World Cerebral Palsy Day Date in the current year: October 6, 2024

Cerebral palsy (CP) is an umbrella term for a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood and affect more than 17 million people around the globe. CP is caused by abnormal development or damage to the parts of the brain responsible for controlling balance, posture, and movement. Cerebral palsy may be caused by brain injury, but often its cause is unknown.

CP is the most common childhood disability. Common signs and symptoms include poor coordination, stiff or weak muscles, tremors, problems with hearing, vision, sensation and speech, seizures, intellectual and learning disability. Children affected by CP may have a range of physical and cognitive impairments:

• 3 in 4 experience pain
• 1 in 2 has an intellectual impairment
• 1 in 3 is unable to walk
• 1 in 4 is unable to talk
• 1 in 4 experiences seizures
• 1 in 4 has a behavioral disorder
• 1 in 4 has bladder control problems
• 1 in 5 has saliva control problems
• 1 in 5 has a sleep disorder
• 1 in 10 has a severe vision impairment

There is no cure for cerebral palsy, but a range of treatment and management options are available to improve quality of life. They may include physical therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy, medications to relax stiff muscles and treat comorbid disorders, surgery, assistive technology, and more. The ultimate goal of cerebral palsy management is to maximize the patient’s independence and community engagement. With appropriate treatment, some children affected by cerebral palsy can achieve near normal adult life. However, much depends on the severity of symptoms.

World Cerebral Palsy Day was launched in 2012 by two nonprofit organizations helping people living with cerebral palsy, Cerebral Palsy Alliance (Australia) and United Cerebral Palsy (United States). Since its inception, it has enlisted the support of more than 450 cerebral palsy service organizations, parent groups, educational and healthcare establishments, and research institutions from 65 countries.

The inaugural World CP Day was held under the motto “Change My World in 1 Minute”. People were asked to submit their ideas for products and technologies that could makes the lives of people with CP easier. More than 470 ideas were submitted, and then three of them were presented to inventors. A team of researchers from University of Virginia won the competition with its design of a solar-powered wheelchair that was presented to the author of the idea on the next World Cerebral Palsy Day.

Over more than a decade since its inception, World Cerebral Palsy Day has become a global movement that reaches millions of people from over 100 countries every year. Its mail goal is to support people living with cerebral palsy and their families, and to ensure that they have access to management options.