A Guide for Parents of Children with Cerebral Palsy
"Never let anyone dis your ability to make the right choices regarding your child's disabilities" – Lisa Thornbury.
We all know that nurturing any child can have many highs and lows. Furthermore, while we are in general travelling our paths, we all need little encouragement to assist us with traversing our days. Everyday is an opportunity for a fresh start and to seek out life’s prospects. As parents of children with special needs, we can often feel frustrated, depleted and even hopeless. While everything may seem like a challenge, it is important to also pause and count on our blessings.
Bringing up a child with Cerebral Palsy (CP) creates new difficulties for the entire family. Research demonstrates a family with a special needs child is more inclined to depression, financial strain, relationship challenges, divorce and bankruptcy.
Embracing an existence with CP requires planning, organization, point of view, variation and motivation. For parents, a survey of the child’s care plan gives an order of decisions they have made, steps they have taken, learning they have encountered and a brief look at their hopes and dreams for tomorrow. Many figure out how to embrace an existence with CP somewhere inside the journey.
For parents who just figured out that their child has CP, this news can be overwhelming. While certain families might be feeling better to have a formal diagnosis after months (or even years) without answers, each response is unique. A few parents could feel like their reality is crashing down on them, or that there is no reason to have hope.
Panic, fear and perhaps a little anger are common responses. The main thing for parents to acknowledge is that a CP diagnosis isn’t the end of the world. In fact, there are many business pioneers, musicians, artists, designers among many others who have progressed to lead exceptional lives in spite of their CP diagnosis.
While it is generally expected to be terrified in the first place, it is vital to escape this stage at the earliest opportunity. Parents’ attitude towards this condition is a vital part of how their child will grow up and see their own true capacity and self-esteem.
We have few tips for any parent of a child with CP that will allow your child to have the best life:
• Majority of the times just a single parent or a family member is doing the bulk part of the research on CP. The entire family should understand what CP is and what it means for a child – not just mother or father. Sometimes relatives struggle connecting someone with CP. At the point when the entire family is involved, the obligation of really focusing on your child isn’t stuck on one individual. Small things like this make a big difference.
• Finding physical, occupational, speech or alternative types of therapy should be your top priority. With CP, a child’s muscles will begin to foster patterns and each pattern can be good or bad. Assuming you seek your child into a therapy program while they are young, their muscles can learn more good patterns. The more therapy your child gets at a young age, the more things they will figure out how to do.
• Children with CP can have associated learning difficulties that includes specific learning difficulties and severe learning disability. Do not assume that if your child has a severe physical impairment, they will also have a learning difficulty or disability. It is important to remember that every child is an individual and their personal circumstances will differ from others. They will invariably rely upon the adults around them to create a learning environment that helps them to develop and grow.
CP cannot be cured. However, early support and therapeutic intervention can help a child’s development. If children are positioned well from an early age and encouraged to move in a way that helps them to improve their posture and muscle control, this support will help them to develop, achieve and become more independent.
Chetna Foundation offers a number of therapies for children with Cerebral Palsy.
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