Don’t forget to take a look at the incredible content on cerebral palsy on Physiopedia as part of the recent cerebral palsy course.
A recent article in Physiotherapy was a systematic review assessing the use of VR to improve the motor rehabilitation of those with cerebral palsy. Cerebral Palsy (CP) is a disorder of movement and posture that appears during infancy or early childhood resulting from damage to the brain. The damage to the brain is permanent and cannot be cured but the earlier we start with intervention the more improvement can be made.Any non-progressive central nervous system (CNS) injury occurring during the first 2 (some say 5) years of life is considered to be CP. Ultimately CP can be described as:
a group of permanent, but not unchanging, disorders of movement and/or posture and of motor function, which are due to a non-progressive interference, lesion, or abnormality of the developing/immature brain.
The early intervention has a large focus on movement and function and traditional techniques are well established and have been proven effective.
What about modern tech?
Well encouragingly this systematic review has uncovered additional literature which shows evidence for VR to be used to improve balance and motor skills in children and adolescents with CP.