CEREBRAL PALSY HOME PAGE

THE ALFRED I. DUPONT INSTITUTE

WILMINGTON, DELAWARE

Cerebral Palsy is a chronic condition affecting the nerves which control the body's muscles. It is often accompanied by multiple medical, social and educational challenges. The Institute's Cerebral Palsy Program provides comprehensive medical and support services for the child with cerebral palsy to age 18.

A pediatric orthopaedic surgeon and a developmental pediatrician direct the program. These physicians work with a wide array of medical specialists and health professionals to provide the child with cerebral palsy the most complete innovative care available. These include: Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants, Dentistry, Developmental Medicine, Gait Analysis Laboratory, Gastroenterology, Medical Imaging, Neurology, Nutrition Therapy, Opthalmology, Orthopaedic Surgery, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Psychiatry and Psychology, Pulmonology and Social Work. Further services and short descriptions are found below.

Special Services:

The Institute offers many services that can contribute to the increased independence of a child with cerebral palsy at home, school and in the community:

• The Augmentative Communication and Technology Clinic provides multidisciplinary evaluation and therapy in the areas of communication and computer use, as well as other aids to foster independence.
• Occupational Therapy improves hand function, perceptual motor skills and other activities of daily living. The occupational therapist works closely with other staff to determine appropriate adaptive devices, splinting needs, positioning equipment and home modifications.
• Physical Therapy provides medically based, customized programs to assist the child and family in maximizing the child's function. Specialized services can be provided on an inpatient or outpatient basis, focusing on: evaluation of motor development, functional mobility, and appropriate equipment; developmental stimulation; gait/mobility training; immediate post-operative management, family education and theraputic pool facilities.
• The Rehabilitation Engineering Clinic provides reccomendations for seating and wheelchairs.
• Speech Pathology provides assessment and treatment for children with communication problems and works with other members of the evaluation and treatment team to assess feeding and swallowing disorders. Audiologists, who evaluate children's hearing, have experience working with very young, special needs and difficult-to-test patients.
• The Spasticity Clinic involves a multidisciplinary assessment of spasticity which considers such things as positioning, surgical procedures such as dorsal rhizotomy and muscle surgery and medicines such as intrathecal Baclofen and Botox.
• The Orthotics Shop, located on the premises, makes braces based on the individual child's needs.
• Rehabilitation Services provides comprehensive inpatient and outpatient services through a coordinated interdisciplinary program, including physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech and neuropsychology, to children who require this level of care.
• The Applied Science and Engineering Laboratories, located at the Institute, is an internationally known center of applied research in the development of state-of-the-art augmentative communication and robotics technology. Many of the innovations developed in the lab are used by Institute patients.

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