Because cerebral palsy influences the way children develop, it is known as a developmental disability. In the United States today, more people have cerebral palsy than any other developmental disability, including Down syndrome, epilepsy, and autism. About two children out of every thousand born in this country have some type of cerebral palsy. Studies have shown that at least 5000 infants and toddlers and 1,200 - 1,500 preschoolers are diagnosed with cerebral palsy each year. In all, approximately 500,000 people in this country have some degree of cerebral palsy. There is not an American system for monitoring cerebral palsy's occurrence. Therefore it is not known whether the incidence of cerebral palsy is increasing, declining, or staying the same. However, studies have shown that the use of the electronic fetal heart rate monitor during labor and delivery has not decreased the rate of cerebral palsy primarily because of the mistakes made by doctors and nurses during the birthing process.

Although children with very mild cerebral palsy occasionally recover by the time they are school-aged, cerebral palsy is usually a lifelong disability. In most cases, the movement and other problems associated with cerebral palsy affect what a child is able to learn and do to varying degrees throughout their life.

• An Introduction to Cerebral Palsy
• Development Milestones for Babies
• Spastic Cerebral Palsy
• Spastic Diplegia Cerebral Palsy
• Ataxic Cerebral Palsy
• Athetoid Cerebral Palsy
• Severe Athetoid Cerebral Palsy
• Mixed Cerebral Palsy
• Hemiplegia and Quadriplegia and Cerebral Palsy
• Cerebral Palsy Statistics
• Diagnosing Cerebral Palsy
• Cerebral Palsy Treatment
• United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) of Philadelphia and Vicinity
• Types and Causes Of Cerebral Palsy
• Cerebral Palsy Declining in High-Risk Babies
• Coping with Cerebral Palsy
• Children With Cerebral Palsy Have Similar Quality Of Life To Other Children

• Birth Trauma
• Birth Injury Verdicts
• Prenatal Care
• Cerebral Palsy

• Birth Injury

• Birth Injury - EMedicine

Provides general information about birth injuries and other resources.

• Birth Injury - United Cerebral Palsy in Philadelphia

Homepage to the United Cerebral Palsy of Philadelphia organization.