About Cerebral Palsy

Children with cerebral palsy have damage to that part of their brains that control movements.  This means that from when they are born they lack the ability to learn to hold themselves steady and move in purposeful ways.

If they have physiotherapy or occupational therapy from very early in their lives they can be helped to hold themselves upright and move purposefully but if they do not they can become stiff and immobile and it is difficult for them to lead independent, satisfying lives.

It is also crucially important that at home the children can be placed and supported in sitting and standing positions before they are able to hold themselves in these positions. When they are upright they can see what is going on around them and they also learn to take weight on their limbs. Special chairs and standing frames need to be available at affordable prices that families can use for the children at home. See APT page

In African countries, if there are no services offering therapy for children with CP, their families may feel there is no hope for their children. This makes them feel ashamed that their children cannot move around normally and they may keep them indoors where they have little chance of learning to sit up and move around.  This puts them in great danger of developing the secondary problem of shortened muscles and deformed bones and then it will be even more difficult to help them.  Their families will have to devote a good deal of their time to taking care of them.

In Africa there are many children with cerebral palsy.  This is because maternity services are often quite poor and mothers do not get enough care before and during the birth of the baby.  The damage is caused if the baby cannot breathe quickly after being born or if the blood supply to the baby before birth is insufficient. Cerebral palsy can also be caused by the baby getting meningitis or cerebral malaria soon after birth and these diseases are very common in most African countries.