After studying 129 children with cerebral palsy, Swedish researchers found that half of them suffered from some form of speech difficulty; 21 percent had a speech disorder, and 32 percent were nonverbal.
Cerebral palsy often results from errors during labor. The researchers think that the error’s timing plays a role in the speech disorder’s severity. They looked at the correlation between brain injuries sustained during birth or pregnancy and the resulting speech problems.
“Lesions acquired late in gestation, around or after birth, were most common in the nonverbal group, while periventricular white matter lesions, acquired late in the second and early in the third trimester, were most common in children without speech disorders,” the research team wrote in its report.
Speech problems are just one obstacle facing children with cerebral palsy. Others include limited mobility, paralysis, paraplegia, cognitive disorders and learning impairments.
In many cases, proper medical care can foresee and treat these lesions before they cause issues. Doctors and hospitals that fail to do so may owe damages to parents of children with cerebral palsy to compensate for trauma, ongoing medical care and various forms of therapy. If you have a child with cerebral palsy, our birth trauma attorneys can examine your case and determine if hospital negligence played a role in your child’s disability. Call 1-800-460-0606 to schedule a free case review.
Cappolino Dodd Krebs LLP – cerebral palsy attorneys
