Psychology paper..

Here roni, is my finished psychology paper. read at your own risk.. it might be boring to ya.

Cerebral Palsy In Young Children
Rebekah Henderson
Somerset Community College
Psychology 223






Cerebral Palsy in Young Kids
Can you imagine what it is like to spend your entire life in a wheelchair? Try to imagine yourself without the ability to get yourself up, to dress yourself, to go places on your own, or even work at a job and earn a living. These are everyday abilities that people take for granted. However, there are some that live with these inabilities. They live with a disorder called cerebral palsy, which affects the muscle tone in the human body. Due to today’s ever expanding medical research and development, cerebral palsy is more widely known than in years past. Still yet, doctors have been unable to come up with anything that would prevent this from happening to a child, while it is still in its mothers womb. Fetal heart rate monitors and just keeping a close eye on the mother and baby, have been helpful, but still there is no cure. Today nearly 800,000 children and adults are living with some type of cerebral palsy, and every year around 10,00 children are born with some type of cerebral palsy. There is several types of cerebral palsy, one shows up mainly in children, it is called spastic cerebral palsy. It can effect only one side of the body, both legs, or in sever cases all four limbs can be affected. Spastic cerebral palsy causes muscles to stiffen and makes movement difficult. Another type of cerebral palsy is autoerotic cerebral palsy, it is only found in one out of every five children. Autoerotic cerebral palsy affects the entire body and often causes uncontrolled slow moments. The least common type of cerebral palsy is ataxic, it affects balance and coordination. Many children can show signs and symptoms of more than one type of cerebral palsy. Many children can have sever mental retardation while others can be extremely bright. Many need a wheelchair with extensive lifelong care, while others require little or no assistance. (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and stroke. 2006)
Cerebral palsy was first detected by a British surgeon named William Little in the 1860’s. He identified that asphyxia during birth is the major cause of the abnormality . Later in the 1970’s Thomas Galton stated that there is a consistency between aptitude and physical disability which in turn led to the over diagnosis of cerebral palsy. It is possible for people with cerebral palsy to live normal lives when managed coherently. The percentage rates for cerebral palsy occurring are as follows during pregnancy 75%, at birth 5%, and after birth 15% chance of cerebral palsy occurring. (Low,2006)
Cerebral palsy effects children in more ways than a person would realize. Children that do not have this disorder, have the ability to run, play, eat, talk, and simply take care of their every day needs. Where as with children that have cerebral palsy, have to depend on someone for their every need no matter how big or small. Children with cerebral palsy live on a tight daily schedule; their whole lives consist of having to take medicine around the clock. Their ability to fight off sickness is lower than a normal child’s would be. Children with cerebral palsy are more prone to other health problems, such as abnormal sensations, speech problems, drooling, impaired vision, even down to mental retardation. Other risk factors that can cause children to acquire cerebral palsy are babies that are premature or have low birth weight, fetus that are in the breach position, complicated labor and delivery, or even maternal infection during pregnancy. Although cerebral palsy is not curable, it does not worsen over time. (NINDS 2006). According to researchers at the children’s hospital at Zhejiang medical university, they spent over a year researching the effects of acupressure treatment for children who had infantile cerebral palsy. They found around 75 children to participate in the study each child received 10 to 175 treatments of therapy, body acupuncture, along with acupressure massages. The researchers gathered their information based on the children’s performance in physical movement, and their intelligence quotient. (Zhou, 1993)
There are several ways in which a mother and father can tell if their child has cerebral palsy. Parents can tell as early as the first two to three months of their child’s life. The child’s motor skills will fall behind and set mile stones in a developing child. A child with cerebral palsy will tend, to either feel and look real tense, or seem real relaxed. This is due to the lack of the child having control over his or her own muscle tone. Even though cerebral palsy may be caught at an early age in a child’s life, there is still no possible cure to relive the child of this problem. Children with cerebral palsy, depending on which part of the body it affects, tends to have a problem with the hamstrings in their upper leg pulling on the muscles in the lower leg, which causes their legs to be pulled behind their body. To correct the problem, doctors will cut the hamstrings in the upper legs causing the muscles to relax which than stops the pulling on the lower legs. Another common problem with children having this disorder occurs with tightness in their feet, also causing muscles to pull the feet towards the back of their body. To correct the problem doctors will cut the tendon, and put casts on the legs, causing the feet to line up in the anatomical position. Doctors can also supply the patient with prescription drugs to help with seizures, to regulate pain, or to relax tight muscles.(NINDS 2006) Doctors will diagnose cerebral palsy by testing the child’s motor skills, and by looking into the medical history of the child and mother. Doctors will also check how well developed the child’s hand movement is compared to other children who are normal. From their, doctors will start to narrow down on symptoms that can cause the same effects of cerebral palsy. (united cerebral palsy 2001)
With proper training, parents can learn to help their child through the major steps in life. When caught early enough, a doctor will encourage a parent to put their child in physical therapy which will help with the muscle tone, and help the child to remain physically limber. This will also help them to reach their full potential in life. Physical therapy can help children with cerebral palsy in several different ways. Some physical therapist might work with children in walking, and in stretching muscles, others might help with dressing or day to day activities. Children with this disability might even go to counseling and behavior therapy to help them deal with the emotional and psychological needs with having this condition. (NINDS 2006) Parents also face many problems, such as trying to find clothes that are lose enough to fit their children. This is why we tend to see children with cerebral palsy wearing sweat pants and t-shirts. Some of the types of treatment that are used for children with cerebral palsy include, but not limited too, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy as mentioned before, vision and hearing aids, medications, surgery and assistive technology.
Cerebral palsy is the result of having an injury to the brain. It happens after conception, either while still in the mothers womb or in the delivery process or shortly after birth. Doctors are still unsure of what causes Cerebral Palsy. The injury can be a result of an infection or if the mother is hurt while carrying the baby. It is also possible that a baby can get cerebral palsy during the delivery process, in which the baby can not get enough oxygen, or has a difficult time being delivered, where the baby’s brain is damaged. Even after birth the baby is still at a risk for cerebral palsy, due to the fact that after birth the baby’s brain is still developing. and the baby can be born with infections or have bleeding in the brain. (Brown, 2008) there are also conditions that are sometimes associated with cerebral palsy which are delayed growth and development, spinal deformities, impaired vision and speech, drooling, incontinence, and abnormal sensations and perceptions.
It is heart breaking to see children that are in this condition. Cerebral palsy takes away from their independence, also takes away their freedom to run and play. Parents with children who have cerebral palsy do not have certain freedoms that parents with normal children have. It takes parents who are willing to make a great sacrifices to be able to take care of children that have this disability. It takes parents who are fully dedicated to their children, who are willing to spend every wakening moment to see that the are properly taken care of. Having children with this disability also takes many, many hours in doctors offices going for yearly physicals, getting medications, and going to physical therapy. Children with this disability need parents who are willing to put them first in everything they do. Even though cerebral palsy is affecting more and more children, hopefully one day doctors will have a cure to relieve children of this disability.
References
Brown, P. (2003) Cerebral Palsy. Retrieved September 15, 2008, http://www.healthsystem.virginia.edu/internet/pediatrics/patients/Tutorials/cp.cfm
Low, J. (2006). History of Cerebral Palsy. Retrieved September 27, 2008, from http://ezinearticles.com/?History-of-Cerebral-Palsy&id=303082
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. ( 2006,) Cerebral Palsy Hope Through Research National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. Retrieved September 17, 2008, from http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/cerebral_palsy/cerebral_palsy.htm
United Cerebral Palsy. (2001) United Cerebral Palsy. Retrieved October 3, 2008, from http://www.ucp.org/ucp_generaldoc.cfm/1/9/37/37-37/447
Zhou, X. (1993). Observation on 60 Cases of Infantile Cerebral Palsy Treated Mainly by Acupuncture. Retrieved October 2, 2008, from http://www.sheridanhill.com/cerebral-palsy-acupuncture-research.html