Mental health care should be included at the outset, as part of discussions around physical, occupational, and speech therapies. I’ve seen studies on cerebral palsy’s effect on caregiver mental health — and that is important. Caregivers are part of the cerebral palsy community, too. It’s an interdependent one. There’s not enough about the nuance around how having cerebral palsy affects mental health.”
Oropharyngeal dysphagia, or OPD, is an impairment of the oral or pharyngeal phases of the swallow. This can impair muscle movements and coordination of the mouth, such as the lips, tongue, jaw, cheeks, palate, and also muscles of the pharynx and the entry to the airway.
If you’re a history nerd like me, then you probably wondered about the origin of cerebral palsy at least once in your life. As an ever-inquisitive kid, that was certainly at the forefront of my mind, especially when I was old enough to truly comprehend that I had CP.
Babies develop about 80% of their brain growth over the first two years of life, and it's also when all the connections in the brain, what we call the white matter, which is the cables in the brain, grow and develop and connect to the cortex.
A speech language pathologist is someone who is trained in working with kids and adults. Everything from working with articulation errors and correcting things to what I do, which is working with people with profound physical impairments and getting them augmentative communication strategies.
A lot of parents don't realize that their baby, all the skills that they have. So they can look at you, they can follow you. They're already starting to imitate you, and through the first few months of life, they're already starting to learn to reach and grasp toys, and to have nonverbal communication with you.
Although the brain injury that causes cerebral palsy is nonprogressive, adults with CP can experience a variety of symptoms as they age which often depend on the type of CP they have, as well as the level.