How Does Dance Therapy Help Cerebral Palsy Patients?

Recreational therapy is used to treat children with a number of disabilities and conditions, including cerebral palsy. Physical, behavioral and occupational therapies are all important for the development of CP children and recreational therapy works hand in hand with these. Recreational therapy is good for raising the child's self esteem, relieving pain and reducing tension. It may be anything from music to art and even dance therapy.

Cerebral palsy children respond to dance therapy and will find that they have a new and exciting way to express themselves through movement. Dancing helps to strengthen the weak muscles of the body and helps CP kids with their balance. Since cerebral palsy affects the muscles and makes proper movement difficult, dance therapy is great for muscle coordination and body balance.

If you take your child to a group dance session, you will find that they will benefit greatly from this. Your child will be able to gain self-confidence and would be much more focused on learning these new skills, as opposed to focusing on their particular handicaps.

Dance therapy is also good for developing muscle coordination, since dancing is an action that requires children to use their limbs effectively to move with the music. Children with CP also develop a sense of rhythm when they learn how to coordinate the movement of their body to music.

Dance therapy is good for so many different aspects of a cerebral palsy patient's development. If you would like to read more about dance therapy for cerebral palsy, please check out the following links:

http://www.ucp.org
http://www.abilitycamp.com/