A few simple methods for early detection of cerebral palsy

  Parents, child health care providers, and community workers can perform early and simple screening of children with risk factors for cerebral palsy and can diagnose them accordingly.  1. Prone position: A normal child is in a prone position with the upper limbs supporting the body and the head elevated. A child with cerebral palsy has a floppy hand.  2. Sitting position: Children of the same age can sit steadily or slightly help to sit, while children with cerebral palsy are unstable and have obvious involuntary movements of both upper limbs. If the child’s head is gently pushed backwards, the normal child will be in a defensive position with an arched back, while the child with cerebral palsy will fall down with a “bada bada”.  3.Standing position: When the examiner lifts the two lower limbs upside down and releases one hand, the normal child’s hip and knee joints are flexed and dropped, while the child with cerebral palsy is in the original position.  4. Asymmetrical tension neck reflex: The examiner holds the child’s lateral head in both hands and swivels the head from side to side. If the child has cerebral palsy, the upper limb on the face side will be extended and the upper limb on the opposing side will be flexed.  5. Grasp reflex: The examiner will ask the child to hold the thumbs on both sides of the examiner in the direction of the child’s lower limbs. The child with cerebral palsy grasps the thumbs and lifts the upper body. Normal children relax their thumbs before lifting their upper body.  6. Kicking reflex: When the child is lying on his back and the examiner presses the knee of the child with cerebral palsy with the palm of one hand, the other lower limb will do kicking and stirring movement, while the normal child cannot see this movement.  7. Lower limb cross reflex: The examiner will make the child lie on his side. When one lower limb is lifted, the hip and knee joint of the other lower limb will be flexed in normal children. The other lower limb of the child with cerebral palsy is also lifted together.  8. Stepping reflex: The examiner holds the child in an upright position under the armpits on both sides, and in normal children, the two lower limbs are slightly open and the soles of the feet are on the ground. The child with cerebral palsy stands on the tips of the feet, and the two lower limbs are crossed on one side, like a conscious step.  9. Startle response: The examiner will make the child lie down in a supine position, and the examiner will suddenly tap the right and left side of the child’s head with both hands from the side of the head. The normal child will hear the sound and the upper or lower limbs will only shake momentarily. The upper and lower extremities of the child with cerebral palsy are lifted, and the upper extremities are stopped for a short time.