Cerebral Palsy

Cultural Dimensions

Usage of the term "spastic"

The term "spastic" describes the attribute of spasticity in types of spastic CP. In 1952 a UK charity called The Spastics Society was formed. The term "spastic" was used by the charity as a term for people with cerebral palsy. The word has since been used extensively as a general insult to disabled people, which some see as extremely offensive. It is also frequently used to insult able-bodied people when they seem overly anxious or unskilled in sports. The charity changed its name to Scope in 1994.

Cerebral Palsy as a Learning Disorder

In some circles, motor disorders are perceived as learning problems (Hari and Tillemans, 1984) wherein the condition, even though it is physical, leads to secondary learning difficulties stemming from the initial trauma. In this view, while the original brain damage is non-progressive, its effect upon all areas of development may be constantly changing and can result in, a generalized dysfunction. A motor disordered child, after brain injury, is still actively attempting to solve problems arising from tasks in the environment. At the physical level, it is found that the loss of certain neural tissues does not limit the attempt of the remaining tissues to compensate for the loss.

Experimentation in support of this idea includes Taub’s study (1980) on the deafferentation of a limb in monkeys which started to use the deafferented limb again for functional activities once his intact limb was restrained. This illustrates that non ¬use of the limb does not occur because of the neural deficit but rather because of a learned compensation for the deficit (Tsang,1990).The above can account for the exhibition of various non-functional and stereotyped motor patterns in a child with a motor disorder. Therefore we can not regard dysfunction as a feature of such children, but the product of the interaction between the child and his environment (Hari and Tillemans, 1984). Dysfunction is a change in coordination, which can be viewed separately from any deficiency. Dysfunction is not static or localized and it affects the whole personality of the child with cerebral palsy.

The dysfunction of the child is not the maladaptive movement pattern itself, but the result of an interrupted learning process. The difficulties inherent in adapting to the requirements of an activity leave the child unmotivated to continue the problem-solving skill process. The child then learns to be dependent. One can see that the effect of a lack of motivation is not limited to the physical level, but extends to the psychosocial level, impeding the child’s development as a whole (Kwan 1990). In other words, as individuals, we face greater and greater challenges that require more and more skills. Motor disorder can have a devastating effect upon the ability to meet these challenges and to learn the necessary skills. Dysfunction is a certain organizational characteristic of an individual. It is not a well defined malfunction or symptom or condition. Its manifestation is that the individual wants or should do something but he is unable to do it, not because he is incapable of doing it but because he does not know how to do it (Hari, 1990). While the origin of Cerebral Palsy is medical, the consequences interrupt the general learning ability of the individual. It can be concluded that instead of thinking in therapy and adaptation, by applying an appropriate educational approach the individual may learn to overcome the consequences of the motor disorder.

Pop Culture References

• In the film The Usual Suspects, Kevin Spacey plays Verbal Kint, a criminal who appears to have cerebral palsy.
• Although Tom Hanks's title character in "Forrest Gump" is never explicitly diagnosed, he exhibits symptoms consistent with cerebral palsy.
• The film Inside I'm Dancing focuses on a quadraplegic youth in Dublin who befriends someone who has cerebral palsy and acts as his translator.
  

People with cerebral palsy

• Christy Brown, the famous writer and painter who wrote My Left Foot, which was later adapted into an Oscar winning movie of the same name starring Daniel Day Lewis
• Bruce Perens, an open source developer
• Eric S. Raymond, an open source evangelist
• Kaine (Rapper), One half of The Ying Yang Twins
• Christopher Widdows aka Steady Eddy, Australian Comedian
• Josh Blue, comedian and winner of the fourth season of Last Comic Standing, who often jokes about his condition.
• Gianna Jessen, singer-songwriter and pro-life activist
• Stephen Hopkins, signer of Declaration of Independence, reputed to have stated, "My hand trembles, but my heart does not."
• Bill Porter, a salesman for Watkins Incorporated whose life story was told in the TV movie Door to Door.
• Karen Killilea, the subject of the book Karen (1952) and its sequel, With Love from Karen (1963), by her mother Marie Killilea.