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Step 1
Understand that pediatricians have specific guidelines for describing muscle tone and development as it pertains to cerebral palsy. During the first few weeks and months, your child's doctor will look for symptoms such as an abnormally high-pitched cry, lethargy, trembling in the arms and legs, low muscle tone, abnormal reflexes, seizures and body twitches. At this point, doctors rely on visual examination and reflex testing to determine a diagnosis.
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Step 2
Recognize muscle tone is one of the key symptoms up to 6 months of age. Other signs are a baby holding his hands in tight fists, going from relaxed to very stiff and moving one side of his body more easily than the other. The baby may also push food out of his mouth quite forcefully. The pediatrician will use tests such as letting the baby grasp his finger and then pulling it away, as well as extending the legs and arms to feel the muscle tone and elasticity.
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Step 3
Know that after 6 months of age, a baby with brain damage will usually show a very slow pace of learning new motor skills such as rolling over, crawling, sitting and standing. Many times doctors will avoid using the term "cerebral palsy" when talking to parents, instead using phrases such as neuromotor dysfunction, motor disability, static encephalopathy and central nervous system dysfunction. This is the age where doctors can begin to make a tentative diagnosis based on development time line as relayed by the parent.
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Step 4
Realize that a doctor's shying away from using the term "cerebral palsy" is not a form of denial but rather respect for the stamina and recuperative ability of the human brain. Many children recover partially or fully from a brain injury, so doctors prefer to give a baby some extra time to heal the injury on their own before being labeled as brain damaged.
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Step 5
Treat a child diagnosed with cerebral palsy with a physical therapy routine defined by the needs of each individual child. Parents will receive training to learn how to continue the exercises at home so they may be given several times a day. As a child ages, she may need braces to assist in walking. In extremely severe cases, a child may never walk but will only be mobile with the use of a wheelchair.
