Orlando, FL (PRWEB) July 15, 2014 The birth injury patient advocates at CerebralPalsyHelp.org are alerting parents of new research information on the site for cerebral palsy. Doctors in Australia say they have devised a system to detect and diagnose the condition soon after birth that will allow for better treatment*. The CP Help Center is a national advocacy center providing the latest on cerebral palsy treatment, clinical trials, resources and litigation news. Parents can learn more about their childs condition and how it may have been caused, get information on available assistance, and decide if they should seek legal advice. Cerebral palsy restricts muscle movement, coordination and posture. The leading cause of functional and developmental disability in children in the United States**, it occurs in approximately 3.3 out of every 1,000 births, and affects approximately 500,000 children**. While CP alters muscle function, it is actually a neurological disorder caused by brain damage to the parts that control muscle function***. This usually occurs before, during or after birth***. Cerebral palsy may be caused by factors occurring to the fetus during pregnancy, or by trauma or asphyxiation during labor***. There is no cure at this time. However, researchers are working toward better … Continue reading →

This is the moment brave Ben Baddeley walks again after his final life-changing operation - thanks to Mirror readers. The 10-year-old cerebral palsy sufferer faced being stuck in a wheelchair when he was denied treatment by Tory NHS cuts. But our kind readers raised 20,000 after we highlighted his case - and his family elected to pay for selective dorsal rhizotomy (SDR) treatment privately. Footy-mad Ben - filmed taking his first tentative steps in hospital - has just had his second and final op and proud mum Amy could not be happier. Appeal: Cerebral palsy sufferer Ben Baddeley was denied a life-changing operation on the NHS She told how the delicate surgery had transformed her sons ability to walk. The 29-year-old said: We walked him up and down the hospital corridor with him holding my hands, just getting him used to his new legs. His right leg is almost perfect, the left one needs some more work but is improving all the time and he just wants to be up and about after the operation. You just would not believe how different he is. He is loving it, he wants to be moving now. More here: See moment disabled boy … Continue reading →

Mobile users, click here for video Thomas E. Franklin/Staff Photographer Wendy English, 51, is a longtime resident of the Woodbridge Developmental Center. In spite of her crippling cerebral palsy, Wendy English can make her own legal decisions, vote in local and national elections, and communicate with the help of a specially programmed iPad that utters phrases she has chosen when she taps the screen. Thomas E. Franklin /Staff Photographer Wendy English using a chart and iPad to communicate. She has little muscle control, so speech is difficult. But she cant control the thing she deems most important to her life: the decision to remain in her longtime home. English, 51, is one of about 1,000 people with developmental disabilities the state is moving from its institutions in an effort to phase out a treatment model that in recent years has become a prime target of state and national efforts for change. State officials say people like English could have a better life in smaller, privately run homes, which happen to cost less to manage. English, however, doesnt see it that way. She doesnt want to move from the Woodbridge Developmental Center, one of the two state institutions slated for closure … Continue reading →

Step by step little superstar Matthew Spoors is learning to walk all over again. The 10-year-old has been undergoing intensive physiotherapy as he takes slow steps to recovery. Matthew suffers from a form of cerebral palsy, known as Hemiplegia. Born 11 weeks premature and weighing just 3lbs at Newcastles Royal Victoria Infirmary, Matthew spent the first two months of his life in hospital. Mum Nicola Spoors, of Whickham, Gateshead, said: We knew straight away something wasnt quite right but it took a year before he was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. Matthew, a pupil at Whickham Parochial Primary School, started walking when he was three but the nature of his condition meant he suffered severe tightness in his muscles causing his feet to pronate. Nicola, an insurance advisor, said: He was walking but as a result the bones were becoming deformed. Medics were left with no other choice but to break the thigh bone in Matthews left leg and carrying out a tendon transfer. Since the surgery, in January this year, Matthew has started the difficult process of learning to walk again. Nicola, married to Steven ,43, said: Its been hard for him. He was in a wheelchair and in the … Continue reading →