How to Talk to Children About Cerebral Palsy

Mainstreaming children with cerebral palsy is an important way for them to develop the skills they'll need to live independently. Many young people with cerebral palsy attend school and camp with able-bodied peers who may not have experience with people who have CP. When you talk to children about what to expect you can make it easier for mainstreamed kids to feel included.

Instructions

Talk to Children About Cerebral Palsy

• 1

  Get permission from the parents of a child with cerebral palsy before discussing the child's condition with anyone. Decide what topics to cover and find out if there are any issues about their child's condition they do not want you to talk about.

• 2

  Speak to children when a student with cerebral palsy is joining a new class or when a family member has been diagnosed.

• 3

  Explain that kids with cerebral palsy are the same as everyone else, but they have difficulty doing the same things.

• 4

  Try to make it easier for children to understand by explaining the challenges in a way that everyone can relate to.

• 5

  Use examples of things that are true of any group of people. For instance, whistling may be easy for some people, but something other people struggle with. Speech may be easy for most kids, but people with cerebral palsy may have to use machines and computers to help them.

• 6

  Display the devices that the child with cerebral palsy may be using to help them speak or move, such as computer equipment or a special wheelchair. Let children touch the equipment, but explain that the child with cerebral palsy needs the equipment to help them do the things other kids can do.

• 7

  Explain how they can communicate with a child who has cerebral palsy. Some kids with cerebral palsy use devices that use pictures and words to form sentences, other children use voice synthesizers that make it possible for them to speak through a machine.

• 8

  Let children know that it may be difficult to understand what someone with cerebral palsy is saying and that they may need extra time to respond to questions.

• 9

  Encourage children to include kids with cerebral palsy in their activities. Explain that cerebral palsy is not contagious and is a condition that makes it harder for some people to perform basic functions.