From the eyes of Cerebral Palsy
In the summer of 2018, I served as a camp counselor at Camp in Motion, a Dell Medical School-sponsored initiative providing adaptive sports and community-building activities for children with Cerebral Palsy (CP).
Cerebral Palsy is a rare, congenital disorder that affects the ability to move, maintain posture, and maintain balance. While there are fewer than 200,00 cases, it is one of the most common motor disabilities in childhood and is due to prenatal abnormal brain development. Various symptoms of CP include rigid limbs, exaggerated reflexes, or involuntary motions.
At this camp, I worked alongside physical therapists (PTs), occupational therapists (OTs), and physician assistants (PA) to aid the development of children, ages 5–20, with cerebral palsy through adaptive sports. Through playing various ball sports such as baseball and soccer, taking the kids for a swim, or helping them eat, I learned a lot about the movement disorder as well as what it takes to help children with it.
I supervised two particular young kids, both aged 5, alongside a few other camp counselors. It was a breathtaking experience, which taught me immensely about the power of optimism and making the most of one’s capabilities.
Interestingly, current treatments for CP are limited to physical therapies, drugs, and surgery, but medicines are often not useful due to the neurodevelopmental disorder’s heterogeneous nature. Just recently (Sept 2020), scientists found genetic underpinnings for CP, a novel discovery considering the onset of CP has been believed to be predominantly due to environmental factors.
