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Spina Bifida, of any type, can lead to significant impairments that, when untreated, can result in abnormal functioning and the inability to perform daily living activities. Such impairments might include those involving the senses, those involving the ability to move the extremities, impairments of the internal organs and even, to some degree, impaired thinking and memory capability. For parents caring for a Spina Bifida child, understanding the primary impairments so often associated with Spina Bifida may lead to a more educated and comprehensive treatment plan approach to improve the child's overall quality of life.

Sensory impairments of the Spina Bifida child are those impairments of the senses, involving smell, touch, taste and hearing. For the Spina Bifida child, the most common sensory impairment involves the ability to experience the sensation of touch. Without a sense of touch, unfortunately, the Spina Bifida child will often suffer from the inability to sense pain, pressure and may, at time, assume an odd bodily position due to the inability to gauge and sense irregular muscle movement and patterns. As a result, parents caring for a Spina Bifida child must remain cognitively aware of irregular movements of the child which may create injury or health complications for which the Spina Bifida child has not ability to feel.

In addition to sensory impairments, the Spina Bifida child may also experience gross motor impairment, or inability to control body movements. While this may be secondary to a sensory impairment, in many Spina Bifida children, the motor impairment is usually a direct result of the exposed nerve fibers at the neural tube defect in the spinal column. Most notably, children will Spina Bifida will exhibit gross motor deficits involving the inability to control the hip and leg muscles, often leaving many children unable to walk normally or experience delay in two leg walking until well into grade school years and, even then, with the use of assistive walking devices. Thirdly, the Spina Bifida child may experience complications involving the autonomic functions of the body. This is to say, the Spina Bifida has the profound capability to impact the very basic bodily organ functions, especially in those organs within the lower extremities, bladder, bowel and, to some extent, sexual dysfunction later in life.

An additional primary impairment of the Spina Bifida child involves the cognitive impairment, or the inability to think, memorize or process information accurately. Because the neural tube defect affects the development of the brain, many Spina Bifida children experience below average intelligence and may, in some cases, be classified as developmentally delayed. In day to day activities, the Spina Bifida child commonly is impaired in areas of abstract thinking and the find there are unable to perceive items within the visual field, known as an impairment visual perception. For this reason, many special needs children, especially those with Spina Bifida, may require rehabilitation of the brain functioning so as to improve their ability to perform even simple daily activities such as feeding and dressing themselves.

As with any birth defect, caring for a child who suffers from Spina Bifida can provide for many years of challenges and rewards. As parents, understanding the very basis dynamics of primary challenges in the Spina Bifida child will clear the path for preparation in medical and psychological services, thereby reducing the increased risk of secondary complications. The key for special needs children, then, is to educate parents and pursue care aggressively.