WHAT MEDICAL PROBLEMS ARE ASSOCIATED WITH CEREBRAL PALSY?

Children with cerebral palsy have many problems, not all of them related to the brain injury. Most

of these complications are nevertheless neurological. They include epilepsy, mental retardation,

learning disabilities, and attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder. These problems are discussed in

chapter 3, as are problems that occur less commonly, such as swallowing problems in children with

spastic quadriplegia. In the next chapter, we look at normal pediatric development, to establish a basis with which to compare the development and behavior of a child with cerebral palsy.

Children with cerebral palsy may also develop hip subluxation or have problems with the gait.