Cerebral Palsy

Whilst on my rural prac I began treating a young 9yo boy with cerebral palsy who had been referred for calf stretches post botox therapy. The boy's medical file revealed that his mother died two years ago from cancer and that his father was no longer part of his life so he and his older brother live with their grandmother. The boy had also been bullied at school because of his R) calf spasticity. I wasnt sure what to expect when meeting this boy, seeing as he had been through so much!

On our initial treatment it was found that he had icreased tone of R) plantar flexors and hamstrings. Even though he needed to wear an AFO at all times and had an abnormal gait pattern, he was fully independant with all tasks and even played soccer at school. I found treating this young boy very interesting as he had such a good attitude after everything he had been with. He was very compliant with all treatment and was wanting to start playing AFL in the next year.

The treatment was focussed on finding interesting ways to motiviate the patient to perform his stretches at home. I did this by making him a stretches book where he could check off each stretch each time he did them. We also tried to make the treatments related to sports, I taught taught his grandma how to strap his ankle before games as he didn't wear his AFO. Treating this patient was a lesson to me on how patients are able to overcome so much and not let it affect their treatment. Has anyone else had any patients who have surprised them with how much they can acheive?