Blum Center Program: Cerebral Palsy - Diagnosis and Management

Cerebral palsy is one of the most common causes of disability in childhood with a range of causes. In this presentation from March 27, 2024, David Dredge, MD, and Brian Wishart, DO, MMS, FAAP, discuss the clinical features of cerebral palsy and review common etiologies. Additionally, they review approaches to treatment of muscle tone and associated symptoms.

This program is part of the Disability Education Series, a collaboration between the Maxwell & Eleanor Blum Patient and Family Learning Center and the Council on Disability Awareness at Mass General.

[matthewcrome]

I have very mild cerebral palsy (ataxic and spastic diplegia). Most people with CP are affected by spasticity but not all (in the case of ataxic and dyskinetic CP). Basically for people who aren't familiar it is literal brain damage before, during or shortly after birth caused by environmental factors. 70% of people with CP have normal or above average intelligence - I know plenty of people with CP who are perfectly smart despite severe physical challenges. Also CP is more likely to be severe than not - 50% of people with CP can't walk and about half of those can't walk or talk. A lot of us have learning differences (I have visual-spatial processing problems) and seizure disorders/epilepsy (luckily mine is very mild). I also have autism, which is a common comorbidity. Overall CP is a huge spectrum like autism, it can be very mild or very severe.