering at least one symptom of cerebral palsy in calculating this figure, according to the advocacy organization United Cerebral Palsy.

Different Types

Dyskinetic cerebral palsy — also called Athetoid cerebral palsy, causes uncontrollable movement in the sufferer. The movements are slow and sustained. Ataxic cerebral palsy affects the balance, to a great extent. The type of cerebral palsy that your child is diagnosed with will determine which treatments they need and what kind of assistive devices they need.

Cerebral palsy stems from damage to the brain. The damage can occur before, during or after the birthing process. What part of the brain is damaged and how determines what types of symptoms the sufferer endures. Each different type can be suffered to a varying degree, as well, and some people have more than one form of cerebral palsy at the same time.

Assistance

The control of the muscles is compromised in some sufferers to an extent that prevents them from being able to take care of themselves in many regards. They may not be able to open and close doors, get up stairways without help and so forth. Other sufferers end up on crutches and can walk around pretty well and some others even end up running marathons. There is tremendous variation in how much individuals are affected by this disorder.

If you’re interested in getting help learning how to be a parent with a child with CP, there are plenty of organizations that you can contact. United Cerebral Palsy has great information on this. You can also go to organizations such as the Centers for Disease Control to learn more general information about the disorder. This is a complex condition, so there is usually more to learn, even for parents that have been helping a child deal with the condition for many years.

Some cases of cerebral palsy are the direct result of medical negligence. If you believe that this was the case in your child coming down with this condition, you should contact a lawyer to discuss the possibility of filing a lawsuit. There are excellent lawyers that work on contingency and who have a lot of experience working on these cases.