In cerebral palsy (CP) muscles are often shortened so much that they restrict joint range of motion and the muscles themselves are weak. Thus, ‘shortness’ and ‘weakness’ are two important needs that clinicians must address.
Spasticity is usually caused by central nervous system injuries, such as brain injuries or spinal cord injuries. Spasticity is a little different from stiffness.
As your child with CP is becoming a teenager, there are a couple of things you may want to think about.
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.