Dyskinetic Cerebral Palsy Functional Impact Scale (D-FIS)

People with cerebral palsy frequently have difficulties with the activities they need to do on a daily basis due to their abnormal muscle tone. This can include increased tone or stiffness called spasticity, decreased tone or floppiness, or fluctuating tone called dyskinesia. Many children have a combination of these different types of tone. Children with dyskinesia have fluctuating tone which changes throughout each day, is usually involuntary and is frequently made worse by emotion, concentration, tiredness and pain.This scale aims to measure the impact this fluctuating tone and involuntary movement has on a child’s ability to perform daily activities or be cared for. The scale can provide doctors and therapists with valuable information about the impact a child’s dyskinesia on the activities they do on a daily basis such as moving around, dressing, play and school, accessing technology and sleep. This helps therapists and doctors to better target interventions to help children participate in activities and reduce the impact of the dyskinesia.