Styleguide

We believe that if people think about CP by collecting information presented through different perspectives, and in particular connecting them through the lens of the ICF - everyone will have a better and more complete picture of child-in-family-in community and understand the situation more fully.

Certainly, these issues may pose significant challenges for a child and their family. So the more you understand the issues, the more you’ll be able to build ways to support your child. Many things can interfere with the immature brain very early in life. The result is that the brain is not easily able to send clear messages to the body (such as to the muscles). As a result, posture and movement control, and sometimes other aspects of function, may be ‘impaired’.

One of the most important things to be aware of is the diversity of any child’s skills. Additionally, skills develop as they are used. As such, it’s really important to be prepared to boast about your child, and to think of them as a having ability even if they do not express it in a typical manner.

In our F-words ideas we highlight FAMILY as the single most important environment for all children and adolescents – with or without CP! Everything has to be done with the family in the center of the picture at all times. This approach is called ‘Family-Centered Service’ (FCS).

This idea is included here to wrap the ‘F‐words’ within the obvious, but too often neglected, idea that the future is what child ‘development’ is all about! We believe that service providers need to think about the future – in a positive way – right from the start, and encourage parents to do so as well.

Obviously, creating a good environment at home is an important part of supporting your child’s growth and abilities. It’s critically important that a child is encouraged to participate at home and to become part of the family activities – and that the supports are in place to do that.