Assessment of postural control in children with cerebral palsy: a review.

Pavão et al. (2013) scanned every paper that measured balance in kids with cerebral palsy. They kept 25 studies written between 1990 and 2012. The team asked: what tests do researchers use, and do those tests look like real life?

No lab coats were donned; this was a map-making job. They charted tools, settings, and gaps.

Plenty of force-plate and sway numbers exist. Almost none link to daily tasks such as dressing or playground play. Functional scales and home-life balance checks are still missing.

In short, we know how kids wobble in labs, but not how wobbling matters at breakfast.

Velghe et al. (2025) later showed balance training gives big gains for kids with DCD. Their meta-analysis pulls trials that the 2013 map never reached, proving training works once you pick a yardstick.

Lima et al. (2020) filled another blank. Their 2020 CP sit-to-stand review tied seat height and strength to the World Health Organization’s activity code. They turned the 2013 call for “functional linkage” into a checklist you can score.

Hattier et al. (2011) and Szopa et al. (2015) supplied the fine-grain metrics the review wanted. They tracked sway during vision shifts and across standing, sitting, kneeling. These lab gems now slot into the functional forms that Gâmbaro later framed.

You now have a full toolkit. Start with Andrzej’s quick weight-symmetry screen in standing, sitting, kneeling. Add A’s visual-sway test to spot kids who over-rely on eyes. Plug results into Gâmbaro’s ICF sheet to set goals such as “get off the sofa alone.” Finally, borrow Silke’s multi-system drills so practice looks like the living room, not the clinic. You can finally measure balance where it counts, then train it there too.