Hi @AnnabelleQ - sorry for not getting back to you earlier! Busy morning! I hope some of this helps, but it may not all apply to your DD - take what's useful from it. I'm in my thirties so some of what I say about treatment for children with CP may have changed since then.
One of the reasons I was diagnosed is that I was very late to stand and walk, and when I did, I tended to walk on tiptoe. I had physiotherapy sessions regularly at hospital, and was given exercises to do at home, which my parents did with me - simple things like walking on my heels, kneading dough/plasticine with my weaker hand to strengthen it, and so on. I continued having those appointments throughout primary school.
At school I had a support assistant to help me with practical things. PE and changing for PE were difficult. I had a uniform with buttoned shirt and tie, which I couldn't manage independently until age ten or so. I needed assistance with dressing myself in regular clothes until a later age than most children, but got the hang of it eventually. I went to a mainstream school - a special school was an option but because I was academically able my parents were against it. I'm assuming your DD is young and this is a few years down the line, but you'll need to look into getting an EHCP (education, health and care plan) for her at school. My support assistant also used to take me out of class to work on activities to develop my motor skills. I remember doing lots of knitting!
I know there are various orthotics available to help stabilise the weaker leg. I didn't have any as a child but I know others who did and said it was helpful. I'd suggest that if they're recommended to you, you do a bit of reading and see what you think. I also didn't have any support past the age of 10/11 because family issues meant there was nobody to organise hospital appointments and such, so I can't say anything about how that support would change over time if you went through the process properly.
Potential issues:
- emotional dysregulation. It's hard to know how much of this is CP and how much is personality/other issues, but I had a lot of trouble with this as a child and was very frequently overwhelmed and tearful. I've since read that it's more common in children with CP, because of what amounts to 'white noise' in the brain.
- fatigue. I have to manage my time carefully, I need more sleep than other people, and physical activity tires me out more quickly. Too many activities in one day aren't a good idea.
- flexibility. I wish I'd known about this when I was younger as it's starting to cause issues for me now, but I'm naturally very stiff and inflexible, and it gets worse if I don't have a stretching routine.
I also wish that my parents had been more honest with me about my differences, instead of trying to hide it from others and telling me to pretend to be 'normal' because having a label was bad. I think attitudes have changed somewhat since then so this may not be an issue for you, but I think I'd have had a happier childhood if they'd been honest about my problem and my limitations - the difficulties were still there, acknowledged or not.
Another thing to note is that it was a much greater problem for me when I was a child than in adulthood. In school you're made to do the same things as everyone else, and it's really obvious when you can't. In adult life I can play to my strengths and avoid activities and jobs that my CP would make difficult for me. There are a few everyday tasks I struggle with, but mostly I find workarounds - my point being that if your DD finds things difficult, try not to catastrophise!
Sorry, this is quite a lot! I hope some of it helps, and I'm happy to address more specific questions if you have them 