When a person has cerebral palsy brain damage has occurred. It is a disorder that impacts a person's motor skills and movements. It also affects muscle tone. The brain damage occurs either before or during the birthing process. There are three categories of cerebral palsy called 1) spastic cerebral palsy, 2) athetoid cerebral palsy, and 3) ataxic cerebral palsy. In the first type movement is made difficult because of muscle stiffness. In the second type the brain damage causes involuntary muscle movements. In the third type the person's sense of balance and depth perception is impaired. There are varying degrees of cerebral palsy ranging from stiff movement to serious problems with most body functions including breathing. The one common factor is that all cerebral palsy is caused by brain damage or a brain that does not develop normally during pregnancy. The damage can be the result of something that occurs during labor or birth such as an accident, medical emergency or medical negligence. But it can also be caused before birth due to things such as an infection in the mother's system or the baby's failure to develop properly. What some people don't realize is that cerebral palsy also develops in some children up to 5 years old as a result of a blow to the head or child abuse such as an adult shaking an infant.