Texas CP Lawyer | 3 Common Features of Cerebral Palsy

3 Common Features of Cerebral Palsy

Cerebral palsy includes a range of disorders that are all linked to a brain injury. This injury affects the part of the brain that allows for control of the muscles—and sometimes other areas, as well—and the resulting symptoms have some distinctive features. Some of them are common enough that parents of children with CP can expect them to be part of their lives for the foreseeable future and it’s advisable to be prepared to deal with them.

1: Muscle Spasms

Muscle spasms can be constant or intermittent, mild or severe. The muscle spasms that cerebral palsy sufferers deal with are sometimes nearly debilitating. In other cases, CP sufferers may learn to deal with their muscle spasms quite well and be able to use a range of assistive devices to ensure that they’re not too negatively affected by the spasms. You may have to get injections, oral medications or other treatments to help your child deal with these symptoms.

2: Learning Disabilities

Unfortunately, people with cerebral palsy oftentimes end up suffering rather severe learning disabilities. Most of the time, they benefit greatly from tutoring from qualified special education professionals. There are some cases, however, where people with CP will never reach the full mental capacity of someone their own age and, because of that, they may have to forego school beyond a certain grade or may never be able to handle everyday responsibilities, such as paying bills.

3: Mobility Issues

It’s almost certain that someone with CP will suffer some mobility issues. They can be of greatly varying severity, so you’ll have to be prepared to deal with anything. In some cases, sufferers may end up having very minor mobility issues or may only have mobility issues when they have muscle spasms. In other cases, the sufferer may be almost completely disabled and require expensive assistive equipment.

No matter how severe or mild the symptoms may be, CP is certain to affect the quality of the sufferer’s life and their ability to live independently. If your child has been affected by CP because of birth injuries, talk to a Texas CP lawyer. You may be able to file a lawsuit if medical negligence was involved and, in some cases, that may mean recovering significant amounts of money in damages. Sometimes you’ll be offered a settlement and sometimes you’ll have to go to court. There are no guarantees, however.