Cerebral palsy

Description

Cerebral palsy (CP) involves chronic, nonprogressive central nervous system (CNS) dysfunction leading to problems with tone and movement. Children with CP make up a very heterogeneous group. Depending on the original insult, this diagnosis has many clinical manifestations, from very mild to very severe neurological involvement. Children with cerebral palsy may or may not be ambulatory and may or may not have mental retardation.

Potential feeding problems can include:

• Tongue thrust and incoordination
• Lip retraction
• Tonic bite reflex
• Problems with suck/swallow
• Hypotonia affecting the mouth
• Hypotonia interfering with proper positioning