Cerebral palsy affects 2.5 children per 1000 live births.

Cerebral palsy can be defined as a “persistent (but not unchanging) disorder of movement and posture, as the result of one or more non-progressive abnormalities in the brain, before its growth and development are complete.

Other clinical signs may be present as well”. (Cerebral Palsy: Problems and Practice, Griffiths M, Clegg M (eds). Human Horizons Series). Cerebral palsy affects each child individually and does not always cause severe disability,though some children may also be affected by other associated conditions, such as epilepsy, learning difficulties, hearing, vision, and speech and swallowing difficulties. The condition commonly appears in infancy, and children with CP are frequently slow to reach developmental milestones such as learning to roll over, sit, crawl, smile, or walk.

Several causal pathways of CP have been identified, such as kidney or urinary tract infections, metabolic disturbances, toxemia, jaundice, rhesus incompatibility, rubella (German measles), direct trauma and hypoxia.

Although CP is by definition a non-progressive condition, some people may experience developmental effects and some secondary ageing effects. Physical functioning does not always remain the same throughout life and CP is an example of a developmental disorder in which physical functioning can deteriorate with growth spurts, ageing, and as a result of poor mechanical efficiency.