Cerebral palsy is a lifelong condition, and adults with cerebral palsy considerably outnumber children with it. Yet almost everything written about it is aimed at parents of young children, and adults often find support disappears exactly when the physical demands are increasing.
We support people with cerebral palsy at any age, and at every level — from someone who needs help with a few tasks to someone who needs full physical support throughout the day.
What actually matters at home
- Positioning is treatment. How someone sits, lies and is supported affects pain, breathing, digestion and the long-term shape of their joints.
- Transfers happen many times a day, and technique protects both the person and whoever is doing the lifting.
- Mealtimes take real time. Where swallowing is affected, rushing is unsafe, and where a feeding tube is used, that is nursing work.
- Communication varies enormously, and many people who cannot speak clearly are entirely capable of directing their own care.
- Pain is under-recognized in adults with cerebral palsy, particularly hip, back and shoulder pain from years of movement patterns.
How we help
- Safe transfers and positioning, including with lifts, slings, standing frames and specialized seating
- Personal care at whatever level is needed, delivered so that an adult is treated as an adult
- Unhurried mealtimes with attention to swallowing, and nursing support around feeding tubes where that is the plan
- Support with the stretching and movement programmes a physiotherapist has set
- Communication using whatever the person uses, and taking direction from them about their own care
- Support for children at home, after school and during holidays, alongside the family
- Support for adults to get to work, college, appointments and social life
- Respite for parents, who in cerebral palsy are often still providing physical care into their own old age
Who provides the care
Personal support workers provide most of this care, and we place people trained on the specific equipment a household uses. Nursing is placed where a plan requires it, including around feeding tubes. Where a physiotherapist, occupational therapist or speech-language pathologist is involved, we follow their programme rather than inventing one.
Common questions
I am thirty-four and my support ended at eighteen. Can you help?
Yes. Adult cerebral palsy support is a real gap in Ontario and it is one of the reasons this page exists. Support at home has no upper age limit.
I can direct my own care but I cannot speak clearly. Will that be respected?
It should be, and it is what we brief carers on. Difficulty with speech says nothing about capacity, and a carer who talks over you or addresses your family instead of you is not doing the job properly. Tell us if that happens.
My daughter has a G-tube. Can you help with feeds?
Feeding tube care is nursing work, so where feeds and tube care are needed we place an RN or RPN. Personal support workers can do everything around it. We will tell you exactly which parts need which before you commit.
Are your carers trained on our lift?
The ones we place into a household with a lift are trained on that equipment. We will not send somebody unfamiliar with it into a home that depends on it.
What funding exists?
For children, Special Services at Home and the Assistive Devices Program are worth asking about. For adults, Passport funding through Developmental Services Ontario, and Ontario Health atHome for personal support and nursing. We will point you at these before quoting private hours.
Where we provide this care
We provide this support across 146 communities in Ontario, from the Greater Toronto Area to Thunder Bay. If your town is not listed, call us — we will tell you honestly whether we can staff it properly rather than promising and then failing to turn up.
Related
- Autism — children and adults
- Down syndrome — all ages
- Developmental disability — adults
- Home care — what it covers
- Respite care for family carers
- 24-hour home care
- All 146 communities we serve
Not sure what you need? That is the normal starting point. A free consultation is a conversation about what is actually happening at home — no charge, no obligation, and we will point you at publicly funded care first where you may qualify for it.