Who Does Cerebral Palsy Affect?

Cerebral Palsy is defined as any brain injury that affects a person's muscles and movements. Cerebral Palsy is not contagious and is, therefore, not identified as a disease or an illness. In most cases Cerebral Palsy occurs before, during, or after birth. The time that the brain injury occurred is not always known, especially if the injury happened in utero.

Cerebral Palsy is separated in to three basic types. Spastic Cerebral Palsy is listed first because it affects 80% of the individual who have been diagnosed with cerebral palsy. These children will have trouble with their muscles becoming stiff or suddenly jerking. Depending on where the brain injury is, the child can have trouble on only one side of their body, mostly in their lower body, or in their lower body as well as their upper body. Athetoid Cerebral Palsy is another type of Cerebral Palsy. About 10% of children suffer from this type. Athetoid Cerebral Palsy affects the child's ability to hold themselves upright. They also suffer from random, involuntary muscle spasms in the face, arms and middle area. Speech and the ability to chew and swallow correctly are problems with this type of Cerebral Palsy. Finally, we have Ataxic Cerebral Palsy. At least 10% of Cerebral Palsy patients have Ataxic Cerebral Palsy. This type causes children to seem shaky and unsteady when walking. Their perception may be off and they may experience some vision problems.

The child that has been diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy is the one that is affected the most. He or she will have to work harder at everything for the rest of their lives. He or she will need therapy several times per week, and will most likely need an aid when it is time to attend school. A child with Cerebral Palsy will mostly likely have to deal with teasing from classmates and even staring from ignorant adults. They will have to keep a lot of doctors appointments, and will need to be assisted with daily living when they are of legal age.

The immediate family of the diagnosed child is also affected. They will have to provide more care for their child than normal children need. They will also have to go to a large number of doctors appointments. They will need to fight for their child to get any services and devices that the child needs. This is a constant battle. They may also suffer financially if they don't have good health insurance. The siblings may get made fun of at school for having a disabled brother or sister. As the child grows older, there will be more challenges that the family must face. They must arrange for the right therapists and school aids. They must also make decisions as to whether they want to care for their child when he or she becomes an adult or consider some type of assisted living facility.

The delivery doctor may also be affected when a child is born with Cerebral Palsy. This is because sometimes the doctor is the one that caused the brain injury that resulted in the Cerebral Palsy. Anytime a doctor finds a baby to be in distress during delivery, but doesn't act on it in a timely manner, he or she can be found liable if the baby ends up with Cerebral Palsy. Parents can consult lawyers on behalf of their baby and sue the doctor. If they win, the doctor could have to pay out money to the family, even in the millions. The doctor may receive a bad reputation and find it harder to get patients. She may even lose her license if the case is considered to be malpractice. We see this in the case of Philip Antonelli Jr. (see resources). Dr. Jacqueline Halladay knew that Philip Antonelli Jr. was distressed during delivery and waited five hours to deliver him. He was deprived of oxygen during this time which resulted in his Cerebral Palsy. As a result, the doctor was found negligent and ordered to pay $40 million to the Antonelli family.