Cerebral palsy is a well-recognized neurodevelopmental condition. The most recent definition describes cerebral palsy as a group of disorders of movement and posture, causing activity limitation. An important step in the process of (re)habilitation is evaluation of functional abilities of an individual. To be as accurate as possible in the evaluation of functioning, proper measurement instruments have to be used. There are many different measurement tools for children with cerebral palsy, several of them are presented in the article.

Cerebral palsy (CP) is one of the most common neurologic disorders in children, often complicated with other disabilities. Epilepsy (EPI) and learning disability (LD) are most common in these children. EPI complicates CP in 14-94%, depending on different type of CP being most frequent in tetraparetic children. Managing EPI in children with CP should follow general principles of treating EPI with special attention on possible side effects of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) or others drugs used for relieving symptoms or commorbidities. The paper is reviewing current information, dealing with epidemiology of both disorders, etiology, diagnosis of EPI in CP children and discuss general principles of therapy.

Children communicate using speech, vocalisation, facial expression, gesture and body movement. The motor disorders of cerebral palsy (CP) may affect the movements needed to produce any type of communication signal. Movements intended to be the same may vary in range, speed, strength and accuracy and as a result communication signals may be difficult to understand. Children’s communication development may also be affected by cognitive or sensory disturbances, which are also common in CP (1). This paper will describe the speech and communication difficulties often experienced by children with CP and will summarise the interventions that have been found to be clinically effective with this population of children.

Damage to the brain is the most common cause of visual impairment in children in the developed world, and many children with cerebral palsy are affected. The severity varies. Profound visual impairment results from bilateral occipital lobe damage. Visual acuities are frequently impaired but may be within the normal range. Accommodation is commonly impaired and requires appropriate correction. Limitation of the visual fields includes hemianopia due to unilateral damage, and lower visual field impairment due to periventricular white matter pathology. Perceptual visual dysfunction includes impaired visual guidance of movement (optic ataxia), associated with impaired visual search and attention, (due to posterior parietal / dorsal stream dysfunction) and impaired recognition and orientation (due to temporal lobe / ventral stream dysfunction). Impairment of eye movements may also contribute to the clinical picture. Structured evaluation of all aspects of visual function, matched to each child’s condition and construction of an optimal management plan, (which can be understood and implemented by everyone looking after and teaching the child), is needed to ensure that no child with cerebral palsy is inappropriately disadvantaged on account of their additional cerebral visual impairment.

Feeding problems are often present in children with neuromotor impairment: dysphagia is usually seen in the most severe form of cerebral palsy and it’s defined as the difficulty with any of the four phases of swallowing. Clinical consequences are malnutrition and recurrent chest infections that reduce expected duration and quality of life. In order to prevent these consequences it’s important to detect with clinical and instrumental examinations dysphagia symptoms and to treat them. Clinical evaluation focuses mainly on the oral stage of dysphagia i.e. patterns of oral dysfunction but is not able to assess accurately the pharyngeal and esophageal phases that can be studied with instrumental evaluation like videofluoroscopy. Videofluoroscopy data provide the basis for an objective planning of the treatment only if combined with careful clinical examination. Treatment options include rehabilitative measures such as postural management and food texture modification and in the most severe cases surgical procedures.

Assistive technology includes equipment, devices and software solutions that increase functional capabilities of people with disabilities and improve the quality of their lives. The article presents assistive technology for people with cerebral palsy. These are mobility aids that enable people with cerebral palsy independent walking. For those who cannot walk, proper seating is very important. People, who cannot propel manual wheelchair, can control electric wheelchair with various controls. There are several augmentative and alternative communication devices for people with cerebral palsy that are not able to speak. Finally, environmental control systems are presented.

For children, participation in day-to-day formal and informal activities is a vital part of their development. Participation in activities is the context in which children form friendships, develop skills and competencies, express creativity, achieve mental and physical health, and determine meaning and purpose in life. Children with cerebral palsy receive a variety of long-term physical and occupational therapy interventions to facilitate development and to enhance functional independence in movement, self-care, play, school activities and leisure. The issues presented by cerebral palsy children and their families are complex and require understanding of multiple levels of performance. Successful occupational therapy intervention of these multiple layers of function requires the use of multiple frames of reference, theories and models. Occupational performance and participation in different activities, is the main goal of occupational therapy intervention.

Cerebral palsy is the most frequent motor impairment in childhood. In many countries, its prevalence is predicted to increase. There are an estimated 15 million people with cerebral palsy around the world and more than half of them are mentally retarded and one third have epilepsy. It should be seen that it is more than merely a motor disorder. There can be problems of development, perceptual-cognitive impairment, social and functional problems of daily living, emotional and behavioural problems, and many other difficulties. In addition to this early brain damage is not a synonym for Cerebral palsy.

The aim of this article is to recognise psychological problems in children with cerebral palsy and their families as well as the necessities to provide psychological help without disturbing them. It addresses all areas of functioning of such children and their families, coping mechanisms and the process of adjustment. It highlights the importance of acknowledging disability as a manifestation of a person's ongoing adaptation to respective special needs, i.e. diverse consequences of disability that are affecting every individual child regarding education, self-dependent life, establishing social roles and adaptation to the characteristics of the environment in which affected people are living.

Every child needs for successful school entering specific developmental maturation that includes developmental maturity on cognitive, emotional, social and motor area. Cerebral palsy (CP) at child causes appearance of many difficulties that are shown on motor and other activities. Brain damage and also their associational connections cause a lot of defects, that are influencing on different school capabilities and skills: capability of thinking, concentration, listening, speech, reading, articulating, writing, drawing, analysing, synthesizing, conclusion, processing and math. Exact and proper schooling and adequate complexity of school education significantly accelerate a progress on different areas, not only on self dependent, but also social independence in a child with CP in a long term. Quality, unique and on time choice of school process at holistic rehabilitation of child with CP is significant and includes efficient preparation for wider social inclusion.