Presentation 4

1. Signs and Symptoms

2. Sign andSymptoms
 Reaching the expected developmental benchmarks of
infancy and childhood – sitting, rolling over, crawling,
standing and walking – are a matter of great joy for
parents, but what if a child’s developmental timetable
seems delayed?
 There are many tell-tale signs that a child may have
cerebral palsy, but those factors can be indicative of many
conditions.

3. Signs and Symptoms
 Signs of cerebral palsy are different from symptoms of
cerebral palsy.
 Signs are clinically identifiable effects of brain injury or
malformation that cause cerebral palsy. A doctor will
discern signs of a health concern during the exam and
testing.
 Symptoms, on the other hand, are effects the child feels
or expresses; symptoms are not necessarily visible.

4. Signs and Symptoms
Impairments resulting from cerebral palsy range in severity,
usually in correlation with the degree of injury to the brain.
Because cerebral palsy is a group of conditions, signs and
symptoms vary from one individual to the next.

5. Signs and Symptoms
The primary effect of cerebral palsy is impairment of muscle
tone, gross and fine motor functions, balance, control,
coordination, reflexes, and posture. Oral motor dysfunction,
such as swallowing and feeding difficulties, speech
impairment, and poor facial muscle tone can also indicate
cerebral palsy.

6. Signs and Symptoms
Associative conditions, such as sensory impairment, seizures,
and learning disabilities that are not a result of the same
brain injury, occur frequently with cerebral palsy. When
present, these associative conditions may contribute to a
clinical diagnosis of cerebral palsy.

7. Signs and Symptoms
Many signs and symptoms are not
readily visible at birth, except in
some severe cases, and may
appear within the first three to
five years of life as the brain and
child develop.

8. Signs and Symptoms
In these instances, the most apparent early sign of cerebral
palsy is developmental delay. Delay in reaching key growth
milestones, such as rolling over, sitting, crawling and walking
are cause for concern. Practitioners will also look for signs
such as abnormal muscle tone, unusual posture, persistent
infant reflexes, and early development of hand preference.

9. Signs and Symptoms
If the delivery was traumatic, or if significant risk factors
were encountered during pregnancy or birth, doctors may
suspect cerebral palsy immediately. In moderate to mild
cases of cerebral palsy, parents are often first to notice if
the child doesn’t appear to be developing on schedule. If
parents do begin to suspect cerebral palsy, they will likely
want to ask their physician to evaluate their child for
cerebral palsy.