I.

Introduction

Cerebral Palsy, a range of neuromuscular disorders caused by injury to an infant's brain sustained during late pregnancy, birth, or any time during the first two years of life. People with cerebral palsy have a wide range of difficulties, from a clumsy walk to an inability to speak or swallow, caused by faulty messages sent from the brain to the muscles. In the mid-1800s, William Little, an English physician, first described cerebral palsy in connection with birth injuries.

Each year in the United States about 10,000 babies develop cerebral palsy. Other countries have reported higher rates. Improved obstetric techniques over the past few decades have reduced the likelihood of brain injury during birth. But increased survival of premature infants—those born after only 25 to 37 weeks of pregnancy and weighing less than 2,500 grams (5.5 lbs)—some of whom develop cerebral palsy, has kept the incidence in the United States fairly stable.