of children with unilateral spastic CP and others more similar to children with ataxia. The
delayed contraction of the gastrocnemius in the children with unilateral spastic CP was
unexpected, since, these children showed positive clinical signs of spasticity in this muscle,
such as increased stiffness in response to passive stretch, clonus and equinus gait. This
evidence of delayed activation of a ‘spastic’ muscle has also been seen by other researchers
in adult patients with spastic hypertonia (Badke and Di Fabio 1990).