Cerebral palsy, or CP, is a group of neurological disorders that affect body movement and muscle coordination. The brain damage causing this disorder typically happens during the prenatal period or the first years of a child's life. It has been estimated that approximately 500,000 people in the United States have cerebral palsy. Interacting with CP patients can be somewhat challenging but can be done successfully if some steps are taken.
Step 1
Find out whether the CP patient suffers from other conditions that often coexist with this disorder. For example, autistic disorders are common among CP patients, and sometimes the intelligence of some of these patients is lower than that of an average person. If such additional problems exist, you may have to adjust your communication style to take the patient's needs into account.
Step 2
Remember that the main challenge when communicating with a CP patient is to understand what he is saying. Typically, the patient understands you quite well, but his poor muscle control of the language producing-organs, such as the tongue and lips, can make it harder for you to understand him.
Step 3
Help the CP patient to learn to speak as clearly as possible and to strengthen the muscles needed for speech production by hiring a speech therapist. Ideally, she should work with the therapist several hours a week. You can help the therapist by noting which sounds seem to be most difficult for her to produce, so the therapist can focus on them during sessions.
Step 4
Ask a respiratory therapist to work with the CP patient to strengthen his lungs. If his lungs have limited capacity, his need to constantly draw breaths can make speaking difficult. As a comparison, suffering from the condition might make you feel like you were talking while running, even though you were perfectly sedentary.
Step 5
Be patient. It might take a while before you see any significant improvement in the patient’s ability to speak. In the meantime, ask her to repeat what she was saying, never interrupt her, and try to guess what she was trying to say. Give her ample opportunities to speak.
Step 6
Improving the language production of a CP patient should always be your first goal. Because this can be so difficult for him, if you give him easier ways to communicate, he may not even wish to make the effort to speak. But if after trying for a long time, the patient still cannot express himself by talking, you can turn to other modes of communication. For example, you may try using sign language, or a communication board by which the patient can make himself understood through pointing to different pictures.
Tips and Warnings
- Learning to use language might be difficult and tiring. Start by practicing for a short period of time and gradually increasing the allotted time.
- Although CP patients may find it difficult to speak, they can still understand you well, unless they suffer from other conditions, too. Don't talk down to them, as this could be demeaning.
Things You'll Need
- Communication board
- Speech therapist
- Respiratory therapist
