March is Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month

Richard_Scope

March is an exciting month, spring is just around the corner with sunshine (hopefully) and BBQs, St. Patricks day and of course, it's Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month!

To get us started I thought it would be a good idea to share some of the key facts about CP:

Around 2-2.5 in every 1000 children in the UK are born with cerebral palsy

There are approximately 1,800 children diagnosed with cerebral palsy every year

There are an estimated 30,000 children with cerebral palsy in the UK

There are an estimated 111,00 adults with cerebral palsy in the UK

There are 3 main types of cerebral palsy. However, many people will present a mixture of these types.
 
Cerebral palsy is the single largest cause of childhood physical disability in the developed world

Cerebral palsy is more common in girls than boys

The rate of cerebral palsy is significantly higher amongst children born prematurely or with low birth weight

The life expectancy of a child with mild CP is much the same as the population average

A child of two with cerebral palsy who cannot walk has a 3 in 4 chance of living to adulthood

There is not always a single identifiable cause of cerebral palsy, the main causes include:

• Infection in the early part of pregnancy
• Lack of oxygen to the brain
• Abnormal brain development
• A genetic link (rare) with research still ongoing

No two people are affected by Cerebral Palsy in the same way. We are all different.

What are the things that you want people to understand about CP and how it affects your life?

Scope has some further information pages about Cerebral Palsy and I'm always around for a chat too.

WestHam06

Hi @Richard_Scope, 
                                  Thank you so much for sharing these facts, there are some which I was unaware of. I am keen to always try and develop people's understanding about Cerebral Palsy, particularly as I have become older, and I think the main thing that I would like people to understand about Cerebral Palsy is that no two people are affected in exactly the same way. Thank you. 

Chloe_Alumni

Some really interesting facts @Richard_Scope!