Cerebral palsy is a group of disorders that affect movement and muscle tone or posture. It's caused by damage that occurs to the immature, developing brain, most often before birth.
Symptoms
Signs and symptoms of cerebral palsy can vary greatly from person to person. Cerebral palsy can affect the whole body, or it might be limited primarily to one or two limbs, or one side of the body.
Movement and coordination
• Stiff muscles and exaggerated reflexes (spasticity), the most common movement disorder
• Variations in muscle tone, such as being either too stiff or too floppy
• Stiff muscles with normal reflexes (rigidity)
• Lack of balance and muscle coordination (ataxia)
• Tremors or jerky involuntary movements
• Slow, writhing movements
• Favoring one side of the body, such as only reaching with one hand or dragging a leg while crawling
• Difficulty walking, such as walking on toes, a crouched gait, a scissors-like gait with knees crossing, a wide gait or an asymmetrical gait
• Difficulty with fine motor skills, such as buttoning clothes or picking up utensils
Speech and eating
• Delays in speech development
• Difficulty speaking
• Difficulty with sucking, chewing or eating
• Excessive drooling or problems with swallowing
Development
• Delays in reaching motor skills milestones, such as sitting up or crawling
• Learning difficulties
• Intellectual disabilities
• Delayed growth, resulting in smaller size than would be expected
Symptoms
Signs and symptoms of cerebral palsy can vary greatly from person to person. Cerebral palsy can affect the whole body, or it might be limited primarily to one or two limbs, or one side of the body.
Movement and coordination
• Stiff muscles and exaggerated reflexes (spasticity), the most common movement disorder
• Variations in muscle tone, such as being either too stiff or too floppy
• Stiff muscles with normal reflexes (rigidity)
• Lack of balance and muscle coordination (ataxia)
• Tremors or jerky involuntary movements
• Slow, writhing movements
• Favoring one side of the body, such as only reaching with one hand or dragging a leg while crawling
• Difficulty walking, such as walking on toes, a crouched gait, a scissors-like gait with knees crossing, a wide gait or an asymmetrical gait
• Difficulty with fine motor skills, such as buttoning clothes or picking up utensils
Speech and eating
• Delays in speech development
• Difficulty speaking
• Difficulty with sucking, chewing or eating
• Excessive drooling or problems with swallowing
Development
• Delays in reaching motor skills milestones, such as sitting up or crawling
• Learning difficulties
• Intellectual disabilities
• Delayed growth, resulting in smaller size than would be expected
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