While Cerebral Palsy can be a complex condition, its root cause surrounds a brain injury. How this brain injury occurred can vary, whether from an infection, development issues during the pregnancy, complications involving a mother’s pregnancy and delivery, genetic factors, delivery factors and more. At its base, however, this brain injury is the main factor causing Cerebral Palsy; understanding CP as an injury to the brain that will, itself, not improve is central to understanding the condition and planning for the future.
First: why do we highlight Cerebral Palsy as a brain injury? The sad truth is that there are a number of groups and individuals who promise solutions to Cerebral Palsy that are simply not validated by science yet. There is no silver bullet, so to speak, surrounding CP. While different therapies can provide varying effects, ultimately there has yet to be a treatment or solution capable of reversing the damage to the brain resulting in Cerebral Palsy symptoms.
This is not discussed to dissuade hope or discourage being proactive. Cerebral Palsy is a condition better impacted by treatments and therapies early in life; early intervention is a term used to describe the dynamic series of programs and therapy treatments deployed to help your child. Because Cerebral Palsy involves a brain injury, treatment and therapy works to retrain the way the brain attempts to complete tasks, resulting in lessened severity in symptoms, etc. But, unfortunately, it is also an issue that must be addressed due to the body’s lessened ability to overcome these symptoms as years pass.
Accepting Cerebral Palsy as a brain injury allows for parents to not only realize that the damage caused at birth will persist, but also to also plan for the future. Because symptoms can get worse due to the body’s progressive aging, your child’s condition may change over time and require additional therapy and care. As such, exhausting all of your options to help your child’s future is critical.
If your child has been recently diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy, you may still have the option of requesting a Medical Legal Review to examine the circumstances surrounding the diagnosis and events surrounding your child’s birth. Doing so can examine the brain injury resulting in Cerebral Palsy and determine if it was preventable. When Cerebral Palsy is found to be preventable, a child can be eligible for Lifetime Benefits that pay for decades of therapy, housing, care, education, adaptive equipment, treatment and more.
For more information on the science behind the various brain injuries that can result in Cerebral Palsy, information about Lifetime Benefits or the Medical Legal Review process, or for free resources available for children living with CP, contact us today through our online form or by calling (800) 462-5772.
