Cerebral Palsy

Cerebral Palsy also known as (CP)  is a disability that affects many people and their families. While it is not a life threatening disability it can be a tough one to deal with and adapt to for the person who has it and the family members. This disability affects the brain and the motor skills of the individual who is born with it. I persoanlly have a connection to this disability, due to the fact my younger cousin has CP as well as a couple of my good friends. By definition the term cerebral palsy is a group of neurological disorders that appear in infancy or early childhood and permananetly affect body movement, muscle coordination and balance. While going through the webquest students should be able to have a better undertstand about what this disability is and how it affects the person who has it but also how it should never hinder someone from their capaibilites throughout life. 

According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, while CP is something that is not curable and someone is born with, a lot of the people that it affects do not start showing signs of it until a few months after birth, and even a few years such as 3 years of age. The typical signs of CP include stiffness of the muscles which make it hard to utlilize certain limbs, as well waslking with one foot or leg dragging. Another health issue that can occur for those who have CP are chronic siezures, hearing loss or imparied vision. 

As mentioned previously, while this is a disability that cannot be cured, there are ways that it can be treated to help the individual affected, adapt to certain ways of life easier with this disability. It is said by medical professionals that it is of course best to seek treatment as early as possible and these treatments include physical therapy as well as surgerious on on the affected muscles. Speech therapy's are also helpful and children affected by CP will have to understand that they are going to have to be on medication for the remainder of their life. These medications will be helpful in controlling seizures that some with CP will experience throughout their life.  

Many need to understand that there are many forms of CP and with these different degrees of CP, each individual is different and has different experiences with CP. Many people with CP end up not being drastically affected by this disabaility and live a pretty normal life and are able to adapt and learn the same others (attend traditional school settings), and have high intelligence skills. It truly depends on the resources that are availiablity to the individual and if they are able to receive all the things that allow them to thrive as a person and remain helathy throughout their life. On the other hand, there are those who have a severe CP that need chronic assistance because they cannot even walk and are bound to a wheelchair for the rest of their life. 

In conclusion, this information should have been informative to the extent that you may have learned something new about a disability you were aware of or not aware of at all. Those with CP do not wish to subjected to their disability, because lets be honest, who with a disability wants to be subjected to their disability? Anyone can be affected by CP simply because it is something that is not hereditary and is simply the unfortunate process of a lack of brain development during a pregnancy. It is also important for parents of children to understand that because this disability is not herediatry and just highly unfortunate, that they are not at blame for the occurance of the diability.