Image via Wikipedia
Cerebral palsy is a developmental disability that affects a person’s ability to move and maintain balance. This is caused by an abnormality in the brain that is non-progressive — meaning that the symptoms will not worsen over time. This abnormality affects the part of the brain that controls muscle tone. The following describes the four types of cerebral palsy:
Ataxic: Those that suffer from ataxic cerebral palsy are very unsteady, which is likely due to having too much or not enough muscle tone. This leads to an inability to walk easily or control muscles for things such as holding a pencil or pen and writing or drawing.
Athetoid or Dyskinetic: This type of cerebral palsy especially affects a person’s feet, legs, hands and arms causing the muscles in these locations to jerk and twitch laggardly. The face and tongue are also often affected which makes it hard for someone with this athetoid cerebral palsy to speak and often words are slurred.
Spastic: This type of cerebral palsy is characterized by having more muscle tone than is normal. When a person has more muscle tone, muscles become stiffened to be stiff and those with it often have awkward movements. About 70 to 80 percent of all who have cerebral palsy are diagnosed with this type and the specific type is broken down further depending on what body parts are affected, such as spastic diplegia for those whose legs are affected and spastic hemiplegia for those who are affected on one side.
Mixed: The final type of cerebral palsy is a mix of the three above. The most common mixture is spasticity and athetoid. Those who have cerebral palsy often have other problems as well including intellectual disabilities and some are so physically handicapped that they will always need assistance whether it be in-home care or at an assisted living facility. Sometimes head injuries can cause cerebral palsy, so one preventions is making sure to always where a bike helmet and use car seats, which can prevent these injuries in the case of an accident. Treatment includes physical therapy, occupational therapy, operations, braces, and medicine. Many with cerebral palsy are able to live a fairly normal life with proper aid and assistance.