Brainpalsy.com – Helping Parents Combat Cerebral Palsy

Cerebral palsy is a brain disorder that affects the motor skills of a person. This affliction is usually acquired before, during, and after birth and will tend to stay for the rest of their life. There are treatments and therapy available to make patient’s lives more normal.

This disease can alter the lives of children and their family. If you have a child, it can drastically change the way you live your life forever. Most families don’t have the financial capability to cover the cost of treatment and therapies for their child. For this, you can consult a Attorney to get the compensation you need and in some cases, get you discounts on medications and treatments in the hospital.

You can join Cerebral Palsy Associations for additional help, but these organizations can only do so much. They often have many patients that are in need of financial support that they tend to make you wait for your turn.

They can investigate if your child has acquired the condition because of mishandling them during birth, causing brain damage so they can file a lawsuit against the doctor or the hospital. If you want the proper compensation, you can obtain it by hiring a lawyer.

If you think that there has been birth or delivery mistakes that may have caused the child’s condition, you should immediately contact a attorney in order to get you the right compensation.

These kinds of lawsuits can really provide you with more than enough money for the treatment and medication for your child.

Another great thing about Cerebral Palsy attorneys is that you won’t have to pay them a dime until they get you your compensation.

Mishandling a child during birth is a very common cause So, you should not erase this on the list of possible causes and you can really make the doctor or the hospital pay for what they are responsible for.

You can also hire a Attorney to let the hospital give you a cheaper treatment fee for your child. This can really benefit you because therapy is often a long term therapy and can really cost a lot of money.

Always remember that treatment can be expensive. You can always seek help from attorneys to get you the proper compensation and also get you a cheap treatment for your child with Cerebral Palsy.

No two people are exactly the same. Even identical twins have subtle differences that only the parents can detect. The same can be said of individuals with disability. A brain injury suffered during or after birth, children can have varying degrees of disability, depending on the extent of damage in the first few minutes, hours, or days outside of the womb. Unfortunately, many parents are ill-prepared for a doctor to pronounce that their long-awaited baby is less than perfect, and the many faces of a cerebral palsy diagnosis are difficult to comprehend.

Mild, Moderate, or Severe Cerebral Palsy

At the time your child is determined to have a birth defect, the doctor may predict mild, moderate, or severe CP. In many cases, only time will tell what your child can/cannot achieve as the years go by.

Mild Cerebral Palsy: An individual who has been diagnosed may not seem to be disabled to the general population. Maybe he/she will have a sloppy gait when walking. Hand dexterity may be compromised, making fine motor skill tasks more difficult. Unless you are acquainted with this person, the problem may go unnoticed. In fact, strangers may simply assume someone with a mild case  had one too many beers at happy hour.

Moderate Cerebral Palsy: A person diagnosed with moderate disability has more physical and possibly mental challenges. Thus, it is hard to mistaken the signs of a brain injury for pure clumsiness or inebriation. Individuals with moderate CP will likely need physical, occupational, and possibly speech therapy to realize their full potential as adults.

In many cases, mobility aids and assisted living devices may be needed to make life easier. For example, ambulatory aids like crutches, walkers, and wheelchairs can mean the difference between a full and active life and being totally dependent on a caregiver.

Severe Cerebral Palsy: A diagnosis of severe trauma to the brain can be devastating for loved ones. Generally, the individual has full body involvement, including a mental disability. However, it is amazing to see people so encumbered by the injury still able to accomplish abilities thought beyond them. For example, electronic aids help people with the most limiting cases communicate by learning to use a touch screen device.

When first diagnosed, the many faces of cerebral palsy are blurred and hidden in the shadows of time to come. But, with a positive outlook and connections to the products and services available to make life a little easier, a lot of parents and other caregivers have helped special needs kids grow up and have happy successful lives.

As time goes on,  each life comes into focus, with a hope and a promise. In some cases, individuals with this brain injury grow up to lead virtually normal, successful lives. Others may need more help, but still manage to be very productive and independent as possible. Yes. Even those who are deemed severely disabled can have victories that make life a little easier and even enjoyable. The key is to not dwell on the impossible, but to imagine the possible. Despite the many different manifestations of CP, most can be worn with a smile, given the right outlook.

Defining cerebral palsy is rather complicated because it is just an umbrella term that covers a set of conditions that are both non-progressive and non-contagious, which cause disability in physical development. It is not a single disorder, as many people would have believed, but rather a group of disorders. The term “cerebral” refers to the part in the brain which is affected, the cerebrum. The term “palsy” refers to movement disorder.

4 Major Classifications:

1. Spastic – occurs in 70 to 80 percent of all cases;
2. Ataxic – occurs in about 10 percent;
3. Athetoid or Dyskinetic – occurs in 40 percent of all cases; and,
4. Mixed – combines 2 or all 3 types of cerebral palsy.

Symptoms of Cerebral Palsy

- abnormal muscle tone (stiff or floppy) – bad posture (always slouches when sitting) – deformities in joint and bone (fixed or tight muscles and joints) – spasms (involuntary movement or facial gestures) – scissor walking (knocked knees) – lack of balance (uneven gait)

In severe cases of cerebral palsy, babies have an irregular posture, with their small bodies may be either floppy or stiff.

Causes of Cerebral Palsy

The causes are still a puzzle to doctors, even on this age of advanced medical technology. But some early studies have established that it can possibly occur during these 3 stages: at some stage in pregnancy (about 75 percent), while giving birth (about 5 percent), and after the child is born up to age of about three years old (about 15 percent).

In the United States, 1 to 2 babies in every 1,000 births are diagnosed with cerebral palsy each year. The nature of extent ranges from mild to severe.

Causes before birth: – asphyxia (oxygen deficiency before and during birth) – hypoxia (caused by asphyxia) – trauma while giving birth – premature birth – mother had infections during pregnancy – multiple birth (twins or triplets)

Causes after birth: – infections in the central nervous system (due to physical brain injury) – jaundice (characterized by yellowing of skin) – toxins (i.e. lead poisoning) – encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) – meningitis (inflammation of parts of brain and spinal cord) – hypoxia (caused by asphyxia during drowning accidents)

Causes of asphyxia in young children: choking, poisoning, and near drowning.

Learning the causes may help prevent its occurrence. Practice utmost care and protection during gestation, during birth, and during the early years after birth.

Cerebral palsy in most cases is not preventable. When the occurrence is due to negligence during medical care or inadequacy of medical attention, it is potential preventable by observing safety measures and standards of care.. To discuss whether medical malpractice could be a factor in your child’s case, contact an experience lawyer to discover your options.

Many cases of cerebral palsy undergo early medical evaluation to determine early diagnosis. To diagnose, a doctor will check the muscle tone, reflexes, and movement; then undergo the patient to a MRI scan, a CT scan, and other various medical tests.

After a positive diagnosis of this disorder, the child patient may be referred to a specialist for further examinations to find out if early treatment can provide improvement and help the condition of the patient.