Speech impairments like dysarthria are common in children with cerebral palsy (CP) which can greatly affect participation across environments. Our study examined how speech impairment severity changes over time in 101 children with CP at 4, 6, 8, and 10 years of age.
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.
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.
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.
There are a couple of key things to think about in helping children and adolescents make the transition into young adulthood and independence. One of those things is called mastery motivation and we can see mastery motivation early in life. It's the ability to persist in the face of challenge. If you're growing up with a disability, it can be harder to do things. If you are not challenged, if the environment is not set up correctly, or if you don't have the resources, then you start to feel that you can't master certain kinds of tasks.
5 things for women with Cerebral Palsy to consider when preparing for their OB/GYN appointment