This recent study found that over half of children and young people with Cerebral Palsy have more than one movement disorder, which is more common than previously thought.
Dr. Heather Riordan explains how different motor types can occur at the same time in some people and how to decide what to treat first.
Neurologist and movement disorder specialist, Heather Riordan, MD, describes the Chorea in Cerebral Palsy and what to do if it is impacting your function.
Do you or your child have movements that are difficult to control? Is your mobility and function impacted by abnormal movements or do these movements cause pain? If so, you or your child may have Dyskinesia. If you want to learn more, including how it is treated, don't miss this educational Town Hall with experts Dr. Heather Riordan, from Kennedy Krieger Institute, and Dr. Michael Kruer, from Phoenix Children's.
CPF Executive Director Rachel Byrne and Dr. Heather Riordan, Director of the Phelps Center for Cerebral Palsy at the Kennedy Krieger Institute discuss dyskinesia.
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.
When a person is looking for a way to communicate in alternative ways, they need to find something that really works for them. They need to try to find a voice that sounds natural. They want to try to find a way to be efficient. They want to be able to communicate as normally as possible, even though they're not using their biological voice.
The Dyskinetic Cerebral Palsy Functional Impact Scale is a new tool useful measuring the functional impact of dyskinesia on children's movements and postures and the perceived impact of dyskinesia on daily activities. It can can help identify priorities for intervention.
This systematic review looks at all available evidence for pharmacological/neurosurgical interventions for managing dystonia in individuals with cerebral palsy to inform the AACPDM care pathway.
Hypotonic CP, also known as hypotonia, is a form of cerebral palsy that causes low muscle tone. In other words, the muscles are overly relaxed and your child may feel floppy.
Mixed types of CP refer to symptoms that don’t correspond to any single type of CP but are a mix of types. For example, a child with mixed CP may have some muscles that are too tight and others that are too relaxed.
Ataxia affects balance and depth perception. Children with ataxia will often have poor coordination and walk unsteadily with a wide-based gait.
Dysarthria is a motor speech disorder that affects how clear and understandable a person’s speech is. Between 50-90% of people with CP have dysarthria.
Dyskinesia is an umbrella term encompassing a range of different movements. These are all movements that can be out of your control. Dyskinesia is very common in cerebral palsy.
Dr. Bhooma Aravamuthan presents Understanding Dystonia: Diagnosis and Treatment at the 2020 AACPDM Community Forum. Moderated by Council Chair, Jen Lyman.
The Dystonia Care Pathway was updated in 2024 based on best available evidence. The goal of the these Care Pathways is to help Health Care Professionals understand the research evidence on the topic so that they can make clinical decisions for the care of the individual.
Spastic cerebral palsy is the most common type of CP. People will experience increased muscle tone and their movements may appear stiff or awkward.
People who have dyskinetic cerebral palsy experience involuntary movements that are difficult to control. These movements can be slow, twisting and writhing, or rapid and jerky, and can impact movement in the hands, arms, feet, legs and even the face or tongue.
Do you or your child have movements that are difficult to control? Is your mobility and function impacted by abnormal movements and cause pain? If so, you or your child may have Dyskinesia. If you want to learn more, including how it is treated, please join us on for a new educational Town Hall with experts Dr. Susan Biffl, from Rady Children's Hospital, and Dr. Mark Gormley, from Gillette Children's.
CPF Executive Director Rachel Byrne and speech therapist, Kristen Allison, PhD, CCC-SLP discuss communication and Cerebral Palsy.
We all have different towns and we all have different things that we do in the course of the day. It may be that the student is a great artist or a great writer. When it comes to assistive technology we have to think about what is going to give that student the ability to do what they love without having to see roadblocks and go, "I can't do that”. There are so many tools out there, whether it's a communication app, a video app, a math tool. With assistive technology you are not making the student into what you want them to be.
When you use alternate means of communication it can be really frustrating to go out in community. It is hard to know whether people are understanding you and whether they will take the time to listen. A lot of times it's hard for people to admit that they're not always comfortable with a device or a wheelchair or person who does things differently. So the more we can expose and educate people the better off we all will be. When we talk about acceptance, we're not just talking about people in society accepting people with disabilities. We're also talking about people with disabilities who are using alternate means of communication and how difficult it is for them to be out in the community.
It's really essential to understand how brain function works to really tap into how learners learn.
