Dr. Tom Novacheck, of Gillette Children's, describes the characteristics of the 4 types of unilateral, otherwise known as hemiplegic gait, and how the use of clinical instrumented gait analysis can help with treatment decision making.
Dr. Tom Novacheck, Gillette Children's, describes what to look for in each of the 4 different gait patterns seen for those with bilateral cerebral palsy and considerations for each type.
Dr. Debbie Song, Gillette Children's, gives an overview of common neurosurgical procedures to address global tone in individuals with cerebral palsy.
As your child with CP is becoming a teenager, there are a couple of things you may want to think about.
It's important for all of us who are imposed with certain physical boundary conditions to push those boundary conditions as far as possible and maintain as much independence as absolutely possible.
All adolescents and young adults experience some peer pressure to engage in drinking or other risky behaviors. Adolescents with cerebral palsy engage in risky behaviors just like other teenagers. Some families find it helpful to sign what's called, a Contract for Life, or a Contract for Safety, with their child. The parent agrees not to yell in the moment and to have a conversation about it the next day. That's one way that adolescents and parents can create some zone of safety around drinking.
Children with cerebral palsy have more complex self-management and self-care demands than children who are typically developing. They have to learn how to deal with medications and they may have to deal with medical equipment. At some point, they're going to have to learn about medical appointments.
I have cerebral palsy spastic diplegia. So it affects my legs and sometimes my fine motor skills. I walk with two canes. I do things a little slower, but I get things done.
One thing that parents can say to start a conversation with their kids is, "Let's talk".
As we all know, becoming a teenager means significant upheaval, not only physically, but in terms of friendships, in terms of learning, and life outlook. This is also true for adolescents with cerebral palsy and other developmental disabilities. We know that whilst we may of spent a lot of time focusing on their physical abilities and other difficulties it is not the only part of their life.
I spent many years and many hours learning how to make the body work better, how to bring it out of pain. But that's not the human being alone.
One of the things that was identified through research is that patients with cerebral palsy have higher rates of depression and anxiety than you would see in the general population.
It's really hard just to watch someone walk to decide what's wrong with them. A better way is to do what's called Three Dimensional Gait Analysis, and that's where the child comes into one of our labs. Here, we put markers on their face, hands, and legs. We have a computer and a bunch of cameras all around the room. And then we're able to break down the gait into three dimensions.
