Spasticity refers to an increased tightness within muscles. Therefore, spastic cerebral palsy is a condition in which increased muscle tightness results in difficulty moving the affected limbs.
Symptoms and characteristics:
The most obvious characteristic of spastic cerebral palsy is a person's difficulty initiating movements with the affected limbs. The spasticity can affect both arms and legs (spastic quadriplegia), limbs on one side of the body only (spastic hemiplegia) or only the legs or hands (spastic diplegia).
A person with spastic cerebral palsy may also experience difficulty speaking, chewing and swallowing food, drink or saliva if the required muscles for these actions are involved.
People with spastic cerebral palsy may also experience:
- epilepsy
- vision and hearing loss
- intellectual impairment.
Although spastic cerebral palsy is a permanent, non progressive condition, people may experience changes in their capacity with the progression of age or if other physical difficulties develop.
Workplace adjustments and solutions:
In the workplace there are various factors that would assist people with spastic cerebral palsy to manage their condition. These include changes to work tasks and the environment, and will vary depending upon which areas of the person’s body are affected as well as the severity of motor limitations, seizures (epilepsy), and intellectual impairment. Some suggestions for workplace modifications include:
- ensuring wheelchair or walking aid accessibility to all areas of the workplace including kitchen and bathroom amenities, workspace and other doorways or emergency exits
- installation of ramps for independent building access
- automatic door openers to allow independent door access
- positioning of security pin pads for building access at a height and location that is easily accessible
- set up of kitchen amenities with equipment to accommodate arm weakness or one handed use such as kettle tippers
- set up of office supplies, equipment and furniture which allows for independent access
- modifications to foot controls on work vehicles
- modifying workstation set up to accommodate strengths and abilities and overcome barriers
- provision and adjustment of suitable ergonomic seating for individual needs to allow maximum support for posture
- consider capacity for task rotation as a way of building in postural breaks without having to stop work
- consider the use of lifting or mechanical aids such as trolleys or cranes to minimise the physical capacity required to undertake the work
- flexible work hours to allow for medical treatment and rehabilitation.
The Employment Assistance Fund provides financial assistance for work-related modifications, equipment and services to help people with disability to get employment and perform their work as independently and productively as possible. To determine eligibility, please refer to the full guidelines:
There are solutions and adjustments for the following job requirements:
(CP Australia 2007; Better Health Channel 2007; MDA Internet 2005; Scope 2006)
References:
Better Health Channel 2007, Cerebral palsy—causes and implications, State Government of Victoria, Melbourne, viewed 9 March 2007, http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Cerebral_palsy_causes_and_implications?open
CP Australia 2007, CP Australia, Woodville, viewed 9 March 2007, http://www.cpaustralia.com.au/news/index.html
MDA Internet 2005, Reed Group Ltd, Colorado, viewed 7 May 2007, http://www.mdainternet.com (secure site)
Scope 2006, Information About Cerebral Palsy, Scope, Melbourne, viewed 9 March 2007, http://www.scopevic.org.au/info_about.html