Classifying & Staging Cerebral Palsy

It is estimated that nearly 8,000 children born each year are diagnosed with some form of cerebral palsy. While many are not diagnosed initially after birth, the complications of CP are often quite evident by the time the child reaches age one.

For children who are diagnosed with cerebral palsy, the degree to which complications are persistent can be quite varied. From complications associated with full physical and mental impairment, to children who exhibit only minor complications involving loss of vision, loss of hearing or loss of pain perceptions.

If your child has recently been diagnosed with cerebral palsy, it is important to understand the complications your child experiences may be quite varied from that of other children diagnosed with CP. In fact, for each child diagnosed with cerebral palsy, the healthcare team will need to tailor a care program that will involve restoring functionality as much as possible as there is no cure for your child's condition. In other words, the focus of your child's healthcare team will be to improve independence and mobility, even when no cure is available.

Physical therapy will become mainstay in your home and part of your daily and weekly routine. Using Ashworth Scale, your child's muscle spasticity can be accurately measured. Your child will need to be engaged in not only a home exercise program but also in a structured program that will involve transportation to and from a physical therapy location.

In addition to physical therapy, your child's healthcare team will create a classification of CP, specific to your child's gross motor functions and movements. The classifications are usually re-assessed every two years, beginning with age two. Categorized into one of five categories, your child's gross motor skills are assessed, which aides in tailoring the physical and occupational therapy programs specific to your child's age group.