CP newbie!

mrsandman

Hi everyone. 
Probably an odd title sorry! 
I am in the process of adopting a baby boy who has a strong possibility of CP disgnosis. He is less than 1 year old. 
I am a single man, so looking for advice, or something to help me help him as we go through this journey. I have fab social workers, but nothing beats real time experiences for advice. 
Apologies for being naive in advance. Thank you all. 

Alex_Alumni

Hello @mrsandman and welcome to the community, it's lovely to have you join us

@Richard_Scope is our resident CP expert, and you'll also find plenty of discussions you can join in our CP category, as well as our Children, Parents and families category, so feel free to ask any questions there.

Don't apologise at all, it's great to hear from you! If you need a hand navigating the forum, or are unsure about anything else, please just ask.

Alex

Richard_Scope

Hi @mrsandman
Good to meet you! It's not a naive question at all. Cerebral Palsy is a neurological condition that can affect movement, posture and other aspects, like speech, vision and swallowing. The key thing to remember is how CP presents is individual to that person. I have CP but how it affects me will be different to somebody else living with the impairment.

Is there anything specific that you would like us to discuss? As you can imagine there's a lot I could go in to

Libby_Alumni

Welcome @mrsandman  

How are you today?

That's not an odd question/title at all, and it's understandable that you want to find out a little bit more information about CP. I see both @Richard_Scope and @Alex_Scope have attended to your post, but what I'll also do is move your comment into our cerebral palsy category, in the hope that our members will see the post and share their experiences with you too. 

If you have any other questions or queries, please don't hesitate to reach out to us  

Libby

mrsandman

Hi,
Thank you for the nice welcome everyone. 
I am in the final stages of my adoption and have been told it is highly likely that he will have CP due to certain factors I won't go into now. 
Can anyone, in a nutshell if this possible, say what key things I should be looking at first. I assume physiotherapy is right up there as he has weakness and stiffness in his legs, but is there somethings I should be looking at for our home life? 
It is a hard question as all still vague I appreciate, and with many different levels of CP! But thank you!  
I want to make sure I do all I can. 

Poppy_

Hi, how are you? 

I would look into occupational therapy for any adaptations/ daily living needs he may require. I have spastic diplegia CP, involving my legs, which sounds like what you have mentioned above. Personally, what has helped me the most is water based activities, like swimming, as the buoyancy helped strengthen my legs, and horse riding, as it helped my gait. Swimming may be something that could be started later on but there are baby based swimming activities. There is a specialist disabled riding organisation, that is nation wide, called the RDA or riding for the disabled association. They may have a centre close to your area. This may be something to look into for the future.Activities, like swimming and horse riding, help in many ways to do with CP but also things like confidence. 

I hope this helps

Alex_Alumni

Hi @mrsandman I just wanted to check in and ask how things are going?

Are you much further along in the adoption process?

mrsandman

Hi, 
Thanks for checking in
I have met the little fella now, so all going brilliantly. He won't be living with me until around March, so prepping the house! 
Still don't have a physio assigned, so not sure what particular attention he needs just yet, but time will tell. 

Alex_Alumni

@mrsandman that's fab news, I'm sure you're so excited for it!

Do keep us updated, and we'll do our best to help with any future queries you might have

Alex

SaraC_Scope

Hi @mrsandman I'm glad to hear your adoption is going well.  I'm an adoptive Mum to a now 18 year old son, so can appreciate the journey you are experiencing.
As others have said, Scope have a number of family services available and one of those is the Navigate Service  They provide practical and emotional support to parents and carers of children who have received a recent diagnosis of a disability or condition, or are on the pathway to a diagnosis.  The client will be allocated an adviser and have up to six sessions over 9 weeks to talk about how they are feeling and help with practical issues. All the advisers have lived experience of disability.

Best Wishes

Sara