Understanding Cerebral Palsy

Abstract

Cerebral palsy (CP) is found to be a highly common disability across the world that has contributed massively to physical disability globally. Africa is trending behind in her understanding of this very complex condition, and lags in awareness of the prevalence, and incidence statistics of CP, which does not help with planning for services for such individuals. Evidently, a robust understanding of CP is extremely lacking in the African context, and it is against this background that the author of this chapter found an urgent need to present African's unique ways of perceiving CP. The chapter, therefore, proposes moving away from the myopic, Eurocentric lens of understanding CP, which in the main is biomedical and lacks the African indigenous understanding that is important for this continent. The purpose of this chapter, therefore, is to share a broader understanding of cerebral palsy from the African perspective.