Cerebral palsy Flashcards
1
Q
What is cerebral palsy
A
Cerebral Palsy is a neurological condition which can affect a person’s body movement, coordination and posture. It affects both the brain and the nervous systems and is caused by either damage to the brain or abnormal brain development. This can occur at a pre-natal stage, during birth or shortly after birth but affects and individual throughout their lifetime
2
Q
What causes Cerebral Palsy
A
There are many different known causes of cerebral palsy:
- Brain Injury
- Starvation of oxygen to the brain
- Premature birth
- Cerebral Bleed
- Brain infection such as meningitis
3
Q
Treatment options for cerebral palsy in SLT
A
Total communication approach
Articulation therapy
Augmentative and Alternative Communication
Compensatory strategies
Eating, drinking and swallowing management
4
Q
What might someone with Cerebral Palsy experience in terms of SLT diagnoses
A
- Articulation disorders - poor oral-motor control, muscle weakness in the head, neck, face and throat - this makes it difficult to articulate
- Fluency disorder - interruptions such as: stuttering, break the flow of speech, impeding communication and frustrating individuals affected by fluency disorders
- Voice Disorders - resonance problems, irregular pitch, volume control and voice quality
- Dysarthria - Cerebral palsy patients sometimes experience impaired movement of muscles that are used for speech production. These areas include the tongue, lips, vocal folds: Slurred/ mumbled speech Delayed rate of speech Limited facial movement Abnormal pitch or rhythmic speaking
- Dysphagia - difficulty swallowing or digesting food from your mouth to your stomach:
Drooling
Coughing
Aspiration etc. - Aphasia: damage to the part of the brain that affects language and speech
- Not only are there expressive difficulties there will also be receptive difficulties as well - understanding language - cognitive deficit etc.
- Cog comm - problem solving, memory, organisation skills etc.
