Managing Cerebral Palsy: A Guide for Parents

Discovering that your child has cerebral palsy can be overwhelming and emotional. This type of diagnosis is never easy to accept as it sets families on a long path of needing treatment and medical care. However, your child needs you to be strong and find ways to provide them the best possible future.

As a result, you may have several questions and concerns spinning around in your mind about how to manage cerebral palsy and what types of treatments can help your child live a happy and healthy life with this condition. Below, we will answer seven of the most common questions asked by parents who just learned that their child has cerebral palsy.

1.     Are there medications for cerebral palsy?

There are medications that physicians may prescribe children with cerebral palsy. While these medications cannot cure cerebral palsy, they can help manage or treat certain symptoms. Some of the most common types of medications that children with cerebral palsy may be prescribed are nerve blockers, antidepressants, muscle relaxers, anti-inflammatories, anticholinergics, anticonvulsants, benzodiazepines, and baclofen. Each of these medications may be used to help reduce, alleviate, or manage specific symptoms. For example, anticholinergics can help prevent uncontrollable movements, anticonvulsants can treat seizures, and baclofen can help reduce muscle spasticity.

2.     What therapies are available for people with cerebral palsy?

Parents who have a child with cerebral palsy should consider taking advantage of the various types of therapies that are available. While the type of therapies that your child needs depends on their condition, they each strive to help your child overcome the obstacles and hurdles that may be placed in their way. For example, physical therapy can help your child focus on improving their mobility, muscle movements, coordination, posture, reflexes, and more. Occupational therapy can help your child learn how to carry out basic tasks and live as independently as possible.

Some of the tasks that they may be taught are how to brush their teeth, how to comb their hair, how to feed themselves, and how to dress themselves using the limbs or muscles that are unaffected. Speech therapy is also an effective tool as it can help your child learn how to communicate. Many people with cerebral palsy have speech disorders, which a speech therapist may be able to help them overcome or instead teach them how to use other methods to communicate, such as sign language, typing, or writing.

3.     What assistive devices are used for cerebral palsy?

There are several different assistive devices that can be used to help individuals with cerebral palsy. However, it is important to know that cerebral palsy can affect people differently. Therefore, before purchasing an assistive device for your child, you may want to ask your doctor whether it would be beneficial to them and their condition. Some of the assistive devices that are available for children with cerebral palsy are strollers, wheelchairs, braces, walkers, bath chairs, therapeutic crawling device, gait trainer, communication boards, cochlear implants, eye-tracking device, canes, and more.

4.     What resources are available for families of children with cerebral palsy?

Mississippi has a lot of resources that families of children with cerebral palsy can use and depend on to get them through this tough time, meet other parents with children who have cerebral palsy, and learn how to make their children’s lives as normal as possible. Some of the organizations that focus on families with cerebral palsy in Mississippi include:

• Programs for Children with Disabilities: Ages 3 Through 5
• Programs for Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities: Ages Birth Through 2
• Learning Disabilities Association of MS
• Coalition for Citizens with Disabilities
• Living Independence for EVERYONE (L.I.F.E)
• Cerebral Palsy Foundation of MS
• Brain Injury Association of MS
• Programs for Children with Special Health Care Needs
• State Developmental Disabilities Planning Council
• State Department of Education: Special Education

5.     Are there long-term complications associated with cerebral palsy?

Many people who have cerebral palsy frequently experience long-term complications. However, the types of complications can vary from person to person. We invite you to learn more here.

6.     Can children with cerebral palsy attend regular schools?

Yes, children with cerebral palsy can attend regular public schools, where they can gain a sense of independence, socialize, and learn.  However, if possible, some parents do prefer to enroll their child with cerebral palsy into private schools that have fewer students and can offer a more personalized learning approach. It is important to note that both public and private schools typically have special education departments for your child to get the necessary care and guidance that they need. Some parents even choose to homeschool their child as this provides flexibility for the child to still attend their medical and therapy appointments while earning an education.

7.     Can surgery help with cerebral palsy?

Surgery may help reduce or manage some symptoms of cerebral palsy. However, doctors will recommend trying other methods, such as physical therapy, medications, assistive devices, and muscle injections, before choosing surgery. If your child has already tried several of these methods and they did not work, you may want to consider speaking to their physician about next steps.

Was your child diagnosed with cerebral palsy due to a doctor’s negligence? If so, the Mississippi medical malpractice lawyers at Merkel & Cocke, P.A. can help. We work to hold healthcare providers accountable for their careless and reckless mistakes, and to help families receive the best outcome possible for their cases. Please call our office or submit our contact form to schedule your free case evaluation in Oxford, Jackson, Greenville, and Clarksdale today.