Graham Hale Gardner died before turning twenty-three and never learned to walk or speak due to severe cerebral palsy complicated by epilepsy. Yet he left a legacy of love and compassion that deeply moved scores of people from widely different backgrounds.
Do you need a way to discuss Cerebral Palsy with your child, friends, family, or caregivers? Xander explains about cerebral palsy, what causes it, the 4 types, and how it affects him and his friends who also have cerebral palsy. He also shows how he is an important member of his family and how what HE can do MATTERS.
A bold and contemporary discourse of the intersection of disability studies and queer studies
Wouldn’t it be great if inclusive, accessible playgrounds were in every community for all to enjoy? Although progress is being made in certain areas, there is a lot more work to be done to literally level the playing field and help communities and designers understand what makes an inclusive accessible playground and why they are important for people of all abilities.
An approachable guide to being a thoughtful, informed ally to disabled people, with actionable steps for what to say and do (and what not to do) and how you can help make the world a more accessible, inclusive place.
Judy Heumann’s candid, intimate, and irreverent memoir about resistance to exclusion, invites readers to imagine and make real a world in which we all belong.
Author Andrew Soloman proposes that being exceptional is at the core of the human condition—that difference is what unites us.
Written by cerebral palsy specialists, Drs. Peter Rosenbaum and Lewis Rosenbloom, this book gives a comprehensive, yet accessible and readable overview of cerebral palsy across the lifespan.
Written for fifth and sixth graders, this is the story of a young girl with cerebral palsy who utilizes a communication device to interact and participate.
Comedian Zach Anner opens his frank and devilishly funny book, If at Birth You Don't Succeed, with an admission: he botched his own birth. Two months early, underweight and under-prepared for life, he entered the world with cerebral palsy and an uncertain future.
Individuals with Cerebral Palsy frequently participate in Adaptive Sports and Therapeutic Recreation programs. Though there are often many similarities in programs and frequently the terms are used interchangeably, there are differences that are highlighted here.
Written for both clinicians and families, this comprehensive guide to complex cerebral palsy utilizes the ICF to organize and guide the subject matter in order to assist both clinicians and families to maximize participation for those who are impacted more significantly by cerebral palsy.
For three editions now, a team of experts associated with the Cerebral Palsy Program at the Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children have shared vital information through this authoritative resource for parents, who will turn to it time and time again as their child grows.
Frame Running is becoming increasingly popular as a recreational and competitive sport for individuals with cerebral palsy across all GMFCS levels. Tune in to learn more!
On this episode, I have the honor of talking with Wendy Pierce, MD, a pediatric physiatrist at Colorado Children's Hospital about physiatry, also known as Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. This fantastic field of medicine can be helpful for individuals with cerebral palsy across with lifespan, but it has a confusing name and sometimes a confusing job description. So we set out to help listeners better understand what a physiatrist does.
In this episode, Mary Gannotti, PhD, PT, discusses fitness, health and function across the lifespan for individuals with cerebral palsy.
Drooling is an important problem for many individuals with CP and there are a number of interventions available to treat symptoms. If an individual with CP or their caregiver have concerns about drooling it is important to discuss with a health care provider. Care pathways such as the AACPDM pathway can be a starting point for shared decision making. In all cases, working together as a team is important in choosing the best alternative. Children and adults with CP may have trouble with drooling, or saliva management. In the medical world, drooling is referred to as sialorrhea. Saliva plays an important role in eating but also can interfere with airway clearance and breathing, as well as social participation. When drooling has this kind of impact it becomes important to consider intervention.
There are multiple factors that impact bone health, including birth weight, nutrition, medications for seizures and/or reflux, genetics, and physical activity. Targeted exercise to improve bone health in childhood can be sustained into adulthood, and childhood is the best time to promote bone health.
There are many kinds of physical activities that people with cerebral palsy can participate in – for both ambulatory people as well those who use various mobility devices. Knowing just what activities are right for whom can be tough, this article helps to sort that out.
Many children with cerebral palsy (CP) have difficulty controlling saliva. Drooling varies in severity and can be distressing for the children, families and caregivers. Chronic drooling is referred to as Sialorrhea and occurs as a result of limitations in a person’s ability to control and swallow oral secretions.
An empowering and evidence-based guide for living a full life with spastic diplegia–bilateral cerebral palsy.
The RAD RaceRunner is a three-wheeled running bike with chest support. It is designed for children and adults with balance or mobility challenges to achieve their exercising goals -be it recreation, competition, or rehabilitation.
Our “Let’s Talk CP” podcast series kicks off with a great conversation about what questions to ask your child’s clinician when your child has cerebral palsy. How should you prepare for a medical appointment? What questions should you ask? Should you get a second opinion? Join Cerebral Palsy Foundation host, Cynthia Frisina as she shares candid talk, lessons learned and great advice with fellow moms, Wendy Sullivan and Jennifer Lyman. This episode is made possible with the support of Ipsen Biopharmaceuticals.
One of the hardest moments during quarantine for me was when my apartment building announced its gym was closing to prevent the spread of coronavirus. As the outside gyms closed all around the city in the weeks prior, I felt grateful that the one in my building was open. The gym was the lasting lifeline to my sanity, and to have that yanked away from me, I felt lost.
There is insufficient research on adults living with cerebral palsy, (as referenced in my previous blog post on cerebral palsy and adulthood). Although there is a paucity of studies examining mental health in this population, medical researchers have speculated that the rate of depression is three to four times higher in people with disabilities such as CP than it is in the general population.