Due to the different damage to the brain of children with cerebral palsy during development, not only the motor development can be impaired, but also the sensory aspects, such as vision, hearing, object recognition, and the ability to communicate with the outside world, are affected to varying degrees. It is the parents’ responsibility to help and guide their children with cerebral palsy to overcome their intellectual deficits so that they can grow up as happily as their peers. Parents play a very important role because even if a child with cerebral palsy receives various treatments in the hospital for a long time, he still has to go home and perform all the actions of daily life, such as dressing, combing hair, brushing teeth, going to the toilet, etc., with the help or guidance of parents.
I. Eating training
1.Posture when eating.
When feeding the child, make sure the child is in a good posture, the correct posture can make feeding easy and safe, otherwise it will make feeding difficult and unsafe. The basic points are.
(1) Do not feed the child in a rear-facing position, as this increases the likelihood of choking.
(2) Try to maintain an upright position with the head slightly tilted back and both upper limbs in front of the child’s body.
(3) Food should be fed from the front or bottom of the child’s mouth, not from above.
2. Control of mouth function.
The child can be helped to control mouth movements in two ways.
(1) Trainers or parents sit in front of the child and control his or her jaw movement with the middle finger and thumb.
(2) Control the upward and downward movements of the jaw from the side with the index and middle fingers.
3. Feeding and drinking training.
The child can be trained to eat and drink while sitting on a chair or on an adult’s lap. For children who cannot eat on their own, spoon feeding can be used.
(1) Place the food on the child’s tongue and gently press the tongue down with the spoon to prevent the tongue from pushing out the food.
(2) Small pieces of solid food can be given to exercise the chewing ability.
(3) If the child needs help to shut up while chewing, help can be given.
For the more able child, he or she should be trained to eat on his or her own, with the therapist sitting in front of the child and helping him or her to hold the spoon and bring the food into the mouth. Children who have learned to eat on their own may need a thicker spoon. For water training, a special notched cup should be provided so that the child can drink without tilting his or her head back, and if necessary, two handles can be installed on the cup to facilitate a two-handed grasp.
II. Dressing training
1. Posture.
Sit the child on your lap and help him get dressed. If it is difficult to dress in this position, you can let him or her dress sideways or prone, and try to avoid dressing in the supine position. Because this will make the affected child’s limbs become more rigid.
2.Dressing training.
The dressing action can be broken down into many small steps, step by step to teach the child to do, and encourage the child to do it himself.
3.Choice of clothes.
When the child can put on and take off clothes by himself, it is better to use loose clothes with larger collars and cuffs, and larger buttons and buttonholes, and better if they can be fixed with Velcro.
Third, toilet training
Suitable for children over 18 months of age. Before starting toilet training, pay attention to the time and number of times the child urinates and defecates each day to understand the pattern, then the child can sit on the commode at the appropriate time each day. If the child is able to relieve the stool in the commode, he should be praised, and if he does not, he should not be blamed.
The content of toilet training includes:
1. expressing the need for urination and defecation with words or gestures.
2.The training of self-control of urination and defecation.
3.The identification of male and female toilet signs.
4.Sitting on the commode to defecate.
5.Clothing organization training, taking off and putting on pants, pulling flat clothes.
6, personal toilet hygiene training, wipe clean with toilet paper, wash hands after defecation, etc. During the training, the child can be taught how to use the toilet by demonstration. If the child has difficulty in a certain aspect, appropriate help should be given; for example, helping the child to separate his legs, providing appropriate aids, etc.
IV. Bathing training
1.Training principles.
(1) Pay special attention to safety. The water temperature must be appropriate to avoid scalding. For those with seizures, special care should be taken to prevent falls and injuries during seizures, in addition to slip prevention.
(2) For children who are afraid of bathing, some water games can be arranged, such as putting some toys floating on the water surface in the bathtub, so that they can slowly adapt in the entertainment.
(3) can be made according to the specific circumstances – some auxiliary apparatus, such as non-slip mats, bathing gloves, etc..
2.Training methods.
First, let the child know their body parts and touch their own body, do the preparation before bathing. Then the child can be taught to wash the body with soap-wiped hands. You can also wear soap-rubbed two-finger gloves to take a bath. At the beginning, teach the child to wash his hands, face, chest, abdomen, etc., and then move on to washing his back. If washing the back is more difficult to do, have him or her use a long-handled back washing brush to wash the back.
Parents know how to help their normal children grow up healthily, but children with cerebral palsy are very different from normal children. Parents should not only help their children overcome their physical defects in a special way, but also teach them how to do what they can do in a special way, and help them communicate with the outside world in various ways.