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.
Cohort-based whole exome and whole genome sequencing and copy number variant (CNV) studies have identified genetic etiologies for a sizable proportion of patients with cerebral palsy (CP). These findings indicate that genetic mutations collectively comprise an important cause of CP.
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.
To give you an idea about genetic variation between each of us, there are about three million differences in our genetic code. They go to influence the color of our hair and the color of our eyes, the way we walk.