The Wide-Ranging Effects of Cerebral Palsy on the Body and Mind

Last updated on:

January 9, 2026

Cerebral palsy (CP) is far more than a condition that affects how someone walks or holds a pencil. According to the CDC, CP is a group of disorders that affect a person’s ability to move, maintain balance, and control posture – and it is the most common motor disability in childhood. What makes CP particularly complex is that its effects vary dramatically from one person to the next, depending entirely on which area of the brain was injured and to what degree. For some, the impact is mild. For others, it touches nearly every aspect of daily life – physical, sensory, communicative, and cognitive. Understanding these wide-ranging effects is essential for educators, caregivers, and anyone working with individuals who have CP.

A variable impact on muscle tone and movement
Types of CP and their distinct movement patterns
Challenges with coordination, posture, and balance
Impact on daily living and self-care
Sensory, communication, and cognitive involvement
Sensory and perceptual difficulties
Speech and communication challenges
Cognitive and emotional effects
Seeing CP as a whole-person condition

A variable impact on muscle tone and movement

At the core of every CP diagnosis is a disruption in how the brain controls the muscles. The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) explains that CP is caused by damage to or abnormalities inside the developing brain that disrupt its ability to control movement and maintain posture and balance. One of the most visible consequences of this is abnormal muscle tone – the degree of tension present in the muscles at rest.

Muscle tone in CP can go in either direction. Hypertonia (increased muscle tone) makes the body appear stiff or rigid, while hypotonia (decreased muscle tone) can make an infant appear floppy or unusually relaxed. Gillette Children’s notes that abnormal muscle tone, delayed motor development, and the persistence of primitive reflexes – reflexes that typically fade in early infancy – are among the main early signs of CP. These reflexes are not outgrown as they would be in typical development, and they interfere with purposeful movement.

Types of CP and their distinct movement patterns

The CDC classifies CP into several types based on the dominant movement disorder. Spastic CP is the most common, affecting about 80% of people with CP. It results in increased muscle tone, causing stiff muscles and awkward movements – and depending on which limbs are involved, it may be described as diplegia (mainly the legs), hemiplegia (one side of the body), or quadriplegia (all four limbs). Dyskinetic CP causes uncontrolled, involuntary movements that can shift from slow and writhing to rapid and jerky, with muscle tone fluctuating even within a single day. Ataxic CP primarily affects balance and coordination, making movements appear shaky or unsteady. Some individuals have mixed CP, presenting features of more than one type.

These movement differences also affect when and how children reach motor milestones. Johns Hopkins Medicine notes that children with CP usually show signs of motor delay before age two – they may be slow to roll over, sit, crawl, or walk, and are often not formally diagnosed until age two or three.

Challenges with coordination, posture, and balance

Beyond muscle tone, CP consistently disrupts the coordination of movement, the ability to maintain posture, and the sense of balance. Gillette Children’s identifies these as primary effects of CP, noting that everyone with CP experiences some degree of difficulty making smooth, deliberate movements. The challenge is not just about which muscles are involved, but about how the brain orchestrates them together.

Individuals with spastic CP may walk with a scissor gait – legs turned inward, knees close together – or on their toes, due to tight hip and leg muscles. Those with ataxic CP tend to walk with their feet set wide apart and are prone to falling due to shakiness in the lower limbs. Cerebral Palsy Guidance notes that children with ataxic CP also struggle with depth perception and precise fine motor movements, such as tying shoes or writing. Even everyday actions that most people perform automatically – reaching for an object, turning a page, buttoning a shirt – require significant effort and concentration.

Posture is another area of difficulty. The Cerebral Palsy Alliance Australia highlights that CP can affect a person’s ability to control their head and neck, maintain a seated position, and support the spine. Neuromuscular scoliosis – an abnormal curvature of the spine – is a known secondary complication, arising when muscles are unable to adequately support the vertebral column. Over time, these postural challenges can contribute to pain and joint problems, particularly as a child grows and their body weight increases.

Impact on daily living and self-care

The motor difficulties associated with CP do not stay confined to formal assessments or rehabilitation sessions – they reach into the most personal and routine parts of life. Feeding, dressing, bathing, toileting, and personal hygiene all demand a combination of gross and fine motor control, visual coordination, and sequencing ability. Physiopedia explains that performing activities of daily living (ADLs) effectively requires gross motor skills, fine motor skills, visual motor coordination, cognitive planning, sensory integration, and communication – and children with CP who are affected in any of these areas may have difficulty with some or all ADLs.

For children with more severe CP, challenges around feeding are particularly significant. The Cerebral Palsy Alliance Australia notes that people with severe CP may also have difficulties with swallowing, breathing, bladder and bowel control, and digestion. These are not peripheral concerns – they are central to health, comfort, and dignity. Poor bladder control, for instance, adds complexity to school attendance, social participation, and independence. Breathing difficulties can reduce stamina and affect speech.

It is also important to understand that the effects of CP do not simply remain static. As Gillette Children’s explains, the brain injury itself does not worsen over time, but the physical effects can progress – muscles that could support a 40-pound child may struggle to support the same person at a heavier adult weight, and atypical muscle tone places ongoing stress on joints. This means that what a person with CP can do at age 8 may differ significantly from what they can do at age 18 or 28, making lifelong, adaptive support essential.

Sensory, communication, and cognitive involvement

One of the most commonly misunderstood aspects of CP is the degree to which it extends beyond the motor system. The same brain injury that disrupts movement can also affect how a person processes sensory information, how they communicate, and how they think and learn.

Sensory and perceptual difficulties

Research published in ScienceDirect found significant differences in sensory processing between children with CP and typically developing children across a broad range of categories. The motor disorders in CP are frequently accompanied by disturbances in sensation, perception, and behavior. This can mean a child is over- or under-responsive to touch, sound, or movement – making it hard to function in busy environments like classrooms. According to data on CP’s associated conditions, at least 42% of people with CP have problems with their vision, which can affect reading, spatial awareness, and learning.

Speech and communication challenges

Communication difficulties are extremely common. Cerebral Palsy Guidance reports that dysarthria – difficulty controlling the muscles involved in speech – affects more than 50% of children with CP. This occurs because CP can impair the fine muscular coordination around the mouth, tongue, and lips needed to produce clear speech, as well as the coordinated breathing required to project the voice. Some individuals may sound breathy or slurred; others may be unable to produce intelligible speech at all.

A systematic review published on PubMed Central highlights that communication difficulties in CP are multifactorial – they arise not just from motor impairment but also from intellectual and sensory factors. Children may struggle with both expressing themselves (expressive language) and understanding what others say to them (receptive language). For those who cannot rely on spoken language, augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems – such as symbol charts or speech-generating devices – can be transformative.

Cognitive and emotional effects

Cognitive involvement in CP is significant but often underestimated. Healthline reports that approximately 50% of children with CP experience cognitive difficulties, which can include challenges with memory, attention, problem-solving, and learning. These difficulties range from mild to severe and vary based on the location and extent of the brain injury. Importantly, not every child with CP will have cognitive impairment – and not every child with cognitive impairment will have the same profile.

Children with CP also face an elevated risk of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Cerebral Palsy Guidance notes that cognitive impairment can lead to delayed language and emotional development, and may cause frustration and angry outbursts when a child struggles to communicate their needs or access learning. A study published in the Journal of Physical Therapy Science further found that physical functioning and cognitive functioning are positively correlated in children with CP – meaning that children who move more actively tend to show stronger cognitive performance, reinforcing the value of integrated physical and cognitive rehabilitation.

Emotionally, the Cerebral Palsy Alliance Australia observes that children with CP may experience difficulties with peer relationships and strong emotional reactions to new challenges. Adolescents and adults with CP are also at greater risk of depression and anxiety. These are not simply reactions to frustration – they are associated conditions that deserve the same clinical attention as the physical effects of CP.

Seeing CP as a whole-person condition

What the research consistently shows is that CP is not a single, uniform disability. Penn Medicine describes it as a group of conditions that affect not only movement and muscle control but also learning, speech, vision, hearing, and thinking. The exact combination and severity of effects is unique to each individual – and this variability is precisely why an early, multidisciplinary approach to intervention matters so much. Physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech-language therapists, psychologists, and educators all play a role in helping a person with CP develop their potential and participate meaningfully in daily life.

Understanding the full breadth of CP’s effects – from muscle tone and posture to cognition and emotional wellbeing – allows educators and caregivers to see the whole child, not just the visible disability. It shifts the focus from limitation to possibility, from what a person cannot do to what, with the right support, they can.

What do you think? If you support or teach a child with cerebral palsy, how do you currently account for the less visible effects – like sensory processing difficulties or cognitive challenges – alongside the more obvious motor ones? And given that CP’s physical effects can change significantly as a child grows into adulthood, how should long-term educational and care planning adapt to reflect that reality?

References

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The Wide-Ranging Effects of Cerebral Palsy on the Body and Mind

Table of Contents

A variable impact on muscle tone and movement 🔗

Types of CP and their distinct movement patterns 🔗

Challenges with coordination, posture, and balance 🔗

Impact on daily living and self-care 🔗

Sensory, communication, and cognitive involvement 🔗

Sensory and perceptual difficulties 🔗

Speech and communication challenges 🔗

Cognitive and emotional effects 🔗

Seeing CP as a whole-person condition 🔗