CP Information

When it comes to Cerebral Palsy, there is a lot of information and resources available for families. However, the problem lies in knowing which sites are worth exploring and which are not. The depth of the Internet makes a lot of content available, but also makes finding quality websites, or even effective Cerebral Palsy Facebook Pages, difficult.

New Year’s Resolutions are the worst, aren’t they? Born out of good intentions and a genuine interest to make the most out of a new year, they often start well and end badly. We all know someone, or you might even be that person who has a treadmill that’s being used as a clothes rack, or you may have heard of a gym membership that was used for two months and then ignored for the next ten months. As a leading resource for all things related to CP, we thought we would come up with four simple and easy Cerebral Palsy resolutions for our parents to consider during 2015.

With the change in seasons come new challenges for parents of children with Cerebral Palsy. Whether it’s the logistics of transportation, difficulties with bills or keeping a child active while being forced indoors, there is a wide spectrum of hurdles for families with CP in their lives.

Here are just some of the resources the MyChild team at CerebralPalsy.org has available for families of children with Cerebral Palsy that are facing challenges this winter:

The MyChild team was founded on the basis of helping families of children with Cerebral Palsy easily navigate the wide assortment of information and resources available. By ensuring the key components of Cerebral Palsy help were in one place, carefully constructed and available free of charge, our hope is that we remove the pain of tracking down phone numbers or URLs and let families focus more on their children.

Many of us can remember the first time we rode a bike. When mom or dad let go of the seat, we were on our own! We found our balance, and with that we found freedom, a feeling like we could fly anywhere. This is an experience that any parent would want to share with their child, and thanks to advancements in the realm of outdoor recreation, adaptive bikes now allow children with Cerebral Palsy to join in on the fun.

A harness called Firefly Upsee is helping children with Cerebral Palsy walk. The Upsee was invented by a mother whose son has Cerebral Palsy.

Many individuals who have Cerebral Palsy, like Maysoon Zayid, Josh Blue, John Quinn, and Ryan McGraw, have all practice yoga to improve balance, coordination, stability and movement while strengthening the mind.

Selective dorsal rhizotomy has become increasing popular in the last year or two. In this blog post, we’ll share what families have to say about it.

Selective dorsal rhizotomy (SDR) is a surgical procedure to help individuals with Cerebral Palsy walk. SDR is aimed to reduce levels of spasticity in the legs and is followed by an intensive period of physiotherapy.

Twenty-one percent of children in the U.S. are not receiving routine developmental screens, and millions are not receiving key clinical preventive services, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report released this week. Not only does this contradict the goals of the new Affordable Care Act, or ACA, but it may hamper a child’s ability to receive early interventions, according to the recommendations made in the American Academy of Pediatric’s “Motor Delays: Early Identification and Evaluation” report.

Take advantage of your child’s “windows of motor development opportunity,” urge Carl Gabbard, Ed.D., and Luis Rodriques in an Early Childhood NEWS article entitled “Optimizing Early brain and Motor Development Through Movement.” This window of opportunity begins in the prenatal period and advances to the age of five. It is believed this timeframe is a critical period in which physical activity lays the foundation for not only motor control, but for early childhood development such as learning and behavior.