Sunday, June 2, 2013

Knuckles

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.

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