walking

[Guest guest]

Hi

Our son Teddy, 7, started walking around age 4 1/2. Before that he walked

with a posterior walker. His PT did a lot of standing and sitting balance

activities with him. He used the walker for about a year and a half, then

started doing the " step, step, fall " thing, and finally got the hang of staying

upright. He did have a lot of falls at first, including one that gave him a

good gash on the back of his head which is now a scar. We tried putting a

helmet on him, but he wasn't into that. Now he still falls from time to time,

but he's learned how to hold his head up when he falls. His walking is not

perfect; he needs a railing to go up stairs, is trying to learn to step up and

down curbs, and has trouble on uneven surfaces. But he keeps getting better all

the time. Now that he's outgrown his stroller, we are getting him a power chair

for long distances (the mall, the zoo, etc), but most of the time he walks

everywhere, even through Walmart and all over his school.

Good luck!

Meg and Teddy in PA

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[Guest guest]

Hi,

Our son Thijn Onno has CBPS (BPP) and is 4 years 10 months old he doesn't

walk, he started crawling at about 2.5 years and is now very good at that.

He is going to have botox treatment in January to try to facilitate some

degree of walking. My understanding is that due to his lack of walking over

the years and his spacticity in his leg muscles that his leg muscles are now

too short and don't have the 'elastic range' of normal leg muscles. The

treatment involves injecting botox into the muscles that are too short

(under narcosis), then they allow two weeks for the botox to work. He is

then placed in plaster casts on his legs for two weeks with his muscles at

full stretch. When the casts are removed he will be fitted with 'spalks'

(Dutch word) a type of plastic calliper which is shaped to maintain the

stretch and during the following weeks/months he will undergo daily

physiotherapy to try and maintain the extra length and movement in his

muscles. Hopefully this will flatten his feet when his legs are at full

stretch so he will loose his 'ballerina' stance and start to learn balance

etc. We understand that the development may be slow and that the treatment

if successful may need to be repeated yearly to keep increasing the length

of the muscles.

Hope this helps,

Guy papa to Thijn Onno 20022002 CBPS

Walking

Hi,

My son evan is 2yrs and has bilateral perisylvan polymicrogyria and he

is progressing well. He crawls and has been doing so for about 1 year,

he pulls to stand and has used a walker at his PT appts. I am a member

of a list for children with hemiplegia but most of the kids on their

had a stroke which caused the hemiplegia CP whereas Evan's BPP is what

caused his cerebral palsy. My question is that I was wondering how old

your children were when they walked(if they have started walking yet)

and did they use a walker and for how long? Don't get me wrong I am

very grateful that Evan is making the progress that he is and if he

uses a walker and never walks independently then that will be just

fine, but I am just curious as to what other children with BPP have

done.

Thanks

mom 2 Evan 2yrs BPP, spastic hemiplegia CP