Types of Cerebral Palsy

Cerebral Palsy – Hōkai Nukurangi is a broad term which encompasses different disorders of movement and posture. The parts of the body which are affected by the abnormal muscle tone depends upon where the brain damage occurs.

Cerebral Palsy can often be described in medical language by the parts of the body affected, the type of movement seen and with different functional classifications, used to describe everyday activities.

Medical terms to describe Cerebral Palsy – Hōkai Nukurangi

Terms for parts of the body affected

Meaning

Unilateral Cerebral Palsy

Monoplegia (one limb)
Hemiplegia (one side)

Affecting one limb or one side of the body (arm, trunk and leg)

Bilateral Cerebral Palsy

Diplegia (two limbs)

Affecting both legs

Bilateral Cerebral Palsy

Triplegia (three)
Quadriplegia (four)

Affecting three or all four limbs

 

 

 

Terms for type of movement

Meaning

Spastic or Spasticity

Increased muscle tightness, stiffness, and muscle weakness

Dyskinetic
Dystonia or Dystonic

Changing muscle contractions causing twisting or repetitive movement

Athetosis or Athetoid

Uncontrolled movements

Ataxic

Shaky movements, affecting a person’s balance and coordination

Mixed

People can also have a combination of movement types present – predominantly Spasticity and Dystonia

Function

Functional classifications are used by health professionals to describe what you can do and what you might find more challenging. They were developed for use in children but can be used to guide adults living with Cerebral Palsy too.
There are currently classification systems for moving, hand use, seeing, eating, communicating and vision. All classifications use a Level I – V (1 – 5) scale where Level I means greater functional ability and Level V means less functional ability.

Examples include:

  • The Gross Motor Functional Classification System (GMFCS) which looks at large movements, like rolling, crawling or walking
  • The Manual Ability Classification System (MACS) which looks at fine motor movements of the hands and arms, like handling toys
  • The Eating and Drinking Abilities Classification System (EDACS) which looks at how people eat and drink effectively.

More information on each of these can be found by:

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