Parents Involvement: Daily Home Practices for Children with Cerebral Palsy

Most people associate Cerebral Palsy as a muscular disorder when in fact it’s a neurological condition that affects movement. This happened because of a brain malfunction before, during, or after birth — as a result of the brain damage, a child’s muscle coordination, movement, control, reflexes, and balance is affected.

Intensive therapy is needed for children with this condition to help them control their movements, develop their overall potential, build their emotional and psychological needs towards independence and overall development. There are a lot of tools and practices (like CME Therapy and Therasuit) that experts use to help children maximise their capability.

Importance of Therapy

Our childhood determines how our adulthood life will be. It is where we learn things, discover opportunities, and acknowledge mistakes. All these and more need to be experienced by children with CP. Their condition doesn’t make them any less — it makes them special as they need extra helping hands to realise their potentials.

With the right therapy at the right time, the child can enhance his/her quality of life. Therapy allows them to have a normal life by reducing the incidence of complications and by reinforcing their independence. The journey is never easy, but the hard part is just the beginning and the result will always be worth it.

With therapy, the experts are not only focused on the physical symptoms but also the emotional development, mental stability and psychological comfort of the child. It’s a holistic approach that needs the support of the parents and the entire family. Children with cerebral palsy need the utmost support and understanding from their loved ones for them to develop and achieve a quality of life.

Therapy also enhances the life of parents and their relationship with their child with cerebral palsy. It fosters the relationship through empathy and experience. The parents will be able to see how their child strives to become better and get to know more about the condition from the experts. With therapy, parents can also find a community for emotional support and an avenue to gather more facts about cerebral palsy that ultimately leads to more harmonious family life.

Practices At Home

As a parent, it is important to see every circumstance as an opportunity to aid your child’s development. One of the most effective ways to help is by initiating proven practices that can be done even at home.

• Daily Playtime
  • Playtime for children with cerebral palsy is an organised therapy in a fun way where they can develop their motor skills and cognitive skills in a supportive environment. To start your daily playtime, it is important to consult your therapist on what are the best activities you can do at home. You can start by utilising toys where they can interact, simple challenges to help them develop their movement and family time where they can feel the love and support as this will boost their self-confidence and eliminate feeling of “separation.”
  • Simple daily learning to develop their cognitive skills will go a long way. You can start by having puzzle games, numbers and letters identification time, playing with different shapes and matching games. This will help them build their decision-making skills and independence as they grow up.
  • Family time where the child can interact with the family will help them boost their self-confidence and independence. It will impact how they will interact with others, and how they see themselves when surrounded by people.
• Grooming and Hygiene Skills – Children with cerebral palsy are just like the rest of the children — they need training and patience in learning day-to-day tasks from brushing one’s teeth to tying the shoes. It’s just that children with cerebral palsy will need extra time and indulgence in getting there. You can start by allowing them to pick colors of what to wear, giving them authority to decide what to wear and by acknowledging what they like. On the way, it is very important that as a parent, you also create a schedule and implement it. You can start doing this by introducing one grooming and/or hygiene at a time. The key is to take it easy and celebrate the simple achievements — it will impact on how they see things, and will strive to do better.
• Eating and Sleeping Habits – You can start implementing this by introducing healthy options to your child, allow them to know the importance of eating right at the right time. By being consistent you’ll be able to introduce a food routine where they can refer to and be adaptable about it. As you build this, you also need to introduce a sleeping habit and schedule. It is easier for them to become accustomed to things that are consistent and build their own way towards it.
• Build Hobbies and Interests – Introduce your child to different activities where they can have fun and learn at the same time. This is also a wonderful training to get to know what they like and give them the chance of exercising their own choices as well as authority. This will be a fun environment for them to enjoy the things they want to do and develop their independence.

With children with cerebral palsy, it is important to know the right facts and the right options for you. As a parent, don’t feel alone in dealing with your child. They can be difficult at times, but that’s only because they need extra patience, understanding, and care.

To get to know more about cerebral palsy and the right options for your child, please give us a ring at 0411696839 or visit our clinic today.