What is Cerebral Palsy?

Cerebral palsy refers to a group of conditions that are caused by problems in brain development and that affect how movement and motor control happen in children. Problems with walking and talking are often the way people start a conversation about cerebral palsy. 

While there are things we can do to enhance both walking and talking, it is important to focus on communication and mobility. We most particularly want to help people be able to be independent in their mobility to the extent possible and able to communicate, even if that means using other ways than their voice or a mobility device.

Cerebral palsy is thought of as a developmental disorder, because it affects children's movement, and movement is fundamentally important to all of learning. The things we can do to help kids are to promote activity, not worry about whether it's done nicely, but make sure that kids have lots of opportunities to explore, to experience, to do things in whatever ways are useful to them.