PHYSIOTHERAPEUTIC APPROACH UNDER THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE “TAKING CARE” OF A CHILD WITH CEREBRAL PALSY ASSOCIATED TO INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY: A CASE REPORT

Abstract

Objective: To report a case of a child with cerebral palsy associated to intellectual disability, considering the importance of physiotherapy in the sequelae caused by this type of disease. Case description: Child aged seven years, male, with spastic diplegia cerebral palsy associated to intellectual disability. The child began the physiotherapeutic treatment and other associated therapies in specialized institutions when he was one and a half year old. At the age of six, he underwent a corrective orthopedic surgery to bilateral stretching of the calcaneal tendon. At the beginning of this research, a physiotherapeutic neurological assessment was carried out. The mother reported as chief complaint the “crooked feet” that made her son impossible to walk. In the assessment, it was found difficulties in some reactions of balance / straightening and rectification, and in some basic motor patterns. After seven and a half months of physiotherapeutic treatment, it was observed an improvement in body readjustment and in the child’s functional capacity. Comments: We highlight the influence of intellectual disability on the physiotherapeutic treatment, impairing the ability of learning and patient’s clinical evolution. The family plays a key role in the care of a child with cerebral palsy, to complement at home the therapeutic approach applied in the health services, thus facilitating the child’s development andsocial formation. DESCRIPTORS: Cerebral palsy. Physiotherapy. Cognition.