The aim is to describe the development of hand function in young adults with unilateral cerebral palsy (CP), who participated in a 2-week Constraint Induced Movement Therapy (CIMT) camp 6 years earlier. Eleven participants, 16-21 years at follow-up, were assessed at three occasions during 2005 and once in 2011. At the 6-year follow-up, performance…

In this article, the author talks about functional electrical stimulation in children and adolescents with cerebral palsy. Functional electrical stimulation (FES) is defined as the electrical stimulation of muscles that have impaired motor control, in order to produce a contraction to obtain functionally useful movement. It was first proposed in…

This commentary is informed by the author's multiple perspectives as a parent of a 12-year-old girl with cerebral palsy, as a social worker, and as a critical disability advocate and activist. While the author occupies these subject positions simultaneously, they are not necessarily always confluent with one another. She struggles with, and is, at…

This viewpoint draws on discussions at two seminars to consider ambivalent attitudes amongst a group of Black women towards considering themselves and/or other Black people as "middle class". The first seminar highlighted the experiences of a group of Black "middle-class" parents and the second, which was organised as a result of the reaction the…

In their qualitative study, Young and colleagues (2009) found that youth and adults with cerebral palsy (CP), spina bifida, and acquired brain injuries of childhood in the province of Ontario, Canada, perceive or have perceived their transfer from pediatric to adult-oriented health care services as a struggle. Although publications on transition…

The author discusses the development of social skills by the physically disabled adolescent, ways parents can help, the development of intimate adult relationships, and the effects of cerebral palsy on sexuality. Five organizations for the disabled or their families are listed. (DB)

The authors question the assumption that parent participation is critical to the success of early intervention programs and cite the lack of research support for this notion in programs for young children with cerebral palsy. They note that financial considerations may still dictate the need for parent participation. (CL)

This article emphasizes the importance for parents and caregivers in recognizing and responding to a child's sounds and vocalizations as such are a child's initial attempts at speech and language production. The article presents important factors to consider in determining the presence of a child's speech, language, communication, and learning…

The parent of a cerebral palsied child with spastic quadriplegia relates the process of arriving at the decision to utilize tube feeding via a surgically placed gastrostomy. (DB)

A psychotherapist with cerebral palsy recounts her own experience and the need of disabled persons to view their sexuality with openness and acceptance, develop a desirable body image, and reject the mystique of the idealized vision of sexuality. (DB)

The mother of a cerebral palsied young man stresses the importance for an exceptional child's appearance being as near normal as possible. (SBH)

This response to an article (EC 633 617) on the use of facilitated communication by a Finnish man diagnosed with mental retardation and cerebral palsy urges consideration of simpler alternative explanations (than his authorship of the texts) for the interesting text produced by the process in this case. It urges the use of double-blind, controlled…

A parent recounts the process leading to placement of her severely retarded and cerebral palsied son in a residential situation using Community Training Homes, a foster home program in Connecticut. (DB)

Although it once seemed simple to say that a single event such as birth trauma or asphyxia caused brain disorders like cerebral palsy, mental retardation, and epilepsy, a recent study showed that it is nearly impossible to pinpoint a single cause and its effects. Recommendations for further research are made. (BB)

A mother recounts her negative experiences with an early intervention program for her cerebral palsied infant and encourages parents to assert themselves if a program is not meeting their child's needs. (DB)