The Cow’s been pretty quiet lately…
I’ve been learning a little about cerebral palsy
hands on learning…
I know a bit more about it now,
not necessarily the medical terminology
but the impact it has on a little body.
So, when I heard about ‘Knuckles’,
I was immediately curious.
Why? Knuckles is a chimpanzee…
a chimpanzee
with cerebral palsy!
Knuckles lives at the
Centre for Great Apes (in Florida)
after an
entertainment group he had been with,
no longer wanted him.
He was two when he
arrived.
It seemed that Knuckles had cerebral palsy.
At the time of his birth,
he suffered from a lack of oxygen.
He had poor muscle control
and was especially
weak on the left side.
He also had a lazy eye
and didn’t appear able to focus
on objects.
At two, Knuckles should have been
swinging from the trees,
but he
could not climb
and had difficulty with walking.
He also had trouble feeding
and needed help to eat.
Hardly surprising, early testing
pointed to a grim
future,
with almost no expectations
for improvements in Knuckles’ ability.
And
yet, steady progress was made.
Volunteers gave Knuckles
some extra time and
occupational
and physical therapists
also worked with Knuckles.
Now, Knuckles feeds
himself…
he climbs up and down steps…
and uses swings to hang upside down.
Sometimes,
he joins
the other chimpanzees in running games.
Knuckles is very aware
of his
surroundings
and loves being tickled.
He is also very affectionate.
Had Knuckles
been born into the wild,
I guess he would have
slowly starved or been
an easy
target to another animal.
But, he was taken in and loved.
He was recognised as
having cerebral palsy
and his therapy and efforts have paid off.
Being that we are so closely related to apes,
I guess its no
surprise that they too,
may have cerebral palsy.
Go to the Centre
for Great Apes
to find out more.
There are more pictures at the site, too.
