Adopting A Child With Mild Cerebral Palsy

[Deleted User]

My husband and I are approved adopters and have been approcahed about a 22 month old girl who has mild cerebral palsy. She is able to sit unaided, walk around holding onto furniture. She interacts well and has a little speech. Is anyone absle to give us some advise having a child with mild cp and possible outcomes as she gets older.

Thank you very much for your help.

umbro

If you are prepared to put a lot of hard work in, there will be a lot of rewards in adopting a child with CP.

I say hard work because everything you take for granted in life has to be worked on and practised over and over again ie dressing, eating, walking etc

It is so worth it though - as taking things for granted often means you don't celebrate the new things learned and milestones reached. Often they can pass by and get missed.

Will this be your first/ only child or do you have others already?

U.

Guest

Thank you so much for your reply. Yes this is our first child, we are just trying to find as much into on mild cp as possible before we make a decision.

umbro

If this is your first and only child it will mean that you will have all of your time to help her/him. At the beginning this will be useful.

Good luck with making your decision,

U.

debbiem

My daughter walked with a frame at that age. She is now 5 and walks mostly unaided (she is a part time wheelchair user for distance and speed/stability). She attends mainstream school with a statement giving some additional support. You need to think about communication - I don't know if the little girl is thought to have any difficulties regarding speech delay etc? It's very common to focus on mobility in the early days and forget about some of the other issues that may be even more important in the grand scheme of things!
Hope it all goes well for you and you are able to get to know her a little better and make a decision.

Lilith

Hi,

We adopted our daughter who has more severe cerebral palsy and does not yet walk or talk. We have never for one minute regretted our decision and the love she has given us and our wider family is totally immense. But my advise would be to research the purely practical issues (if applicable) like who pays for any adaptations, equipment, etc. If you adopt from one local authority but live in another (like us) I can only warn you of the awful lengths that some human beings will go to to protect 'their budgets'! You would think that they were not going to get paid at the end of the month unless they ensure that the 'other side' pays for such equipment. This has left me feeling that I do not belong where we live and would desperately like to move, were it not for the credit crunch taking care of that! Had I have known, I would have got things more water tight in regard to the financial implications, but that said, nothing would have stopped us! Hard work yes, but absolutely, totally worth it all......Wishing you the best of luck, Jan

Blod2

Hi my husband and I are also considering adopting a child with mild cp who is 21 months. these posts have been very helpful. Would be interested in talking to 'learning' if she would like to chat.
Thanks

blueseasue

hi my little boy has just turned 2 and he has mild CP, he can walk a little with and without furniture but tumbles frequently and also has delayed speech, however he is such a happy little boy and although he is my 4th child he has made me appreciate every little thing i have taken for granted with the others, we use makaton signing which i enjoy more than he does!
every Cp child is different, i wont say its easy as it really isnt, but i find it so rewarding (more so than with my others) when he does something new.
i dont know what the future holds for him as only time will tell as im sure is the case for you
only you candecide on a decision that is right for you
all the best
sue x

Guest

Hello

Thank you so much for your replies. It has been of great help! Blod, It would be great to chat, not sure how we do that on here. Where are you located?

Learning

Guest

Hi Blod and Learning

We are unable to facilitate contact between members on this forum, but if you both want to join Special Kids in the UK I think you will find that their forum is unmoderated and you can exchange contact details.

Hope that helps.

Kind regards

Forums Moderator

Guest

I agree with all the advise everone has given you. Our little ray of sunshine is adopted, we adopted her at 25 months when she had an unclear prognosis. She has mild CP, she basically walks with a limp and cannot walk long distances, she is 7 now and tbh it was the best thing we have ever done in our life - completely life changing. Our life is so enriched now that Nat is in it and even if should was never to walk we would have still said yes. It is hard work but with a good support network, it is the most rewarding thing ever.

We adopted again two tears after Nat, a baby of 5 months (she is 3 now) so we now have 2 amazing daighters with completely different backgrounds who would nott be without each other. We woulkd like to adopt again and would even consider CP again good luck

Guest

An added note from hubby who has just read this thread - it is hard work but you will never look back, you will just give your daughter all the love in the world

Guest

I am happy t oregister if you wanted to chat too

Blod2

Hi Forum Moderator
Thanks for your advice on contacting 'Learning'.
Have looked at Special Kids Website and to register you have to give details of your child. The little girl we hope to adopt is not in placement yet so would not appropriate to be putting her name DOB etc on websites. Any other ideas? Would be good to talk to people who also in the same situation as us.
thanks
Blod

[from Forum Moderator: if possible contact the moderator/webmaster/owner of that site to see if they can suggest a way that you can register without having to give information that you are not in a position to share]

debbiem

blod, i don't know if you sorted it out with SKINUK, but you can register by calling the child 'x' or whatever - quite a few members have foster placements or potential adoptees that aren't named on the site.

Guest

Hello all

Thanks for the replies, I have been away for a while so sorry for not replying sooner. I have another question, do any of your children have cognitive delay and what implications does this have?

I have tried registering on the other site but am struggling with it!!!

Thanks again and hope you are all well.

Raine3

Hi,

The worst thing about CP is that every child has different levels of disability, and even as a parent you very rarely get the answers you are looking for because the professionals have to 'wait and see' just the same as we do.

The positive side is I have a wonderful little boy that I adore, and although we have 'sad moments' where you think about what this childs life should have been ... every day he makes me laugh and smile and I will always be proud to be his mummy.

I hope you can have extended visits & sleepovers so that you can get an idea of what is involved, in some respects it's easier when you are the birth parent because you accept the problems one day at a time as your childs development progresses ... if you know what I mean.

Hope to see you both on Special Kids soon (it is worth the effort of the registration) best of luck to both of you.

Raine x

PennyB

Hi,
I' adopted a 9 day old boy with (unknown to me at the time) mildish CP. This I must add is in Africa where circumstances are very different from at home in UK. He had been abandoned by his mother and I went into the Hosp as a volentary helper on the abandoned baby unit which is how i came to have him. He drooled and stuck his tongue out all the time and seemd to have multiple other probs that no one could diagnose. He did not sit up till he was well over 1 year and was 'floppy so could not hold his head up either. Feeding was a problem because he could not control the movement of the food in his mouth so choked on solids. I've had a child with a cleft palate so was able to cope with this. To cut a long story short at 2 years because of his multiple problems I managed to see a neorologist who diagnosed Kernicterus (a complication of untreated yellow jaundice at birth) resulting in CP. I have always treated him as normal talking to him like a normal child and encouraging him with praise especially when (for him) a milestone is achieved. I enrolled him at the Montessori pre-school and have had incredible results. He will be 5 in February and can now walk, all be it with a lot of tumbles due to poor balance, talk .. not well but he can say simple sentences though pronunciation is difficult and is out of nappies. He is the most wonderful and bravest boy imaginable and I know that if you adopt this little girl you will NEVER regret it.

PennyB

My adopted son now aged 4years 10 months has exactly what you describe. He is making steady progress but everything is delayed (behind with the milestones i think they call it). Within the last 6 months he has started using simple sentences, something non CP children would do at 2/3 years. he has now started to feed himself solid food though cannot hold a cup or feed himslf with sloppy food yet but it WILL come.He cannot fathom how to dress himself though.Please be patient and believe that it will happen, maybe not today or tomorrow but who knows what the future may hold. This is the 1st year he has realised there is Father Christmas, it's as though his brain has been sleeping up till now and is just starting to wake up. So this year we are ticking off the days

n23murphy

My gorgeous little 2 and half yr old was diagnosed with mild Cp at 22months. He like all children his age is developing normally apart from a slight weakness on his left hand side. He has a slight limp,always has to wear booths with insoles and has monthly physio-otherwise he is perfect. He is so so clever,much more advanced than his peers and is very determined to do things for himself. Dont let it put you off. Its a very mild disability, that with the right treatment, can be hardly noticeable. Good Luck.