A helping hand for youngsters with cerebral palsy

Feb 6 2010 by Hannah Davies, The Journal

IN PART three of our campaign to support The Children’s Foundation’s Healthy, Happy, Safe appeal, HANNAH DAVIES visits a project which helps youngsters with cerebral palsy.

SEEING babies trying to get to grips with sitting up, crawling or taking those tentative first steps is one of the joys of parenthood.

But for the mums and dads of children with cerebral palsy, those milestones are far-off goals which may never be achieved.

That is why centres like County Durham’s Heel and Toe, supported by The Children’s Foundation, are so important for helping babies with the condition.

“We’re still adjusting to everything being different from how we expected,” says podiatrist Laura Cowap, 36, who is mother to Lois, 19 months.

“You expect your baby is going to be one way and when you get that diagnosis everything changes. But we’re still smiling.”

Laura and her partner, Dean, 47, live in Chester-le-Street, County Durham.

They were given their daughter’s diagnosis in November 2008 when she was five months old.

Since discovering Heel and Toe, Laura has seen Lois’s development really come on.

Based at a centre in Spennymoor, it teaches parents how to help their children through exercise sessions and how to cope with everyday life.

The work Heel and Toe do is a lifeline to parents at a loss as to how to help their children and gives them access to a valuable support network of other mums and dads.

Laura and Dean knew there were problems with Lois, their only child. She was born 19 weeks early and kept in the special care baby unit for two months.

Understandably they were distraught at her diagnosis but, Laura says, “life goes on and we love our daughter”.

“Lois is amazing really. She’s got spasticity in both arms and legs, but now she’s getting there with her development and we make sure we give her lots of affection and attention.”

The children who attend Heel and Toe have a more severe form of cerebral palsy and the classes, based on conductive education, help them to improve their muscle strength and mental development.

Laura says: “Our experiences have been really positive and Lois has come on so much since we’ve been to Heel and Toe.

“Knowing I’m doing something to really help her is so valuable.”

The Children’s Foundation’s Regional Small Grants Panel recently gave £950 to the group.

The panel, which meets three times a year, has awarded nearly £200,000 to organisations since it was set up in 1993 and provides a lifeline to community projects in the North East.