What Should I know About The History of Cerebral Palsy?

Cerebral palsy is a condition that affects movements and postures, causing limited mobility. The motor problems are typically accompanied by disturbances of cognition, sensation, communication and other behavior problems.

The first person to detect and identify cerebral palsy as such was a man named William Little. He was a surgeon who identified that asphyxia during birth would cause disturbances. Asphyxia is a condition that deprives the body of its oxygen supply, leading to inability to breathe normally.

Dr. Sigmund Freud said that the disorder was not brought by a difficult birth, but rather from the symptoms of other effects on the developing fetus. Later, in 1980, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders found that only a few cases of cerebral palsy were actually due to lack of oxygen.

Eventually several different variety of cerebral palsy subtypes were identified, including spastic, ataxic, athetoid and mixed.

For more information about the various types of cerebral palsy, please visit http://www.ucp.org/

Did you know that cerebral palsy can be the result of malpractice? Some cases of cerebral palsy are the result of injury at birth as the result of negligence. To learn more, or to contact a cerebral palsy attorney please fill out our free case evaluation.