Tim has cerebral palsy, a brain damage that occurred just before his birth. Tim has stiff muscles due to spasm, which makes it difficult for him to move.
Cerebral palsy (CP)
CP is a group of permanent movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time. Often, symptoms include poor coordination, stiff muscles, weak muscles, and tremors. There may be problems with sensation, vision, hearing, swallowing, and speaking. Often, babies with cerebral palsy do not roll over, sit, crawl or walk as early as other children of their age or will never do it. Other symptoms include epileptic seizures and problems with thinking or reasoning, which each occur in about one third of people with CP
Cause
CP is caused by damage to the parts of the brain that control movement, balance, and posture. Most often, the problems occur during pregnancy. Often, the cause is unknown
Occurance
CP is the most common movement disorder in children. It occurs in about 2.1 per 1,000 live births.
Level of disorder
The level of movement disorder is scaled between GMFCS (Gross Motor Function Classification System) level 1 to 5
– Where 1 is the lowest level meaning small difficulties with walking
– Where 5 is completely dependent on an electric wheelchair and external support.
Tim is classified in level IV, meaning difficult walking with help of a walking device or electric wheel chair
No cure
There is no cure for CP; however, supportive treatments, medications and surgery may help.
Tim has several therapies during the week, including physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy. In November 2017, he had a surgery were parts of his muscles were cut to lengthening his muscles in the end.
Medications like the injection of botulinum toxin may help relax stiff muscles. However, we believe that Tim is to young to undergo such treatment at this moment.