Cerebral palsy (CP) has deep and lasting effects on a child’s quality of life, but human physiology has hit on something that could permanently improve mobility even in severe cases. Graduate student Sandra Saavedra studies spinal control in normal infants as part of her research into interventions for CP.
Saavedra's research shows that all infants develop spinal control gradually. Within months, typical babies can sit up, but they wobble. At nine months, they no longer struggle. From a sitting position, they can reach, play and resist a gentle push. Spinal control is virtually effortless.
This development process is much slower in children with CP, and some never sit upright without support — which hinders other forms of development like learning to share eye contact or communicating pleasure or need.
Saavedra wondered: Could children with CP be trained to develop greater spinal control? Could greater control help them reach other developmental goals?
She started with typical infants. Essential to her work is a device designed by The Movement Centre, a treatment center in England that is already helping children train isolated sections of their spines. The center has developed a support apparatus that holds an infant upright by supporting the child at the hip level, the waist, the ribs or right up under the arms.
By testing children at various ages, Saavedra noticed that the younger the child, the higher the apparatus needed to be. In other words, infants developed control of the top of the spine first. As they aged, they needed support only at lower levels. Eventually, the child that needed support at the hips progressed to needing no support at all.
Her next research question: If a child with CP could control only the top level of her spine, could support at the next level help her continue on the path to full spinal control?
She then worked with 11 older children with CP — five to 16 years old — who spent half an hour in the support apparatus multiple times a week. With support, they stretched, reached and played, slowly gaining both mobility and self-sufficiency. After six months, all 11 children showed mobility improvement. One child spontaneously used his right arm to keep himself in a sitting position — something he’d never even attempted before.
Saavedra was also heartened to see other benefits. In the five most severe cases, she observed improvements in eye contact, the use of their hands and overall communication.
While The Movement Centre has been training for spinal control in England, no similar treatment options exist in the U.S. Saavedra hopes her research will help change that.
– Chrisanne Beckner
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