2STEPS 4WARD

Sorting through all of the scientific jargon when you're navigating the special needs journey can be overwhelming. Here are a few key terms, definitions and links that we've found helpful along the way. Hope they help you too.

DEFINITIONS

AQUIRED BRAIN INJURY

"Acquired brain injury refers to any type of brain damage that happens after birth. Causes of ABI include disease, blows to the head, alcohol and drug use, or oxygen deprivation. Coping with the consequences of acquired brain injury can be difficult for everyone, including family members."

Source - www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au

CEREBRAL PALSY

"Cerebral Palsy is a movement and posture disorder resulting from a non-progressive lesion or injury to the immature brain. By definition this lesion does not progress and does not become better or worse. Despite this, symptomology may change during different stages of development. Cerebral palsy represents a heterogenous spectrum of clinical syndromes described mostly in relation to associated motor disturbances. This is unfortunate as even the most descriptive of terms fails to impart the full spectrum of medical and social issues that can be found in children with cerebral palsy.

Source - Susan Riddick Grisham (ED). (2004). Paediatric Life Care Planning and Case Management. CRC Press: Washington.

EPILEPSY

“Epilepsy is a common condition of the brain in which a person has a tendency to have recurrent unprovoked seizures. The brain controls the body’s actions, sensations and emotions through nerve cells (neurones) that carry messages between the brain and the body. These messages are transmitted through regular electrical impulses. A seizure occurs when sudden bursts of electrical activity in the brain disrupt this pattern. The kind of seizure and the parts of the body affected by it relates to the part of the brain in which the abnormal electrical activity occurred. Seizures can involve loss of consciousness, a range of unusual movements, odd feelings and sensations, or changed behaviours.”

Source – www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/epilepsy

GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT DELAY

“Global Developmental Delay (GDD), is used when a child shows delays in several areas of development, and this has continued for at least six months.

The delays may be in:

speech or language development
gross motor development or big movements such as walking or sitting
fine motor development or little movements such as drawing or holding a toy
thinking, understanding and learning
how they relate to other people, make friends and regulate their own emotions
tasks of daily life such as dressing and going to the toilet.”

Source – www.cerebralpalsy.org.au/about-conditions/global-development-delay

STROKE

Stroke attacks the brain - the human control centre - changing lives in an instant. Injury to an area of your brain can impact how you think, behave, use words, swallow, see, feel, touch, and move your body. Stroke can happen to anyone at any age.

Source - www.strokefoundation.org.au