Some possible respiratory complications are: blocked or obstructed airways, inflamation of the airways, diminished bility to clear secretions, weakened lungs, and lung damage. Many of these potential complications greatly increase the risk for pneumonia in individuals with Cerebral Palsy.

Pneumonia is a general term that refers to an infection of the lungs. For individulas who do not have the physical impairments caused by CP, pneumonia often begins after an upper respiratory tract infection. Children with Cerebral Palsy are more likely to inhale a foreign body (such as food or drink), introducing bacteria into the lungs.

Symptoms of pneumonia vary, depending on the age of the child and the cause of the pneumonia, but some common symptons are: fever, chills, cough, unusually rapid breathing, breathing with grunting or wheezing sounds, labored breathing that makes a child's rib muscles retract (when muscles under the rib cage or between ribs draw inward with each breath), vomiting, chest pain, abdominal pain, decreased activity, loss of appetite (in older children) or poor feeding (in infants), or in extreme cases, bluish or gray color of the lips and fingernails
 
Sometimes a child's only symptom is rapid breathing. When the pneumonia is in the lower part of the lungs near the abdomen, there may be no breathing problems at all, but there may be fever and abdominal pain or vomiting.