Does Cerebral Palsy get worse?
No. Cerebral palsy is a nonprogressive disorder. This means that whatever damage was done to the brain will not get any worse. The problem that many parents face is that, generally, it is impossible to diagnose cerebral palsy with any certainty in infancy. Many cases are not diagnosed until somewhere around age two. It only appears that the disorder is progressive because the symptoms may not appear until the child’s lack of motor skills, or other developmental delays begin to emerge. For example, a child at age two may have difficulty walking and at age six difficulty in writing and reading. The difficulty in reading and writing is not a progression of the cerebral palsy, but has appeared as a developmental milestone should have been attained. In other words, the difficulty at age six will occur if the brain injury affected that particular developmental milestone, regardless of any interventions on the part of the parents.
