Your Child has Cerebral Palsy - You Deserve Help, Advice & Benefits!

Children on Tyneside with cerebral palsy will soon be enjoying extra playtime thanks to a grant worth thousands of pounds. Health reporter JANE PICKEN has the details

CHRISTMAS is coming early for youngsters at the Cerebral Palsy Assessment Centre, at the Sir James Spence Institute in Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary.

Specially-designed toys and carefully-selected games will be winging their way to the youngsters thanks to a £8,580 cash boost from GoodFund.

The North East charity, which funds a variety of local projects, has provided the money for the centre’s therapy room – a lifeline for children affected by neurological disorder cerebral palsy.

It appears in infancy or early childhood and severely restricts body movement as well as muscle development. Twelve-year-old Jamie Fozzard regularly visits the centre after school with his mum Kim Blackie.

“Jamie has hemiplegia,” explains Kim. “This means he has restricted movement in his right arm. These toys are fantastic in improving Jamie’s general dexterity and as the games are fun to play with, I don’t need to nag him to take part.”

Janice Pearse, an occupational therapist at the centre, has identified specific games to aid development and is working with a computer games software specialist to design tools which will be even more motivational for the children.

“We have to be very selective about which toys we use in the therapy room as the children have to be able to use both hands when playing,” said Janice. “We have designed a simple ping-pong computer game in which the player has to use both left and right hands.”

The chil-dren work towards setting themselves targets such as tying a shoe lace, using a ruler or zipping up a jacket.

Jamie has set himself a target of tying his Monkseaton Middle School tie, something he says is very challenging but admits playing with the Nintendo Wii is a much more fun way of increasing the agility in both of his arms. Prof Janet Eyre, head at the centre, said: “It is possible to change and correct the behaviour of the limb of a child with cerebral palsy up to the age of around 15 to 16 years old.

“However, the earlier they start training or retraining their hemiplegic limb, the better and the more benefit they will gain.”

Children are also encouraged to take the games home, as it is important parents and siblings help with adaptation and aid therapy progress.

Barbara Gubbins, chief executive of The Children’s Foundation, said: “We are delighted to receive the funding from GoodFund.

“It is important that all of the children who come to the centre receive the best possible treatment.

“By having these specialist toys and computer games, we are able to provide a fun way of improving their development.”

GoodFund, through players of the Postcode Lottery, provides funding to North East charitable organisations which make a difference to the local community – one of the key areas of focus is children’s health and wellbeing.