March is Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month 😁

March is Cerebral Palsy awareness month 🙂 

'Cerebral' means to do with the brain. 

'Palsy' means weakness or to do with the muscles.

1. CP is the most common childhood motor disability.

2. It can affect people in many different ways - some people are unable to walk and need lifelong care, others may walk only slightly awkwardly and need no further support. 

3. There are 3 main types of cerebral palsy. Many people will have a mixture of these types.

4. People with CP can live perfectly acceptably 'normal' lives 😁 

CP affects muscle control and movement. It's usually caused by an injury to the brain before, during or after birth. Children with cerebral palsy have difficulties in controlling muscles and movements as they grow and develop.

*The current UK incidence rate is around 1 in 400 births.

*Approximately 1,800 children are diagnosed with cerebral palsy every year.

*There are an estimated 30,000 children with cerebral palsy in the UK.

*There are more boys born with cerebral palsy than girls. For every 100 girls with cerebral palsy, there are 135 boys with cerebral palsy.

*Just under a half of children with cerebral palsy were born prematurely (before 37 weeks gestation).

*One in three children with cerebral palsy is unable to walk.

*One in four children with cerebral palsy cannot feed or dress themselves.

*One in four children with cerebral palsy has a severe learning disability.

*A child who is mildly affected by CP can expect to have much the same length of life as a child without CP.

*A child of two who cannot walk, and cannot feed or dress himself, and has severe learning difficulties is as likely as not to live to age 25.