Rigidity and Movement in Children with Cerebral Palsy

Many children with Cerebral Palsy are rigid, which causes difficulties with movement. These children are desperate for improvement in mobility, but are usually not given the opportunities that even neurotypical children have. Neurotypical children are given ample time to grow and develop on the floor. They learn to crawl, creep and walk because they are given some opportunities to move. Unfortunately, children diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy are denied this rite of passage. They are usually held or put in strollers and not given the opportunity to move. 

No one understood this better than Glenn Doman. 

The first time I met Glenn Doman, he was lecturing to parents of children with Cerebral Palsy about the importance of the Floor. These children diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy came to Glenn with little to no opportunity to move. Even if these children were capable of creeping, crawling and walking they were denied this precious time to develop. When I listened to Glenn teach these families, I fell in love with the floor as a treatment program for children with Cerebral Palsy.

As a graduate with two degrees in special education, I thought of myself as an expert in child development. I had worked with children diagnosed with autism, learning problems, seizures and Cerebral Palsy.

I had learned many techniques and therapies, but never about the crucial role the floor plays in mobility development.

Kids with Cerebral Palsy benefit greatly when they are given ample opportunity to move on the floor. As Glenn taught about this, he explained as a physical therapist working with rigid children diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy, he discovered after working with 100s of children that the children who had no therapy but had the opportunity to be on the floor made more progress. 

With my degrees, sitting and listening to Glenn teaching, I felt foolish.  The children with Cerebral Palsy that I worked with were constantly in chairs, wheelchairs, strollers and other contraptions and never on the floor. I understood in that moment how these children were greatly restricted in these devices, denying them any type of movement.

Here are the simple truths about why the floor is so important for the development of children with Cerebral Palsy:

First Truth

When children with Cerebral Palsy are placed on the floor and permitted to move on the floor, they have the best opportunity to improve their mobility development. There is no other treatment that can come close to providing this.

Second Truth

Some kids with Cerebral Palsy may not be able to move forward and crawl just by being placed on the floor. Glenn learned that by giving these children an inclined floor, they could learn how to crawl.  This device, the Inclined Floor, was created to teach a child that if you move your arms or legs, you will start to move forward. This device will make movement easier for a child with Cerebral Palsy.

Third Truth

Children with Cerebral Palsy who walk or run poorly can be greatly helped when given unlimited opportunity on the floor to crawl and creep. Crawling and creeping as activities are great for brain growth and development.

Fourth Truth

Glenn Doman’s book “What to Do About Your Brain Injured Child”, “Fit Baby, Smart Baby, Your Baby!” and “The Doman Method™: From Special Needs to Wellness” are important books for parents concerned about physical development of their children with Cerebral Palsy.

In 1952, Glenn Doman discovered the importance of the floor. In 2023, there are many new and wonderful programs as part of The Doman Method® - but the floor remains paramount to help children with rigidity and Cerebral Palsy to start learning to move.

Written by Rosalind Doman