• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Cerebral Palsy Scotland

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Home
  • Who we are
    • Our mission and values
    • What we do and why
    • Our story
    • Our team
    • Vacancies
    • Key documents
    • Our centre
  • How we help
    • Therapy for adults
    • Therapy for children
    • Support
    • Training
    • Campaigning
    • Our impact
  • What’s on
    • Events
    • Annual conference
  • Other support
    • Support directories
    • Financial support & equipment funding
    • Advice from parents
    • Online support groups
    • Support for schools
    • Legal support
  • Get information
    • All about cerebral palsy
    • Children
    • Adults
    • Therapy & treatment
    • Oral health
  • News
    • News
    • Blog
  • Get involved
    • Friends of Cerebral Palsy Scotland
    • Raise money
    • Leaving a gift in your Will
    • Corporate partners
    • Philanthropy and major donors
    • Other ways to give
    • Other ways to get involved
    • Shop
    • Trusts
    • Our promise to you

Max, Pam and John

Max, Pam and John

Pam: Our wonderful little boy Max is two and half. He’s our first baby. Max is a very happy, smiley little boy. He honestly just makes you laugh.

Max goes to a playgroup for children with additional needs, and he is planning to go to nursery later this year.

Max’s cerebral palsy affects him in that he has random movements that he can’t always control. He has poor balance. So, he’s good at walking if you’re holding him, and he’s getting that nice support, but as soon as you let go, he falls down.

Max was a lockdown baby so for a while it was just the three of us on our own, and I’d started noticing that Max wasn’t really achieving with his gross motor skills as well as he should have been.

“Our priority was very much, “What can we do to get Max more help?””

When Max got his diagnosis it was at a child development clinic, but at that point only one parent could attend appointments. I was on my own with Max when we were told he had cerebral palsy. That was quite difficult. It was hard for me to tell John, but at the same time it was hard to hear that diagnosis on your own without having anyone or any support.

We got an NHS physio and occupational therapist in place quickly, but I didn’t know where to go for support. We were feeling really quite emotional, and our priority was also very much, “What can we do to get Max more help?” So through Google I found out about Cerebral Palsy Scotland and sent an email.

First I spoke with one of the therapists, Petra, virtually, and from there she invited us to the Baby buds group.

“It was extra learning for us”

We were still finding our feet with everything and I remember being nervous about going. But everyone was so nice, so helpful, so friendly. The staff were amazing and the other parents that were already going were so welcoming, and that made a huge difference.

Max loved being around the other children and I think it really developed his skills, particularly his gross motor and his communication skills.

Our own NHS physio is a really, really good physio, and she’s been amazing for us. But she’s restricted to how much time she spends with us. So the time at Baby buds made a huge difference. The communication support was really useful. We saw how Max could use the PODD books – things we didn’t know about. So it was extra learning for us.

We went on to do a group of individual therapy sessions this year. Our goals were getting Max from lying down to sitting by himself and self-feeding.

Max loved going. It was very play-based. And rather than coming across as therapy, for Max it was very much coming across as play. The therapists were amazing to be honest, they were just such lovely people.

In the sessions we got lots of different ideas on how Max can try and get himself from lying to sitting – things we hadn’t thought of before.

“Coming to Cerebral Palsy Scotland gave us more options, a wider toolkit”

John: It was good to see different things at Cerebral Palsy Scotland that really help Max. Things that are hard to find on your own, unless you know or you’ve been told what to look for.

For his self-feeding we tried the angled cutlery and bowls with different shapes. Using the wedges and rolls have really helped Max get accustomed to tummy time. And we also found out about the ‘hug vest’, which is a wee weighted vest that really calms his movements down. Instead of always sitting behind Max and holding him, that’s allowed us to sit in front of him, so we can play and interact with him a lot more. So that’s been really good.

Pam: Some days are harder than others, but if I hadn’t sent that email to Cerebral Palsy Scotland that day, then actually we might be a position where we’re not maybe as optimistic about things. We always want to make sure Max will have as many opportunities as he can. For us, coming to Cerebral Palsy Scotland gave us more options, a wider toolkit. It has definitely made a difference.

Search

Quick links

  • Ways to give
  • Our mission and values
  • All about cerebral palsy
  • Therapy for adults
  • Therapy for children
  • Campaigning

Latest News

Key insights from the Cerebral Palsy Scotland community survey 2025
Key insights from the Cerebral Palsy Scotland community survey 2025

Between January-March 2025, Cerebral Palsy Scotland ran a survey to get insight into the key challenges facing the cerebral palsy community, as well as... Read more

Key insights from the Cerebral Palsy Scotland community survey 2025
Make your voice heard – speak at our conference
Make your voice heard – speak at our conference

We’re looking for people from a range of backgrounds to speak at the Cerebral Palsy Scotland conference.... Read more

Make your voice heard – speak at our conference
What would you like people to know about cerebral palsy?
What would you like people to know about cerebral palsy?

Are you interested in raising awareness of cerebral palsy?  Do you have an interest in content creation and sharing your experiences? We are on the... Read more

What would you like people to know about cerebral palsy?
More children to get a Bright Beginning, thanks to National Lottery
More children to get a Bright Beginning, thanks to National Lottery

We are delighted to announce that Cerebral Palsy Scotland will receive £164,194 from The National Lottery Community Fund to provide specialist therapy... Read more

More children to get a Bright Beginning, thanks to National Lottery
Find out how we’ve made an impact in 2023-24
Find out how we’ve made an impact in 2023-24

Our latest Annual Review shows how Cerebral Palsy Scotland has made a difference to the lives of children and adults with cerebral palsy over the past... Read more

Find out how we’ve made an impact in 2023-24
Make people with cerebral palsy count – Cerebral Palsy Scotland’s election manifesto
Make people with cerebral palsy count – Cerebral Palsy Scotland’s election manifesto

With the general election to be held on 4 July, Cerebral Palsy Scotland is calling on candidates to pledge to improve services for people with cerebral... Read more

Make people with cerebral palsy count – Cerebral Palsy Scotland’s election manifesto

Copyright © 2025 · Enterprise Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Cerebral Palsy Scotland logo

Cerebral Palsy Scotland
Bradbury House
10 High Craighall Road
Glasgow, G4 9UD

t: 0141 352 5000
Phone Number for Cerebral Palsy Scotland
Fax Number for Cerebral Palsy Scotland
info@cpscot.org.uk
Email for Cerebral Palsy Scotland
cerebralpalsyscotland.org.uk
Website for Cerebral Palsy Scotland

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
OSCR logo
Nationa Lottery Community Fund logo
Manage Cookie Consent
We use cookies to optimise our website and our service.
Functional cookies Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage {vendor_count} vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}