Signs and Symptoms

Sign and Symptoms

Reaching the expected developmental benchmarks of infancy and childhood – sitting, rolling over, crawling, standing and walking – are a matter of great joy for parents, but what if a child’s developmental timetable seems delayed?

There are many tell-tale signs that a child may have cerebral palsy, but those factors can be indicative of many conditions.

Signs and Symptoms

Signs of cerebral palsy are different from symptoms of cerebral palsy.

Signs are clinically identifiable effects of brain injury or malformation that cause cerebral palsy. A doctor will discern signs of a health concern during the exam and testing.

Symptoms, on the other hand, are effects the child feels or expresses; symptoms are not necessarily visible.

Signs and SymptomsImpairments resulting from cerebral palsy range in severity, usually in correlation with the degree of injury to the brain. Because cerebral palsy is a group of conditions, signs and symptoms vary from one individual to the next.

Signs and Symptoms

The primary effect of cerebral palsy is impairment of muscle tone, gross and fine motor functions, balance, control, coordination, reflexes, and posture. Oral motor dysfunction, such as swallowing and feeding difficulties, speech impairment, and poor facial muscle tone can also indicate cerebral palsy.

Signs and Symptoms

Associative conditions, such as sensory impairment, seizures, and learning disabilities that are not a result of the same brain injury, occur frequently with cerebral palsy. When present, these associative conditions may contribute to a clinical diagnosis of cerebral palsy.

Signs and SymptomsMany signs and symptoms are not readily visible at birth, except in some severe cases, and may appear within the first three to five years of life as the brain and child develop.

Signs and Symptoms

In these instances, the most apparent early sign of cerebral palsy is developmental delay. Delay in reaching key growth milestones, such as rolling over, sitting, crawling and walking are cause for concern. Practitioners will also look for signs such as abnormal muscle tone, unusual posture, persistent infant reflexes, and early development of hand preference.

Signs and Symptoms

If the delivery was traumatic, or if significant risk factors were encountered during pregnancy or birth, doctors may suspect cerebral palsy immediately. In moderate to mild cases of cerebral palsy, parents are often first to notice if the child doesn’t appear to be developing on schedule. If parents do begin to suspect cerebral palsy, they will likely want to ask their physician to evaluate their child for cerebral palsy.