Cerebral Palsy usually occurs within the first year of life as a result of damage to or improper development of the brain while a fetus or infant. It describes a group of chronic disorders that impair muscle control. This condition generally does not worsen over time. This disrupts the brain's ability to control movement and posture. It is diagnosed by a physician. Basic History Cerebral Palsy began to be studied in 1830s by William John Little. William Little began by giving lectures on birth injuries and how they greatly affect children. One noteable lecture Little gave was at England's Royal Orthopadic Hospital in 1843. The lecture was entitled "On the Nature and Treatment of the Deformities of the Human Frame.” During 1861, he wrote a paper entitled spastic diplegia also known as Little's Disease which is a form of Cerebral Palsy where the leg muscles are in a tightened state. This paper included the first recorded definition of spastic Cerebral Palsy, although the term Cerebral Palsy was not used until 1887. The term Cerebral Palsy was coined by Sir William Osler in his book "Cerebral Paslies of Children." Dr. Sigmund Freud was the first person to determine that cerebral palsy could occur while a person was a fetus. Prior to his discovery, people believed that Cerebral Palsy was the result of a difficult birth. Freud's findings were ignored by the medical community until later when additional evidence was presented.
Sources:
NASET.org Home Page. NASET News Alert RSS. (2019, August 4). https://www.naset.org/index.php?id=orthopedicimpairment2. StackPath. (n.d.). https://www.cerebralpalsyguidance.com/cerebral-palsy/research/history/.