While delving into the history of Cerebral Palsy I came
across Dr William John Little, who is credited as the first
person to define what is now known as spastic Cerebral Palsy.
His definition described CP as a brain injury caused by
oxygen deprivation at birth.
As a young lad he unfortunately experienced a severe bout
of polio which left him with a left club foot. As an adult
William Little went on to study medicine, and while in Germany
on medical business, he agreed to become the patient in
ground breaking corrective surgery, which was successfully
performed on his foot.
This operation was so successful he himself reproduced
this surgical technique in London, operating on a 15 year
old boy, in February 1837.
These two operations brought the treatment of deformities
into the domain of surgery Living with a disability in his
youth he naturally developed an empathy with people who
had deformities.
In 1861 Little presented a most important paper to the
Obstetrical Society of London. It contained the classic
description of cerebral palsy which was initially known
as Little's disease: The main thrust of the paper was showing
how the act of birth occasionally imprints upon the nervous
and muscular systems.
