COPING WITH THE UNCERTAINTIES OF SEIZURES AND EPILEPSY: ABNORMAL MOVEMENTS
When brain damage affects areas of the brain that control the coordination of movements, the child may be athetoid; movements are performed slowly and in a writhing fashion. Damage to other areas of the brain may cause more rigid movements, that is, dystonia. Since these control areas lie deep within the brain in regions less likely to cause seizures, epilepsy is uncommon among such children. They are also less likely to be retarded.Children with damage to multiple areas of the brain may have both spasticity and either athetosis or dystonia. Such children are said to have mixed cerebral palsy.»How can I help my child who has cerebral palsy?»Helping your child to cope with cerebral palsy depends on whether or not there is mental retardation. Many children with cerebral palsy are of normal intelligence, and for these children the motor dysfunction can be enormously frustrating. To be unable to dress, to go to the bathroom alone, to feed yourself can create such a sense of helplessness and dependence that depression is not uncommon. And yet children with cerebral palsy are increasingly able to find areas in which they can become competent and ultimately develop self-esteem. Appropriate use of computers allows both learning and communication. Motorized wheelchairs and special adaptations may permit mobility and independence. It is amazing what can be done to help unlock the real person who is within.For the child with cerebral palsy as for the child with mental retardation the most important ingredients in successfully coping are development of motivation and self-esteem. Motivation can be stimulated by activities and hard work such as those involved in preparing for the Special Olympics. The joy of successfully participating in such sports promotes self-esteem. Special Olympics is a model of what can be achieved in other areas of life, with patience and persistence. Such children need role models of successful handicapped adults. Their ability to become an achieving adult begins with small successes in the family and in the school.Helping your handicapped child to cope with the accompanying psychological problems is still an art, not a science. How to do this is unclear, but he, and you also, need help in articulating your frustrations, concerns, your anger, and your hopes.There has been amazing progress in recent years in enabling both the retarded and those with cerebral palsy to participate more fully in the community. The old stereotypes of institutionalization and handicap persist. But these children, while disabled, are not able.*201\208\8*
