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Symptoms of Cerebral palsy

Babies with cerebral palsy may be 'floppy', and there may be problems feeding them because the swallowing muscles in their throat do not work properly.

At about six months the baby begins to show signs of tightness of the muscles. This is called spasticity. One effect of this is that the limbs start to become stuck in abnormal positions because some muscle groups are stronger than others. The ankles tend to be straightened out, as if the child were trying to walk on tiptoe, and arms are bent at the elbow and wrist.

The paralysis or palsy may affect mainly the legs, or all four limbs, or just one side of the body.

Children with cerebral palsy may be unable to control movement properly and may also move and jerk uncontrollably. They almost always have difficulty in walking, but this may vary from very slight to total.

Depending on the type of cerebral palsy, other symptoms can include:

• Speech problems (because they cannot control the muscles in the throat or mouth)
• Epilepsy (1 in 3 children with cerebral palsy has fits or seizures)
• Balance and coordination problems
• Hearing and sight difficulties
• Problems controlling movements, sitting upright or maintaining other positions.

Learning difficulties are not inevitable, but sometimes they can happen because of the damage to the brain that causes cerebral palsy.

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