This presentation from the 2023 AACPDM Community Forum presents a model for creating a smooth transition from pediatric care to adult care for teens and young adults with cerebral palsy.
Bimanual therapy, also referred to as intensive bimanual training, engages patients in active play or practice to improve the use and coordination of both hands. Bimanual therapy is different from similar unimanual therapies, like constraint-induced movement therapy (CIMT), because it promotes simultaneous use of both hands.
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.
Up to 50% of adolescents with cerebral palsy have an intellectual disability, as well as a physical disability. Adolescents with intellectual disabilities still need sexual health education, they just need it in a way that's more individualized so that they can understand it and use it.
When it comes to preparing your child for Botulinum Toxin injections, the first most important thing to remember is to know your child.
"Cerebral palsy is primarily a motor impairment so it's really important to look at what the child’s motor function is. Are they developing on the trajectory of a child who has cerebral palsy or are they developing as we would expect a baby to develop? "