Cerebral Palsy

• http://cerebralpalsy.org/about-cerebral-palsy/sign-and-symptoms/
• http://www.tsbvi.edu/seehear.fall98/cpvh.htm
• https://www.cerebralpalsy.org.au/services/all-programs-and-services/assisive-technology/

Characteristics

• Muscle tone- the ability of the central nervous system to coordinate muscle movement is impaired
• Balance- signs to look for: requiring both hands for support, having difficulty balancing when not using hands for support
• Oral Motor Function- difficulty using the lips, tongue and jaw
• Gross Motor Function- impaired: limited capability of accomplishing common physical skills suck as walking, running, jumping, and maintaining balance
• Visual- possible acuity loss, field loss, oculomotor, and processing problem

Interventions

Physical Environment

Instructional

Aids

Assistive Technology

• Provide a personal aid for student
• Movement aids

• Classroom layout
• Adequate storage space
• Teach the students how to assist others

• Attach materials to the desk
• Assign students to help
• Allow students to interact in class
• Provide students with lecture notes

• Picture dictionaries
• Alphabet board
• Specialized keyboards
• Desks and workstations
• Mouse and joysticks
• Tablets
• Smartphones
• Touch Screens

What is Cerebral Palsy?

-It's a condition that affects movement, posture, and coordination

-Affects motor control centers of the brain

-It's a life time condition but not a disease

-Normal symptoms

-Prevalence among the people

Types

•85-95% of CP students have a speech disability; 30% have severely limited speech which cannot be easily understood.

• Students may use:

i. Digitized Speech Generator (Chat Box, Liberator)

ii. Bliss Board

iii. Eye Movement Recognition Hardware

•Some devices do not match cognitive ability

•It is important for teachers to become familiar with the devices.

•Augmentative: not education itself, but a tool to facilitate education (a means to an end).

i. The teacher needs to see the student behind the technology

•Books on tape; written instructions on tape or orally.

•Computers:

i. text-to-speech; speech-to-text (multi-sensory)

ii. large fonts/ display

iii. non-standard keyboards: single keystrokes= frequently used words

•Technology may need to be adapted for each classroom (entering in new vocabulary onto a board).

Spastic: characterized by tightness in one or more muscle groups

Dyskinetic: involves impairments in muscle tone affecting the whole body

Athetoid: involves abrupt, involuntary movements of the head, neck, face, and extremities, particularly the upper ones

Ataxic: involes unsteadiness, lack of coordination and balance, and varying degrees of difficulty with standing and walking

Mixed: combines tow or more movement patterns when one type does not predominate over another

Resources

Other Conditions Associated with Cerebral Palsy

-More than half of children and youth have an intellectual disability

-Between 22 and 40 percent have epilepsy

-More than 70 percent have low visual activity

-About 25 percent have problems with controlling their badder and bowels

Causes

• Prenatal
• Perinatal
• Postnatal
• Most Common Problems

Cerebral Palsy

By Addison Risinger and Kayla Mills