Get Involved – Help Us to Help The Spastics
What is SPASTIC
A “spastic” is a person with Cerebral Palsy. This is a disorder of movement appearing in the early years of life. It is due to damage or failure to develop normally in a small part of the brain controlling these activities.
Cerebral palsy takes many forms- in fact no two spastic people are exactly the same. Some are less affected that they have no obvious disability. Others may be clumsy in their walk or they may have difficulties with their limbs or with muscles that help with speech. Some are even unable to stand or sit and thus, are unable to do even simple things for themselves.
Sometimes the damage involves some part of the brain as well. This leads to deafness and other disabilities involving perception. Many spastic children also have learning difficulties, which makes them slow to mature intellectually.
However, spastic people sometimes have higher than average intelligence though many are slow in catching up due to their handicaps. They often find it hard to control their facial expressions and may seem to be feeble-minded or even to be mentally retarded but some of those who seem to be severely disturbed are on the contrary very active intellectually and not least affected by the disorder.
How does the injury happen?
Celebral Palsy is not a disease and it certainly is not catching. It is unusual for two cases to occur in the same family. Broadly speaking a spastic child is born once in every 700 births, without any distinction of sex, race, maternal age or social background.
Celebral Palsy can be caused by many factors. In some cases, there has been damage during pregnancy, or the child’s brain may suffer damage while it is born. But difficult labour is not the only cause. In a number of cases, the problem can be traced to an illness or brain injury during the early years of the child’s life.
The birth of a spastic child is not the fault of either parent. But experts are still unable to identify all the causes.
The nature f the problem and the three main forms
Inherited defects do not play a large in Celebral Palsy. The problem is one of damage directly to the brain. There is no direct injury to the limbs. There are three main forms of Celebral Palsy – spasticity, athetotis, ataxia. Sufferers from all three are commonly called by the general term ‘Spastic’. In the following diagram, the three important sections of the brain are illustrated.
Cortex
The cortex or outer layer of the brain, has to do with thought, movement and sensation. The child with SPASTICTY has disordered control of movement, muscle weakness and often disturbance of growth and development. Damage to the cortex of the brain appears to the cause of the true spastic condition. It may affect both limbs on one side of the body, both the lower limbs or all four limbs.
Basal Ganglia
Situated below the cortex and in the middle of the brain, the basal ganglia and the cerebellum helps to make movement well organized, graceful an economical. ATHETOSIS results when the basal ganglia of the brain are affected. The main feature of the ATHETOID child is the frequent involuntary movements which mask and interfere with the normal movements of the whole body.
Cerebellum
The cerebellum at the base of the brain governs functions of the body such as co-ordination of movement, posture and balancing. It is linked to the brain stem which connects the upper brain with the spinal cord. The spastic child with ATAXIA caused by injury to the cerebellum has a unsteady gait and difficult in balancing.
Seriously handicapped ‘Spastics’ may have a combination of more than one of these basic categories. Diagnosis and classification present great difficulties.
Spastic Children Can Be Help
The source of the problem is not the affected limbs but in the cells of the brain. Correct treatment given early enough in life can often and bring great benefit though not absolute cure. No way has yet been found to repair the damage done to the brain cells themselves. The damage does not spread, but without skilled treatment the effect of the damage does become more serious.
Thus early recognition that something is wrong needs to be followed by speedy and skillful assessments of the child’s needs by specialists; followed by provision of whatever treatment may be needed. Spastic children deserve the best standard of care that love and modern knowledge can give.
