Cerebral Palsy. A Life Filled with All Sorts of Difficulties

Abstract

Cerebral palsy (CP) is the most frequent cause of disability in childhood. The clinical state of these children is determined by motoric, cognitive and perceptive disorders, subject to a stable lesion overtime. Nutrition or deglutition disorders are problems associated with CP, with consequences such as faltering growth, malnutrition, aspirations, breathing or dental diseases. In general, parents are not proactively aware of their children´s feeding or deglutition disorders, as they only detect difficulties when breathing is being compromised. Besides the children and youth with CP experience a variety of functional limitations that impact on their participation in day-to-day activities. Through social and community participation they form friendships, gain knowledge, learn skills, express creativity.