Cerebral Palsy

Dublin study assessing Sleep disorders in children with cerebral palsy

When a child with cerebral palsy is unable to attend school, parents may opt to have the school come to them. By law, Home and Hospital Teaching (HHT) is a program that must be offered to students who are unable to attend a regular school program due to a physical or emotional condition. Normally, these programs are offered for a short period of time, but in some cases are appropriate for long term education.

Many families raising a non-ambulatory child face the challenge of finding appropriate transportation when their child becomes wheelchair-dependent and can no longer be transported in a car seat. Parents struggle with questions of where to find financing, what vehicle to choose and what modifications are needed. The process can be overwhelming, but we have some suggested questions to ask and what to look for as you begin your search.

Most children have a preconceived notion that every day of summer should be exciting and adventurous. Children with special needs are no exception. As parents, we feel an obligation to provide our children with memorable summer breaks, without breaking the bank! Determining how to manage that day-to-day challenge can be exhausting for parents of a special needs child, especially when you factor in possible accessibility issues that may arise for children in wheelchairs or with mobility challenges.

I am a twenty-eight-year-old woman with spastic Cerebral Palsy. This means that I have very tight muscles and heightened muscle tone, which makes walking difficult. As a result, I use a wheelchair to be mobile. By looking at me, the only way to tell there is something wrong is my wheelchair. Most who know me do not call attention to my physical limitations; they simply make accommodations to include me in whatever they may be doing at the time. I am a very smart and driven individual. If I were able to walk, there would be absolutely no difference in you or me.

For most children, a clear sign that a ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt is not working is a painful headache. Because Braden could not communicate his pain to me, I quickly had to learn to look for other symptoms.