Life with Cerebral Palsy
While Joey and his friends are not real people, cerebral palsy,
the medical condition that causes Joey's disability is very real. Cerebral palsy, or CP as many people call it, is a medical
condition that affects the lives 764,000 children and adults in the United States (UCP Website). It happens when a person's
nervious system (the part of your body that let's you move and feel and see) is injured before or around the time of
your birth. It is not contagious, and cannot be inherited. This mean you can not get CP from another person, not even
a parent. For people with CP, the ordanary tasks of day to day living can be a struggle.
CP comes in several forms:
Spastic- This is the most easily recognized form of CP. People with spastic cerebral palsy often have limited
or no use of one or more limbs (arms and legs), a condition called paraysis. Often you will see people with spastic CP sitting
curled up in a wheelchair. Even the ones who are lucky enough to be able to walk have lots of prolems. I know someone who
could not straighten his legs, and had to walk in crouch. The problem these peope have is their mucles are too tight. Often
the constant tightness begins to cause pain.
To understand better what this is like, make a fist as tight as you can and hold it. Feel how your hand
gets tired and sore after a few minutes? Now imagine what it would feel like if you couldn't let go of that tight grip,
no matter how hard you try. People with spastic cp feel like that all the time, because they can't relax their muscles
Of course not all people with CP are spastic.
Athetiod- Athetiod is when a person can not stop their body from moving. People with this condition
may appear to be shivering, making faces, or in extreem cases, even flailing about wildly. Remember this is not something
the person is doing willingly, or something he or she can stop.
Ataxic- Ataxic CP is when the muscles are really loose. People with this form of CP usually have poor balance
and little control over movement. Often people with Ataxic CP are mistaken for drunks because of their slow wobbly movement.
In addition to the three forms, some people have a mix of the different types.
