Activities of Daily Living in Cerebral Palsy

 Activities of Daily Living (ADL) Definition

The Activities of Daily Living are a series of basic activities performed by individuals on a daily basis necessary for independent living at home or in the community.  There are many variations on the definition of the activities of daily living but most organizations agree there are 5 basic categories.  ��

• Personal hygiene such bathing, grooming and oral care�
• Dressing including the ability to make appropriate clothing decisions�
• Eating, the ability to feed oneself though not necessarily prepare food�
• Maintaining continence or the ability to use a restroom�
• Transferring oneself from seated to standing and get in and out of bed�

Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADLs) Definition

IADLs are actions that are important to being able to live independently but are not necessarily required activities on a daily basis.  The instrumental activities are more subtle and can help more finely determine the level of assistance required by the elderly or disabled.  The IADLs include:

• Basic communication such as using a telephone�
• Transportation, either by driving, arranging rides or the ability to use public transportation�
• Meal preparation and the ability to safely use kitchen equipment�
• Shopping and the ability to make appropriate food and clothing purchase decisions�
• Housework such as doing laundry and cleaning dishes�
• Managing medications such as taking accurate dosages at appropriate times and managing re-fills�
• Managing personal finances, operating within a budget, writing checks and paying bills

ADLs are defined as "the things we normally do...such as feeding ourselves, bathing, dressing, grooming, work, homemaking, and leisure.
Instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) are not necessary for fundamental functioning, but they let an individual live independently in a community. The rest of this page will focus on the ADL's of children with CP. 

Using Daily Routine

Often parents do not have time to do all kind of extra activities with their child. The most effective way to work with the parents is to help them choose activities of daily life on which to focus. And to choose those activities that are at that time the most important for them.

Some activities come back every day or even a few times a day. To focus on doing these activities in a proper way (good positioning) and in an active way (so the child is learning) will give many opportunities for the child to learn.

ADL Skill

ADL (sometimes also called Self Care Skills) play a major role in a child's overall functional growth, confidence and independence. These essential skills include the child's ability to feed themselves using utensils appropriately and to perform toileting, bathing and grooming activities. Problems in this area may be due to an underlying problem. This may include impaired Sensory Integration or diminished Fine Motor / Upper Body Coordination. Children may also exhibit poor motor planning which affects their ability to sequence, time and grade motor activities.