Mixed Cerebral Palsy When Muscle Tone example essay topic

Cerebral Palsy According to the website. coal / geo cities. org, I found some valuable information to help me with my report about in students. This website was almost like a tutorial that walked step by step through the disability, causes, and treatments. I found that in definition the words Cerebral Palsy are used to describe a medical condition that affects control of the muscles. Cerebral means anything in the head and palsy refers to anything wrong with control of the muscles or joints in the body.

If someone has cerebral palsy it means that because of an injury to their brain (that's the cerebral part) they are not able to use some of the muscles in their body in the normal way (that's the palsy part). Children who have cerebral palsy, or CP, may not be able to walk, talk, eat or play in the same ways as most other kids. I also learned that CP is not a disease or illness. It isn't contagious and it doesn't get worse, but it is not something you 'grow out of. ' Children who have CP will have it all their lives. Cerebral palsy is caused by an injury to the brain before, during, or shortly after birth.

In many cases, no one knows for sure what caused the brain injury or what may have been done to prevent the injury. Sometimes injuries to a baby's brain happen while the baby is still in the mother's womb (prenatal). The injury might be caused by an infection or by an accident in which the mother is hurt. If a mother has a medical problem such as high blood pressure or diabetes, this can also cause problems in the baby. There may be problems during birth such as the baby not getting enough oxygen, or a difficult delivery in which the baby's brain is injured. Problems after birth may happen when a baby is born too soon (premature delivery) and his body is not ready to live outside his mother's womb.

Even babies born at the right time can have infections, or bleeding in their brain which causes a brain injury because the brain is still developing even after birth. The most important thing to remember is that you do not 'catch' CP from another person, and you do not develop CP later in life. It is caused by an injury to the brain near the time of birth. Children with CP have damage to the area of their brain that controls muscle tone. Depending on where their brain injury is and how big it is, their muscle tone may be too tight, too loose, or a combination of too tight and loose. Muscle tone is what lets us keep our bodies in a certain position, like sitting with our heads up to look at the teacher in class.

Changes in muscle tone let us move. In this website I also learned that there are several types of CP. I wrote the different types below to help understand each one individually. 1. Spastic Cerebral Palsy If muscle tone is too high or too tight, the term spastic is used to describe the type of cerebral palsy. Children with spastic CP have stiff and jerky movements because their muscles are too tight.

They often have a hard time moving from one position to another or letting go of something in their hand. This is the most common type of CP. About half of all people with CP have spastic CP. 2. Ataxic Cerebral Palsy Low muscle tone and poor coordination of movements is described as ataxic CP.

Kids with ataxic CP look very unsteady and shaky. They have a lot of shakiness, like a tremor you might have seen in a very old person, especially when they are trying to do something like write or turn a page or cut with scissors. They also often have very poor balance and may be very unsteady when they walk. Because of the shaky movements and problems coordinating their muscles, kids with ataxic CP may take longer to finish writing or art projects.

3. Athetoid Cerebral Palsy The term is used to describe the type of cerebral palsy when muscle tone is mixed - sometimes too high and sometimes too low. Children with CP have trouble holding themselves in an upright, steady position for sitting or walking, and often show lots of movements of their face, arms and upper body that they don't mean to make random, involuntary movements. These movements are usually big.

For some kids with CP, it takes a lot of work and concentration to get their hand to a certain spot (like to scratch their nose or reach for a cup). Because of their mixed tone and trouble keeping a position, they may not be able to hold onto things like a toothbrush or fork or pencil. About one-fourth of all people with CP have CP. 4.

Mixed Cerebral Palsy When muscle tone is too low in some muscles and too high in other muscles, the type of cerebral palsy is called mixed. About one-fourth of all people with CP have mixed CP. After learning the different types of CP, I read on to learn that children with CP will more than likely have problems that effect more than just their muscle tone. I have listed these problems below: 1.

Quadriplegia When a child shows CP in all four of their limbs -- both arms and both legs, it is called quadriplegia. Quad means four. Usually kids with quadriplegia have trouble moving all the parts of their bodies; their face and trunk as well as their arms and legs, and may need a wheelchair to get around. Because of the problems controlling the muscles in their face and upper body, they also have trouble talking and eating.

2. Hemiplegia Hemiplegia means that the CP affect one side of the child's body. Hemi means half, so the right arm and leg or the left arm and leg are affected. The other side of the child's body works just fine. Many kids with hemiplegia are able to walk and run, although they may look a little awkward or have a limp. 3.

Diplegia Some children have CP just in their legs or much more severe in their legs than in their arms. This is called diplegia. Di means two, so in diplegia only the two lower limbs are affected. As you probably can guess, the difficulty for children with diplegia is using their legs, so walking and running may be hard for them. Because their upper bodies are usually not affected they have good ability to hold themselves upright and good use of their arms and hands. You may wonder whether anyone ever has CP in their arms but not their legs.

This happens sometimes, but it is very, very rare. Children with CP often go to different kinds of therapy to help them improve their motor skills for things like walking, talking and using their hands. Some kids get therapy at school and some kids go to a special clinic to see their therapists. Therapists are special teachers who are trained to work with people on learning better or easier ways to do things. Just like a coach who helps you learn and practice new skills to make you a better soccer or basketball player, therapists 'coach' people to help them learn and practice new skills. Physical Therapy Physical therapists help children learn better ways to move and balance.

They may help children with CP learn to walk, use their wheelchair, stand by themselves, or go up and down stairs safely. Kids may also work on fun skills in physical therapy like running, kicking and throwing a ball, or learning to ride a bike. Physical therapy is usually called 'PT' for short. Speech and Language Therapy Speech therapists work with children on communication skills. Communication skills may mean talking, using sign language, or using a communication aid. Children who are able to talk may work with a speech therapist on making their speech clearer (easier to understand) or on building their language skills by learning new words, learning to speak in sentences, or improving their listening skills.

Children who are not able to talk because of their difficulty controlling the muscles needed for speech may learn sign language or use some kind of communication aid. A communication aid might be a book or poster with pictures that show things the person might want, or an alphabet board that the person can use to spell out their message. There are also computers that are used as communication aids that actually talk for the person! Occupational Therapy Occupational therapists usually work with children on better ways to use their arms, hands, and upper body. They may teach children better or easier ways to write, draw, cut with scissors, brush their teeth, dress and feed themselves, or control their wheelchair. Occupational therapists also help children find the right special equipment to make some everyday jobs a little easier.

Recreational Therapy Recreational therapists help kids with CP have fun! They work with children on sports skills or other leisure activities. In recreational therapy kids may work on dance, swimming or horseback riding. So in conclusion, just by taking a few minutes on the computer I was able to access all the information I needed for Cerebral Palsy. I have found out information that I would have never known unless I tried. Children with CP are normal people just like you and me, but by me taking the time to find out more about their disability, I will know how to better assist them as a special education teacher in the future.