What Is CP?

What is cerebral palsy?

Cerebral palsy, or CP, is a developmental disorder of posture and movement. CP is the most common childhood disability in the United States, affecting more than 760,000 children and adults in the U.S.

What causes cerebral palsy?

Cerebral palsy is the result of an injury to the brain occurring during fetal developmental, during or shortly after birth, or during infancy. Thje damage to the brain cannot be repaired, but it is not progressive. The child with cerebral palsy will become an adolescent and later an adult with cerebral palsy.

Cerebral palsy is not a specific diagnosis with a specific cause. Rather, it is a description of a group of clinical features that occur when there is an injury to the developing brain.

Each person with cerebral palsy is unique. Depending on the location and extent of the injury, clinical features may vary from barely perceptible to severe. Cerebral palsy can affect movement, balance, speech, vision, and coordination. The damage to the brain may also result in intellectual impairment, seizures, and problems with learning, eating, and breathing.