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Children Who ‘Outgrew’ Cerebral Palsy
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1982
Year
DisabilityPediatric RehabilitationEducationCerebral PalsyMotor DifficultyDevelopmental DisabilitiesIntellectual ImpairmentLarge Longitudinal StudyMotor HandicapAutismNeurologyNeuropathologyDevelopmental DisorderDevelopmental DisabilityPediatric NeurosurgeryRehabilitationChild DevelopmentNeurodevelopmental DisordersPediatricsSpecial EducationStereotypic Movement DisorderMedicine
229 one‑year‑old children were diagnosed with cerebral palsy in a large longitudinal study. At age 7, 118 of the 229 children had no motor handicap, with most mild, monoparetic, ataxic/dyskinetic, and diplegic forms resolving—especially in black children—yet 13% of white and 25% of black children who resolved were mentally retarded, and those who “outgrew” CP showed higher rates of nonfebrile seizures, speech articulation and extraocular movement abnormalities, and certain behavioral abnormalities than the general study population.
A diagnosis of cerebral palsy was made for 229 one-year-old children enrolled in a large longitudinal study. Of these children, 118 were free of motor handicap at the age of 7 years. Mild early cerebral palsy, and the monoparetic, ataxic/dyskinetic, and diplegic forms of the disorder, resolved with high frequency. Normalization of motor signs was observed more frequently in black than in white children. However, 13% of white children and 25% of black children whose motor signs resolved were mentally retarded (IQ below 70) at 7 years of age. Nonfebrile seizures, abnormalities in speech articulation and extraocular movements, and certain abnormalities of behavior were more frequent among children who "outgrew" cerebral palsy than in the general population of the study.