This study highlights the importance of monitoring and managing chronic conditions in adults with cerebral palsy. It also provides important information that can help healthcare professionals better understand the health needs of this population.
The American Academy of Pediatrics has updated its recommendations for Primary Care Providers to provide a "Medical Home" for children and youth with cerebral palsy. This comprehensive update gives primary care pediatricians the guidance they need to address the many needs that children and youth with CP experience and coordinate care across disciplines. The Cerebral Palsy Foundation has created a checklist to help guide you in raising your child with CP to living the healthiest life possible and ensure that you and your pediatrician are addressing all of your concerns.
Pain in people with cerebral palsy is very common, and probably not evaluated frequently enough.
As a mother and a pediatrician, I’ve both felt the strain of pandemic parenting directly and indirectly. I’ve made decisions about my own family and sending our kids to daycare and school, and I’ve stayed up worrying about how parents are supposed to make these difficult choices with so little support.
For women with Cerebral Palsy, self-advocacy is probably the most important part, but it's also probably the hardest part because most of those doctors have not encountered women with disabilities. You really have to tell them what you need and tell them what to expect.
When scheduling and preparing for an OB/GYN appointment, women with Cerebral Palsy have additional challenges to consider and address when both scheduling the appointment and once they go their appointment.
For women with Cerebral Palsy, finding a new OB/GYN can be difficult for a variety of reasons: accessibility (both to the building and in the exam rooms), staffing and supports for additional physical needs and more.
5 things for women with Cerebral Palsy to consider when preparing for their OB/GYN appointment
The spine is made up of many individual bones called vertebrae joined together by muscles and ligaments. Flat, soft discs separate and cushion the vertebrae from rubbing against each other. Because the vertebrae are separate, the spine is flexible and can bend. Together the vertebrae, discs, muscles, and ligaments make up the vertebral column or spine.