Is my child's cerebral palsy getting worse

How early can cerebral palsy be picked up now? Before six months of corrected age, where families used to be asked to wait until one or two.

This episode is written for the parent who has recently been handed the words. A diagnosis tells you what condition your child has. It does not tell you who your child is.

Then the plain version of what cerebral palsy is. An umbrella term for a group of conditions affecting movement, posture and coordination, caused by an interruption to how the brain develops or an injury to it before, during or shortly after birth.

Then what a physiotherapist actually does, which is not a child lying on a bed being stretched: rather it is play. The motor skills themselves, rolling, sitting, crawling, standing and walking; independence in movement and positioning and posture to keep joints moving and even.

The second half is for Speech Pathology Week, whose theme this year is that communication creates possibility. It is about a job most people have never heard of a physiotherapist doing: helping a child who does not talk get to their words. There are different methods of communication outside speech which is called Augmentative and Alternative Communication, or AAC. This all relies on movement which is what physios are good at.

Topics covered: cerebral palsy, early diagnosis of cerebral palsy, corrected age, paediatric physiotherapy for cerebral palsy, positioning and posture, equipment prescription, walkers and standing frames, augmentative and alternative communication, AAC, Key Word Sign, eye gaze, switch access, seating, children who do not speak, Speech Pathology Week, early intervention, Campbelltown, Macarthur, NSW.

Read more from Aderet Therapy

• [Understanding Cerebral Palsy](https://aderettherapy.com.au/resources/cerebral-palsy/)
• [What is a Physiotherapist's role in non-verbal population?](https://aderettherapy.com.au/resources/physio-role-nonverbal/)

Support lines

• Cerebral Palsy Alliance: [1300 888 378](tel:1300888378)
• Pregnancy, Birth and Baby: [1800 882 436](tel:1800882436)

Sources behind this episode

Written by the paediatric physiotherapy team at Aderet Therapy, Campbelltown. The clinical content follows the clinic's own published articles, Understanding Cerebral Palsy and What is a Physiotherapist's role in non-verbal population? The early detection material follows Novak and colleagues in JAMA Pediatrics, 2017, and Cerebral Palsy Alliance's guide for parents and carers.

In this episode

• 00:00 - Intro
• 01:12 - Song: Still You
• 03:11 - Cerebral Palsy
• 09:24 - Song: Arriving Somewhere New
• 11:44 - Communication creates possibility
• 18:08 - Song: Plenty To Say
• 20:08 - Wrap up

About the show

Aderet Therapy Weekly is a short weekly podcast for parents of babies and young children, from the paediatric physiotherapy team at Aderet Therapy in Campbelltown, in the Macarthur region of south west Sydney, NSW. Every episode takes one thing parents worry about, explains what is actually known about it, and says plainly what is not known. No judgement, no jargon, no scare tactics.

Aderet Therapy: paediatric physiotherapy, early intervention key worker support, communication physiotherapy and AAC, aquatic physiotherapy, equipment prescription, school holiday programs, and the free Little Movers League community sessions. NDIS, Medicare and private health.

Contact

• Website: [aderettherapy.com.au](https://aderettherapy.com.au)
• Phone: [02 4949 7276](tel:+61249497276)
• Address: Suite 10, 261 Queen Street, Campbelltown NSW 2560

Disclaimer

Everything in this episode is general information only. Every child is unique, and nothing here replaces a conversation with your GP, your child and family health nurse, or your physiotherapist.