Cerebral Palsy Glossary

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Medical lien: The right of a hospital, doctor or health care provider to assert an interest in personal injury recoveries to the extent of the cost of the treatment or service provided.

Medical negligence: Failure of a physician or other medical personnel to meet the standards of conduct for duties relating to the medical profession. Those standards are based on what a reasonable person with the requisite knowledge and skills would or would not do.

Mental Retardation: Significantly low intelligence and severe problems adapting to everyday life skills.

Mistrial: An erroneous invalid trial that cannot stand in law.motion An application for a rule or order, made to a court or judge.

Mixed Cerebral Palsy: This type of CP affects bothe the pyramidal and extrapyramidal areas of the brain. The most common mixed form includes spasticity and athetoid movements; other combinations are possible.

Motor Disabilities: Disabilities that effect a person's ability to learn motor tasks such as walking, running, skipping, tying shoes, crawling, sitting, handwriting, and others. To be considered a disability, the problem must cause a person to have motor coordination that is significantly below what would be expected for his or her age, and the problem must interfere with the activities of learning and daily living.

Muscle tone: Defines the condition of the muscles. Muscles that are affected by cerebral palsy will be either floppy and loose or stiff and rigid. Poor muscle tone limits movement.